Rain hurts performance of Performance Tech at Mosport - Speedway Digest

It was a rough day in the rain for Performance Tech Motorsports at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for Round 8 of Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda. Early morning storms Sunday, July 13, mixed with intermittent rain showers during the race, soaked the 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit at CTMP.

Robert Alon and Joel Janco fought through the rain to ninth- and 12^th-place finishes, respectively. A spin in Turn 2 pushed Janco back in the field. A mechanical problem ended Craig Duerson’s race early, an all-too-familiar problem for the team. Hayden Duerson was unable to continue after his car was damaged in an off-course excursion.

Team Principal Brent O’Neill acknowledged the challenges the rain presented but felt his team still made progress.

“The rain is a bigger challenge here because of how fast the cars are on this track,” O’Neill said. “We had a motor problem with Craig, and it started going south, so we decided to park it before it blew. Hayden was in a different car after his accident yesterday and just made a small mistake, and there you go. Robert Alon had an impressive race again. P9 first time racing in the rain. First season racing a car ever. It’s his fourth weekend ever in a race car.”

Performance Tech started all four drivers in Round 8 after a hectic Round 7 left Alon as the soul survivor of the four. The team worked until 2 a.m. (ET) to have a car ready for each driver. With a 9:50 a.m. start time, the team was back in action by 6 a.m. to prepare for the race.

Performance Tech Motorsports’ next Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda race weekend will be Aug. 9-10 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This weekend will include the No. 38 Dash Neighborhoods/Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge car in the TUDOR United SportsCar Challenge series. For event details, check imsa.com/series/prototype-lites/schedule.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.