January 13, 2002 – Amy Ruman Qualifies 3rd in GT-1 at Moroso National
but Falls out in Race with Transmission Problems
Niki Ruman Finishes 18th in Large Spec Racer Field
West Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 13, GT-1 — Amy Ruman, in her second straight weekend of GT-1 competition, continued to demonstraight her affinity for the GT-1 class. Ruman finished 3rd last weekend at the SCCA national event at Sebring, her first GT-1 race. This week, at the 2.2 mile Moroso course, Ruman swapped best times with a tight group of the five fastest cars in the class, posting the fastest time in the second qualifying session. Ruman qualified 3rd for Sunday’s race. The first two laps had close racing at the front. Ruman moved into 2nd place and began to close on Phil Simms in 1st. But Ruman’s race ended early, on lap 3, when the transmission developed a problem.
“We had a great car today. I was running pretty good all weekend and I really thought we had a chance of winning today. I lost one position on the start – but it didn’t bother me. I was just going to wait until someone made a mistake to make up some positions. Then the guys in front of me, Sean Murphy and David Machavern, got real loose coming on to the front straight. I was able to hold on and just get underneath both of them. Next time buy, I was catching Simms and then I felt something wrong in the transmission, that’s when I pulled off at turn 2. Unfortunately, my day was done too early.” — Amy Ruman
West Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 13, Spec Racer — Niki Ruman competed in the Spec Racer class at Moroso, her first race of the season. Ruman qualified 23rd in the 37 car field. In a very clean, competitive race, Ruman finished 18th.
“This was one of the best races I’ve been in lately,” said Niki Ruman. “I was always with at least three or four other cars who were running very close together. No one made any crazy moves. We studied each other’s driving styles, capitalized where we could, and just raced hard.”
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