On his way to Round 4 of the GRC Lites series at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Geoff Sykes spent two days at the RallyPro training center at The FIRM in Florida, honing his skills in asphalt and dirt transitioning. Sykes described it as “a very impressive facility with a wide range of surfaces and areas that were configurable to just the training that I was after.”
The coaching paid off as Sykes scored the fastest (non Joker) lap in the heat race. “I finally managed to get the car hooked up in the dirt turns and slide through all the transitions and maintain a strong exit speed,” said Sykes. “I was able to pick up a lot of speed I had been missing thanks to RallyPro at the FIRM.”
In the LCQ, Sykes started on the pole and chose the centre spot on the grid for the best choice of line into the first corner. However a false start by Benson caused Sykes to react slightly, with the result that his clutch was no longer pre-loaded, so when the green lights came on, Geoff did not get his usual dynamic launch. Both Ericksson and Nitiss beat Geoff through the first turns and Sykes maintained 3rd position during the four lap race.
“Overall, we had a great weekend,” said Sykes. “We had a great turnout, the Atlanta fans were very enthusiastic, and the racing was fun and exciting.”
With four races complete, Sykes is the only other series regular than Wiman (who has won every heat race and final) to have finished all the laps of every race he started in.
ABOUT RALLYCROSS AND GEOFF SYKES
Rallycross combines circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition with intense, crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment, featuring a challenging course that includes jumps, unbanked turns and changing track and surface conditions that can include dirt, gravel and wet asphalt.
Geoff Sykes is driving his first season in Global Rallycross, having come from an autocross and road racing background with multiple records and championships in the BMW CCA racing series, and is the current GT points leader in the US Touring Car Championship.
Sykes’ rallycross racing includes support from GetEnergyFX.com, Midnight Oil, RallyPro at The Firm, and DTV Solutions.
Photos: QNIGAN.COM
