Nathan determined to fight back after Road Atlanta disappointment
 testing-2 - Nathan Morcom [Kniffin 3270; cropped; enhanced; 1020x490].jpg)
Fifth and a DNF in Georgia were well below Nathan Morcom’s expectations. Photo by Kniffin Photography.
Nathan Morcom had ‘one of those weekends’ in the third and fourth rounds of the American F2000 Championship Series at Road Atlanta. After his debut win in the series at Virginia International Raceway last month, Nathan could only salvage a fifth placing from the weekend’s two races.
Car problems and a minor driving error dashed the 19 year-old Sydneysider’s chances of maintaining his Rookie of the Year lead and improving his second overall position in the ultra-competitive US ‘development’ openwheeler series. With four of 14 rounds of the series completed, he is now third in the Rookie standings and fifth outright (see pointscore, below).
Despite his disappointing results in Georgia, Nathan is determined to fight back into contention for the F2000 Championship Series.
“Obviously this weekend was a letdown after winning at Virginia, but everyone in motorsport has weekends when things just don’t go your way,” he said. “Fortunately the final pointscore only counts your best 12 results out of 14, so today’s race will be my first ‘drop’ round. There’s no permanent damage.
“I’m happy that I’ve been able to do competitive lap times first time here and at VIR. The only problem is that they’ve been in testing and practice sessions, when they didn’t count.“From now on, my aim is to do competitive lap times when they do count – in qualifying and the races!”
The next two F2000 Championship Series rounds will be at Watkins Glen, New York, on June 4-5.
Round 3
Nathan’s Rondo Van Diemen was on the pace during Thursday testing and Friday’s early morning practice session, but things started to go wrong during qualifying for the afternoon’s third round. He missed a gearchange on his first ‘hot’ lap, then an errant car returning to the circuit ruined his only other traffic-free lap at the last moment.
“I had clean air for two laps in qualifying, unlike at VIR, but they didn’t turn out the way I wanted,” Nathan said. “On the first lap I missed the change to 3rd on the back straight, and on the other lap I had to back off near the end to avoid another car coming back onto the track.”
 testing-1 - Nathan Morcom & Jon Baytos [Kniffin 2596; cropped; enhanced; 760x700].jpg)
Nathan discusses his car's set-up with Primus Racing boss Jon Baytos during testing. Photo by Kniffin Photography.
Things went from bad to worse for the young Aussie in the 18-lap, 74km race. From sixth starting position, he discovered that his car’s set-up during the cool qualifying session didn’t suit the warmer race conditions. He was forced to switch his strategy from overtaking the leaders to defending his position, and was fortunate to gain one place by the finish, courtesy of fellow Primus team driver Jonathan Scarallo, whose front wing broke in the latter stages.
“At the start I got boxed in on the outside and lost a few spots, but I got them back again without too much trouble,” Nathan said. “But my car didn’t have the rear-end grip it did in qualifying. It was oversteering all the way to the end.”
Round 4
With Saturday’s weather forecast similar to Friday’s, Nathan and the Primus Team had a recovery plan for the weekend’s second race – but they never got the chance to see if it would work. A broken fourth gear after only one flying lap in the early morning practice session sent the Ohio-based crew back to the paddock for a transmission change.
With qualifying less than three hours away, they did well to get Nathan back on the track midway through the half-hour session. As if sorting out the revised set-up in 15 minutes wasn’t a tall enough order, the Rondo driver’s car was inexplicably down on top speed compared to the frontrunners. Ninth fastest lap, nearly a full second slower than rookie rival Kyle Connery’s pole time, was the result.
Even so, Nathan was ready to give the race his best shot, but the car’s throttle cable broke before he’d completed the first lap. Afterwards, the Primus Racing mechanics discovered that the throttle cable had stretched before it broke – a likely reason for the car's lack of top speed during qualifying.
2011 F2000 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES, ROUNDS 3 & 4
Road Atlanta (4.09km/2.54 miles) – Braselton, Georgia
Friday, May 6. Round 3 (18 laps/73.8km)
1. Kyle Connery* (USA) Van Diemen 28min. 45.056sec.
2. Remy Audette (CAN) Van Diemen 28min. 49.347sec.
3. Tim Minor (USA) Van Diemen 28min. 50.703sec.
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5. Nathan Morcom* (AUS) Van Diemen 28min. 58.762sec.
Saturday, May 7. Round 4 (18 laps/73.8km)
1. Kyle Connery* (USA) Van Diemen 25min. 52.380sec.
2. Tim Minor (USA) Van Diemen 25min. 52.612sec.
3. Chris Livengood (CAN) Van Diemen 25min. 57.238sec.
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DNF Nathan Morcom* (AUS) Van Diemen 0 laps
* Rookie
POINTSCORE AFTER 4 OF 14 ROUNDS
1. Remy Audette 165
2. Kyle Connery* 152
3. Robert La Rocca* 136
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5. Nathan Morcom* 107
* Rookie
MORE INFORMATION
F2000 Championship Series website
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