K-Pax Racing September 19 Laguna Seca Race Results

Sep 20, 2011 - 3:55:19 PM

Monterey, Calif. (Sept. 19, 2011) With a sizable contingent of Volvo fans at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway for the penultimate round of the Pirelli World Challenge, the K-PAX Racing team put down another strong finish. Both Randy Pobst, in the Volvo S60 and Robb Holland, in the Volvo C30, finished on the podium capping another strong finish by the team.

At the start of the weekend K-PAX Racing served notice to the other competitors that they were here to win when drivers Randy Pobst and Aaron Povoledo put their cars on pole in the GT and Touring Car classes. Sitting on the front row Povoledo was optimistic on his chances in the race.

“Getting the pole was made sweeter by sharing it with teammate and mentor Randy Pobst. I’m looking forward to the race because I thought that our C30 was the strongest car at the last race at Infineon Raceway and I’m excited because I’ll get another chance to prove that today.”

Pobst was equally optimistic on his chances from the front row.

“Our all wheel drive K-PAX Racing S60s get the best launch at the start of the race so I’m looking forward to seeing the entire field in my mirrors going into turn one.”

At the drop of the flag Pobst’s prediction would prove prophetic as he would get a fantastic start and easily lead the field into turn two. From there Pobst held a solid lead over the Cadillac of Johnny O’Connell and the CRP Corvette of Mike Skeen for the first half of the race. When the race restarted, after a full course caution to clean up debris from an incident involving the Porsche of Tommy Drissi, Skeen was able to get by Pobst in traffic and would hold on for the win. Pobst meanwhile had his hands full with Skeen’s teammate, Patrick Lindsey, who was never more than half a car length off Pobst’s rear bumper. However Pobst put in a series of fast laps and was able to hold off Lindsey for his second podium finish of the season.

“It feels good to be back up on the podium. We’ve had some bad luck this season but the crew at K-PAX Racing has a never say die attitude and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they had a handle on things and we’d be back at the front.”

On the Touring Car side, Povoledo would get his chance to prove the strength of his Volvo C30, but it would have to wait as his teammate, Robb Holland starting on the second row in his C30, got another one of his great starts and led the Touring Car field into turn two. In fact, Holland’s start was so strong that he passed several of the faster GTS cars and ended up in the GTS field.

Like his teammate Pobst, Holland held the lead for the first half of the race, while never far behind were the Volkswagen of Tristan Herbert and his teammate Povoledo. On lap 13, Holland exited turn 4 to come face to face with a huge cloud of dust from the wrecked car of Tommy Drissi.

“When you head into a dust cloud like that, you’re never really sure what’s on the other side. Heading into that cloud at 100 mph, full throttle wasn’t really an option for me, so I lifted and that allowed Herbert to get by me for the lead.”

Povoledo also got by his teammate and began pursuing the leader Herbert. Two laps later he was able to get by but that lead was short lived as the same dust cloud that Holland managed to get through unscathed, hid debris that was to claim Povoledo’s car with a broken axle. Holland finished the race in third to claim his fourth podium finish of the year and solidify his hold on third place in the championship standings.

Team owner Jim Haughey was happy with the team’s results at Laguna Seca and is optimistic that the team can close out the 2011 season on a high note at Road Atlanta.

“To come here to Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, with this level of competition, and come away with two poles and two podiums was a great result for the team. I’m looking forward to our next race in ten days at Road Atlanta.”

The broadcast featuring Round 11 of the Pirelli World Challenge from Monterey will air October, 29 at 4:00 p.m. EDT on the Versus Network.

For more information about World Challenge, visit www.world-challenge.com.

For more information on K-PAX Racing, visit www.kpaxracing.com and follow the team on Twitter @kpaxracing.