Round 3 of the WERC Series at Buttonwillow

Please welcome and meet Divaspeed new team member, Karen Salvaggio. Karen races in the Factory Five Challenge Series with NASA, and you can usually find her on top of the podium in her class. Karen also owns the Thunder Valley Racing website (www.thundervalleyracing.com), a showcase for women racers in all aspects of racing.

Our sponsor for Round 3 of the Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC) series was Cynthia Campagnale at Race2Learn. Cynthia is a remarkable person with a warm heart and a passion for all things racing The Race2Learn program is designed to bring children and racing together in a learning environment, teaching children math and science concepts through motorsports. It is a fabulous concept, and Cynthia is doing remarkable work with children. To learn more, please visit her website at www.race2learn.com.

Ron Carroll prepared Divaspeed's Acura Integra and gave us a perfect winning car to race in the E-2 class. The day started with Karen getting up to speed in practice and finding her shift points around the track. Karen has driven Divaspeed's car only once for a test day at Reno Fernley Raceway, so it was important for Karen to take the practice session. She did a terrific job, and by lap 3 Karen was already up to enduro speed and had the car all figured out.

Next up was qualifying, and Divaspeed team owner Donna Gilio ran a smoking fast 2:03 flat by lap 2 of the session, qualifying the car on the pole in E-2. Donna came in and reported that the car was working great. The team was ready, and had prepared a good car for the 6 hour enduro. The weather was fantastic in Sunny Southern California, with the temperature hovering around the 80 degree mark.

Team Divaspeed decided that Karen would start the race and drive the first half, then Donna would take the last leg of the race. Each girl was slated to race 3 hours each with only one planned driver change. T here was 40 cars on the grid and Divaspeed was at 11 th place overall. As time approached for the start, the team got the car to grid 1 minute late and NASA cut-off grid positions. Divaspeed lost their qualifying position and Karen started from the back of the pack! No big deal though, as when the green flag fell, Karen piloted the Integra through traffic and within a few laps, she had moved Divaspeed up to P-3. Karen drove smart as kept a consistent pace, all the while c onserving the Hankook tires and Colbalt Friction brakes.

Karen's radio was not working and the team lost all radio contact with her soon after the start of the race. She came in for the first fuel stop around the 1hour 20 minute mark and reported feeling a small vibration coming from the front. Ron did a quick look over the car, but could not find anything noticeably wrong with the car. Karen went back out and moved Divaspeed into the lead. After about an hour more of driving, Divaspeed was still in P-1, up two laps on the competition. Karen came in and was still reporting a vibration. With no active communication system, the team decided to put Donna in the car to give Karen an opportunity to get her helmet radio repaired so she could get back in the car near the end of the race.

By the time Donna drove off the grid, Team Divaspeed was down 2 laps and running in P-4. Donna's radio was working though, and with good communications, Donna put her head down and starting working her way through traffic, all the while driving at a consistent pace of 2:07's. The car still had a vibration problem, but it wasn't severe enough to threaten the team's chance of the car breaking down. Donna reported that it might be a flat spotted tire, but was not sure. Donna felt that the car would make it all the way through the grueling 6 hour enduro. By the 4 hour mark, Donna worked her way from a 2 lap deficit to recapturing t he lead in E-2 Class!! It was smooth sailing for the rest of the race.

Divaspeed performed quick fuel stops and one tire change, and kept Donna in the car. As the end of the race approached, Donna radioed the pit wanting to put Karen back i n the car for the checkered, but Karen, being a smart team player, decided that it was more important to not take a chance on anything happening and to just keep Donna in the car to the finish.

By the end of the grueling 6 hour race, Donna piloted the Race2Learn sponsored Divaspeed Acura Integra across the finish line in 1 st place in E2, and 13 th overall. Team Divaspeed won by 3 full laps on the 2 nd place finishing E-2 car!

Divaspeed would like to thank Cynthia Campagnale from Race2Learn for all of her support. If it were not for Cynthia stepping up to the plate for us, we would not have been able to make the race.

Thank you Karen for driving with us. You're a wonderful team member and player.

Thank you Ron Carroll for preparing Divaspeed with the best E-2 car in its class out there.

Donna's Thunder Valley Racing Profile | DivaSpeed's Website

Karen's Thunder Valley Racing Profile

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