OCT 24 – Lime Rock Park

Round 2 of the Mermaids Charity Sprint Series (MCSS) hosted by Prismatic Motorsports continued at Lime Rock Park, with Emily Howe leading in the point standings by 24 points over +MVT Racing driver Steven Carlile. Early practice sessions showed that many drivers had speed with less than 0.5 seconds separating the front 5, but it would be Howe topping the charts again and be tagged as the favorite for the weekend.

Qualifying / Race 1

The Prismatic Motorsports BMW of Emily Howe grabbed the pole and another 2 bonus points, setting a blistering sub 48-second lap, 0.3 seconds ahead of Lilac Zier. The +MVT Lamborghini of Steven Carlile followed by just .005 seconds in 3rd, with Kari Fox and Lia van Stevelen rounding out the top 5 starting positions.

A clean start in the first 45-minute race allowed Howe, Carlile, and Stevelen to break away from the field and quickly catch the back markers, slowing the pace of the top 3. Carlile saw an opportunity to take the lead from Howe, but pushed too wide on the exit of turn 4, clipping the grass with the left rear tire and sending himself off into the grass. To make matters worse, he struggled to get the car restarted and lost over 30 seconds to the leaders.

Howe continued to pull away from the rest of the pack, but a failed fuel strategy gamble opened the door for a new contender. With only a handful of laps remaining, she was forced to pit road and relinquished the lead to Kaitlyn Nash. A drag race to the checkered flag saw Nash scoring the victory over Howe in her first start in the series, by only 0.05 seconds. Zier came back to grab the final podium spot in 3rd, while Stevelen and Carlile crossed the line in 4th and 5th.

Race 2

The final 45-minute event started off with a bang and a thud, as contact between Carlile and Stevelen going into turn 1 sent Carlile spinning, collecting Zier in the process. Both cars would eventually make it back on track with minor damage and a large deficit to overcome.

Kass Silliman led the field for more than half of the race, followed closely by Elise Main, Laura Wiseman, and Emily Howe, but a pit road speeding penalty cost Silliman the lead and ultimately a podium finish. Howe grabbed the lead from that point forward and managed a comfortable margin of victory.

Carlile and Zier, fighting back from the incident on the first lap, scored the 2nd and 3rd podium positions, with Silliman and Dakota Canaday crossing the line in 4th and 5th.

At the end of round 2, Emily Howe extends her point lead over Steven Carlile by a large margin, but the gaps for the remaining positions have tightened. The series is off next week, but returns to action at Brands Hatch on November 7th.

Final Results

Race 1: P5 /// Race 2: P2

Point Standings after Round 2

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Emily Howe	101
2	Steven Carlile	58
3	Lilac Zier	49
4	Elise Main	31
5	Kari Fox	28
6	Claire DeLuca	28
7	Kaitlyn Nash	25
8	Lia van Stevelen	24
9	Rebecca Rennie	22
10	Dakota Canaday	14
11	Kass Silliman	14
12	Leah Nudle	9
13	Judith Cooper	4
14	Laura Landry	2
15	Mickie Rubock	1