March 9, 2016.  Well we are finally home from the season opener of the Pirelli World Challenge at the Circuit of the Americas.  Unfortunately we don’t have much good news on the racing front but the event itself was a huge success.  First, the bad news.  Our #16 Berg Racing Mazda MX-5 had a couple of set-up issues that we weren’t able to resolve before the test day on Thursday morning. The series gave us an 8am testing session after most of us just got there the night before.  So, since it was a new car to us & Jay had never been in it , the session would essentially serve as a bit of a shakedown for us so we could find out what changes we would need. But he said the car felt good & he had steady lap time improvements throughout the day.  Although everyone in each class felt that the track was much slower than last year.  No one even came near the same lap times.  Friday morning started the official practice sessions and by then the team had worked out the known issues.  But then on the last lap of the practice session there was unexpected wheel spin during a downshift as Jay was entering turn 12 where he slipped into the grass & then into the wall, ripping off the nose and bending the steering arm. Luckily he was safe but the car had too much damage to fix before qualifying a couple hours later that day.  So, since he couldn’t qualify the rules say you must start at the back of the pack for the race. The race began, and on the first lap, again at turn 12, the ABS failed.  This meant that the brakes locked up which made him unable to slow down quick enough & lose all control of steering at the same time.  A competitor was coming around him from the outside and Jay had no where to go. He gave competitor Daniel Williams a big side swipe taking him out of the race. The series determined that this was “avoidable contact” and radioed to our crew chief that Jay would have to serve a drive through penalty as a result.  With a crumpled front bumper he continued on with the race.  Somehow Jay was able to finish the race in 10th, but a hard pill to swallow when you take someone else out of the race.  He went over to talk to Williams to assess the damage and apologize.  Later, after reviewing the video, Williams told Jay that he could see the smoke of the brakes locking up and understood that the contact was not intentional. Luckily Williams’ crew worked all night and was able to get his car in working order for the race the following day where he was able to pick up the Hard Charger award.
A funny little aside… during the autograph session a corner marshall came up to Jay and said “was that you over there in turn 12 locking your brakes? I saw you.  You deserve an award for being able to finish the race with all the damage that was done to your car afterward!”  Even though that’s not something he’s proud of, at least someone else witnessed the ABS failure as it happened so he knew he wasn’t imagining it.  However, his didn’t help him win the race or make the guilt of hitting someone go away.
Saturday would be the second race of the weekend.  Luckily the team at Berg Racing had an extra MX-5 bumper that they were able to put on the car.  It looked a little funny being a different color, but at least the aerodynamics wouldn’t suffer.  There was no practice in the morning and car placement on the grid was determined by lap times from race 1.  Unfortunately with Friday’s bad luck, Jay was back again at the back of the pack.  Race 2 would be a standing start which can really  be tricky for some cars.  But Jay had an amazing launch passing 4 cars from the start of the race.  But as the race continued, the car issues creeped up again and he could feel the ABS failure & some unwanted wheel shaking.  So, with the unsafe condition of the car he steadily finished the race, unable to push the car to the limits.  He finished 13th overall.  Not exactly the weekend we wanted, but that’s racing!! We know we have a strong team so the car will return to Rochester to get the bugs worked out.  Our next race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in May he’ll have the chance to prove what he is really capable of.
And now some good news. Â We were fortunate enough to join forces with Fuse Lenses as our primary sponsor and Regenexx Cayman as our associate sponsor. Both companies decided to come out to the opening weekend and neither had ever been to a race before. Â We were excited to be able to show them what racing is all about. Â We all remember the first time we saw a race live, and I can hardly name a person who didn’t fall in love with the sport after their first race. Â And I think I can easily say they both fell in love.
Fuse Lenses decided that they wanted to make their presence a bit larger at the race and we were all for it.  They set up a vendor booth a few yards down from where our team rig was set up.  Looking back that was a very smart decision.  Their booth was packed & lines were forming all weekend.  I don’t think the fans would have had a chance to see our race cars up close if the Fuse Lenses tent had been over by our rig.  For those that aren’t familiar, Fuse Lenses is a company that makes custom replacement lenses for sunglasses.  They decided to go all out and bring their lookalike VW bus all wrapped up with a retro Fuse Lenses logo & packed full of prizes to give away.  It was the star of the weekend.  At the booth they had giveaways for the fans both at the track and on social media.  You could stop by the booth and spin their wheel to win all sorts of prizes ranging from free lenses to hats to koozies and much more.  Fans were also able to go online to their Twitter or Instagram accounts with the hashtags #fuselenses and #pirelliwc to also take a chance at winning some free lenses or getting a discount on some lenses.  The guys at Fuse even brought their custom lense cutter to the track so that they could make lenses right there on the spot for people.  And on top of that they brought their engraver so lenses could be engraved with the Fuse Lenses logo or lightning bolt. Each lense is custom cut to be identical to the existing lense in your sunglasses.  I think the fans were amazed at how quickly and accurately it could be done. Everywhere you looked all weekend you could see people sporting their new colored lenses!  Go online to www.fuselenses.com to get yours!  They are very reasonably priced (averaging around $30).  Their database is full of many known sunglasses but if they don’t already have it then they will custom cut them for you.  And they have prescription sunglass lenses as well.  The crew at Fuse Lenses is planning on coming to most races with their cutter so make sure to stop by the tent for lots of free giveaways throughout the year!
Their marketing crew at Kanga Marketing was also found around the track all weekend. Â They took many cool still shots and videos. Â Some of the videos were even taken with their new 360 degree camera. Â Can’t wait to post those after they do some touching up back at the office.
Our other partners that came in full force were our friends at Regenexx Cayman. Â In short, they are a stem cell company out of the Cayman Islands that’s able to extract, store, and regrow your stem cells for a whole host of orthopedic diseases. Â We were fortunate enough to have 3 of their representatives come to the U.S. to see the first race and be a prominent presence at the track. Â I think I can safely say that they are hooked on racing as well! Â They had a booth over between our Berg Racing tent and our neighbors at Shea Racing as they were there to be partners for both of our teams. Â They had tons of goodie bags to give out with water bottles & informational leaflets. Â It was hard to keep up with putting together the giveaway bags because the crowds were so big! They are also running a promotion online currently where you can win $500 for answering a few questions. Â Go to www.regenexxcayman.ky/WIN500 for more details. Â They had a fun booth where people could stop by to learn all about the innovative procedures that they provide and also to take pictures with the beautiful island as a backdrop. Â Jay and I love the Cayman Islands and friendliness of the people and the crew at Regenexx Cayman did not disappoint. They are planning on coming to more races throughout the season so make sure to keep following us for details!
Keep following us here at our blog or visit our Facebook page for updates throughout the year!