Ethan Ringel Fastest in Shortened Practice at The Glen
Watkins Glen, NY – Rain and a power outage caused a short morning practice session for the Atlantic Championship Series runners session at Watkins Glen International on Friday. Heading into rounds three and four of the season, the weather is expected to be clear for the remainder of the weekend. Since the track conditions during the shortened morning practice session were wet, all teams elected to conserve their cars and not run, as a wet practice would not be beneficial for an expected dry weekend.
The rain stopped and power was regained in the early afternoon. The rain held off, allowing the track to dry in time for the Atlantic Championship Series practice session two. Fifteen of the twenty registered Atlantic cars took the track for their only practice at Watkins Glen. Session two was cut a little short due to a black flag incident in the opening lap of the session.
Fastest lap time went to 19 year old Ethan Ringel, in the number 49 COMPREP Swift 016 Mazda. Ringel managed a third place podium finish at Road Atlanta, and based on Friday’s practice, he is well poised to take the podium at The Glen. Daniel Burkett, a young K-Hill Motorsports driver, who had two first place finishes in the opening rounds of the Atlantic Championship Series, was fourth quickest in practice, behind Matt Miller of COMPREP and Gaston Kearby of K-Hill Motorsports.
Gaston Kearby races alongside his son, Conner. Conner is currently sitting second in series points. At Road Atlanta father and son ran close together, frequently switching positions back and forth. Conner was a few spots behind his father in qualifying at Watkins Glen, seeming to set up the father-son duo for more close racing on Saturday and Sunday.
Later today teams and drivers will be treated to the 2014 Meet and Greet, hosted by Polestar, a gathering for the paddock community with light food and drinks.
The weekend rolls on with qualifying and race sessions on both Saturday and Sunday, follow on www.atlanticchampionshipseries.com for the latest.