What a difference a day makes. Saturday’s weather at Sonoma Raceway is much cooler than was Friday’s scorcher – a cloudy 64F degrees with 96 percent humidity but no chance of rain. The breeze is gentle. These new conditions will prove interesting for the mid-morning IndyCar practice. Saturday afternoon is scheduled to be quite hot for IndyCar qualifying for Sunday’s GoPro Sonoma GP.
Graham Rahal was the first driver in the long paddock queue waiting to go on track for practice, in his No.15 Steak ‘N Shake Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda. His fiancee, NHRA Funny Car driver, Courtney Force, was on hand to cheer on Rahal, who is going for the 2015 IndyCar Championship. He currently is 34 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya/No.2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet
The support groups took to the track early morning for their respective qualifying sessions.
In the NASA Formula Car Challenge Race #2 Qualifying, Hunter Picket took the pole position at 1:33.922. Fridays Race #1 winner, Cabot Bigham will start second in Race #2 scheduled after IndyCar practice.
A field of 25 cars in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS category qualified Saturday morning for their Saturday afternoon races. Andy Lee/No.20 BestlT Racing Chevrolet Camaro. His top lap was 1:40.961/85.042 mph. This is a new track record for this class.
There are Justin Wilson tribute and inspirational articles seen/sold throughout the paddock. The IndyCar Merchandise Tent has been doing a brisk business with the Justin Wilson T Shirts and decals. The 3,000 shirts sold out, as did all the decals – all within a couple of hours. Those articles are available online, with all proceeds going to the Wilson Children’s Fund.
