Mary Katharine Racing

Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida

January 6, 2007

As the sun rose and the fog slowly burned off Sebring International it was clear that the 2007 SCCA Club racing season was underway beginning as always with the year's first National race in the sunshine state.

First order of business for Mary was to qualify her freshly painted orange #20 Spec Miata for Sunday's SCCA National event around the historic 3.6 mile track.

As she left the grid Mary was determined as ever, but after six qualifying laps quick wasn't enough.One lap to go was the call on the radio" hang it out and give me your best lap,attack every corner" requested the Crew chief. Mary responded with one of the best laps of her career putting #20 on the front row a mere 9/100ths of a second from pole position. Needless to say the team was elated and the crew felt rewarded for their efforts.

Next up was the Improved Touring race in the afternoon, another good qualifying run placed Mary second on the grid in ITA next to her teammate. A rare suspension failure took the Kumho Tires/Leira-Ronie Motorsports Acura Integra out of the race early leaving it up to Mary to get the job done for the team. After storming into the lead and staying there for 4 laps Mary relinquished the lead to the Neon of Eddie Cao but fought back hard and regained first place holding on for her first win in ITA. A great way to end the day, now it was off for some well deserved rest and preparation for the National.

Race day brought clear sunny skies and picture perfect race conditions. The team had worked hard all weekend dialing in the setup, it was now all up to Mary.

As the green flag flew at the start of the race a missed shift dropped Mary from her well earned second starting spot all the way back to position eight. "I can't believe it " Mary exclaimed over the radio , however there was no panic. It was time to go to work as Mary set torrid pace of consistently fast laps dragging herself back into the fight , lap after lap she improved until on lap nine she was fighting for third a two lap battle ensued with Mary finally coming out on top as she brought her car home to a hard fought third place. "I knew I just couldn't give up. I am very happy to be on the podium after the start I had" said an exhausted Mary as she climbed from the car. Crew chief Paul Ronie was just as happy "that was a great way to start the season, Mary just never stopped pushing, I can't ask for more from a driver, I am very pleased with her effort".

Mary now has a couple of weeks off before returning to action at Moroso in West Palm Beach taking part in a six hour ECR endurance race on January 18. Stay tuned...