Robert Noell wins Road Atlanta Majors--
The Majors double at Road Atlanta turned out to be a fantastic race- the weather was great (no rain, warm and sunny for the most part)- and there were some very fast Formula Mazda cars there.
The group with FM, FC, P2 and FE ran the cleanest of any groups through the weekend with no full course cautions and little carnage- unlike our P1 cars which had a race marred by carnage and chaos. This allowed the drivers to race head to head without the randomizing factor of restarts and wrecks-- the drivers raced for approximately 30 minutes straight for each race
It was great to see folks from all over come to contest the race at the iconic and difficult Road Atlanta circuit-- including the defending national champion and to my knowledge undefeated Daryl Wills from Texas among others.
The field was very strong and came from all over- and included well known and competitive drivers including Jason Vinkmulder (formula Mazda dealer) from Lake Effect in the far, far north, Stuart Rettie from Texas and David Obenauer representing the home state of Georgia.
The event was well supported with two Formula Mazda dealers present- Bruce from Speed Connection and Jason from Lake Effect.
Both races were very tight at the front between Robert Noell and champion Daryl Wills- with both Robert and Daryl running the new Hoosier tires it was one of the best races of the weekend. It was also tight throughout the field- the similar speeds of the FC and FE cars made it interesting as each car had areas on the track with an advantage.
The different driving styles of Daryl and Robert were on display as Daryl showed his experience with sprint cars and excellent car control by playing toss and catch with the car while Robert drove extremely smoothly throughout both races with the car showing barely a wiggle- the aero setup was also different as Daryl ran a lot of wing while Robert had less. This led to a battle between the two different ways to go fast---
These were two of the closest races of the weekend and certainly with the most laps completed of any groups- a testament to the skill level of the drivers involved.
But ultimately Robert Noell was able to win both races by a convincing margin.
In the first race Wills was under pressure from Noell and attempting to pass a car in the slow turn seven when he was forced over the curbing by the car he was passing which damaged his sidepod and forced his retirement-- an unfortunate event as the battle was epic until that point with Noell playing cat and mouse behind Daryl attempting to force a mistake or take a passing opportunity.
In the second race the two went head to head through the entire race with Noell taking the lead part way through the race. Wills was close behind and both drivers put on a driving clinic as each turned in very quick and mistake free laps one after the other. Close to the end of the race Wills was really pushing through the fast and difficult turn one at Road Atlanta with the car hanging the tail out while Noell drove a similarly quick but tight line ahead. The race was decided when Wills pushed a little too hard attempting to catch Noell and went off in excess of 100 mph at turn 1. I don't know how he didn't catch the wall continued to a second place while Noell captured the victory with a flawless drive.
The Majors format and lack of any significant yellow flags was a great way to the best FM drivers of the country race head to head-- congratulations to Robert Noell on winning both Majors races at Road Atlanta!!!
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