On Mother’s day of the double header weekend, Ken qualified 3rd and Brian in 5th for the SM race. Ken pulled off a 1st in the MARRS point (2nd overall) with Brian earning 4th (5th overall). Scott qualified 2nd and finished with the win. The weekend yielded great points for the team RP: Ken is leading the SM MARRS series with Brian right behind him in 2nd. Watch for them to continue this domination at MARRS4 at the end of the month.

We had great weather for the SARRC/MARRS double header at VIR over Mother’s day weekend. The RP team continued their performance from MARRS1 and took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, in MARRS points in the SM race on Saturday. Brian qualified 4th after realizing a problem with his car and switched to the backup car to finish 4th overall and 3rd in MARRS. Tom Bourne started 2nd and got hit on the start going through turn 1 but kept it together to ran a few laps with Ken and the rest of the leaders and lay down a personal best time of 2:20.8. Ken put the car on poll with his best lap to date: 2:20.3 and stayed out in front to finish in 1st. In SSM, Steve Hunt was off to a great first time race at VIR until another car spun in front of him going into Rollercoaster leaving him nowhere to go and ended his race weekend. Kevin Hutchens was also a first timer at VIR in his SRX7 and finished his 2nd race on his novice permit to get signed off on his license. The Sunday race had a crazy start, some of which has been captured on this video.
Saturday Race Results: SM Race SSM/SRX7 Race 
Sunday Race Results: SM Race SSM/SRX7 Race 

The first NASA event at Summit Point this year was a hot 95+ degree 40 min race. Bret got back out on track for some fun in between supporting two customers (an SM and HPDE driver). He drove the #72 rental car through traffic to 1st place finish after qualifying 3rd. He almost missed his chance to hug the NASA trophy girls (who smelled good) after he misread the last lap flag and slowed down into turn 1 only to realize the two cars behind him were still racing hard. He figured it out quickly and got back into it to keep the lead for the final lap, managing to be one of the few that was not lapped by the PT class cars.

RP picked up where we left off last year and the first race weekend gives us a strong start to the 2009 Season. On Saturday, Ken was fighting with transmissions problems and got caught up with another car under the bridge into turn 10. Brian finished 5th after struggling with mechanical issues as well. The RP team worked hard to get both cars in working order for the Sunday race and it paid off: Ken started in 3rd and Brian in 6th and they finished in 2nd and 4th respectively. Ken was running 3rd but passed Mike with one lap to go to take 2nd while laying down a hot lap of 1:27.6. In SSM: Scott had a great finish in 2nd on Saturday. In Sunday’s race he started in 4th and battled with Ed York in a two car race for 2nd place until his far fell off pace with mechanical issues. He kept it together and finished a respectable 19th in a 54 car field.
Race Results: SM Race SSM Race 

Steve Hunt is finally fulfilling a lifelong dream to go racing. After a false start twenty some odd years ago he’s finally putting all the pieces together for the 2009 racing season. He started doing BSR track days four years ago in a Dodge Neon but soon realized the Mazda Miata was the best way to go racing and now owns three of them, including the SSM race car that he built last winter. He was competitive in his first SCCA driver’s school last fall and will also attend the spring driver’s school on his way to starting his first race season. He also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Bret and his whole crew; you guys are a class act.

Thanks for the loan of the transmission this weekend. Not many folks would be so kind to a competitor! Thanks again, see you in New Jersey. Read the rest of the well deserved thanks on the Spec Miata forums…

I’ve been using RP Performances services for over a decade and they just keep getting better and better. Bret and his team are not only knowledgeable championship caliber racers but are fun and friendly to work with.

RP Performance has been one of the primary reasons I’ve stayed interested in racing a Spec Miata. Bret de Pedro and his staff’s intimate knowledge of these cars and their dedication to RP Performance’s customers has been excellent. RP Performance has made it easy to travel to neighboring track events with both their logistical and mechanical support at very reasonable prices. RP Performance has never ignored a problem no matter how minor or inconvenient the issue may be. They know Miata’s!!!!!!

I’ve rented cars from RP Performance for several driving events at Summit Point and they have always been well prep’d. Prior to each event Bret went out of his way to setup the car to my driving preferences and provided a detailed briefing on the car’s capabilities. One event was during Hurricane Hannah, and while it was amazing that the event was run under those conditions, Bret had the car ready to go and well prep’d. During another event, when I had some driving technique questions specific to the Miata, Bret grabbed one his instructors and we went out for a few laps of instruction gratis. Kudo’s to Bret and I intend to rent cars from Bret during the 2009 season!!!

I can attest to RP Performance as being one of the best Spec Miata race car builders in the country. Bret built two Spec Miatas for me and he has never let me down. Both race cars were fast right out of the box. The service and support I get from Bret DePedro, Kenny Zalner, and Brian Zalner (three class winning champions) is priceless. I can remember when I was in racing school at the Point my transmission blew up. I could not finish school without a race car…Bret put the #90 on jack stands and replaced my tranny during lunch break enabling me to complete the school with flying colors. I will continue to use RP Performance and I guarantee that the #90 will be a force to be reckoned with in 2009 thanks to RP Performance. Thanks Bret..