WATKINS GLEN – 30 JANUARY 22

The 2nd round of the Mermaids Charity GT3 Series from Watkins Glen presented some difficulty for the team over the weekend. While Chris Nolte was able to secure P2 in race 1, it was the only positive takeaway for +MVT Racing.

It looked as if Nolte and Carlile would both take podium finishes in P2 and P3, but Carlile’s car faded in the closing laps and was unable to maintain the position, falling back to P5, just ahead of Matt Zee in P6.

The lack of straight-line speed for the team led to some last-minute setup changes for the drivers, each taking their own approach to remedy the situation in race 2.

Nolte and Zee struggled at the start, unable to make it through traffic and making contact with a few cars in the process. Carlile pushed towards the front and took the lead soon after, and pulled away from the field by over 2 seconds before pit stops began.

As the pit stops cycled through, it looked as if Carlile’s new setup was the answer for the team’s race 1 woes, resuming the lead of the race by a steady margin. However, as the laps went by, the handling of the car went away abruptly. The car was on edge, and with less than a handful of laps remaining, lost grip entering turn 1 and spun out. Carlile’s lead vanished, and he fell back to P6 before finishing.

Nolte and Zee were unable to make up much ground after their early struggles, finishing P4 and P9 respectively.

Final Results

CARLILE – Race 1: P5 /// Race 2: P6
NOLTE – Race 1: P2 /// Race 2: P4
ZEE – Race 1: P8 /// Race 2: P9

Top 5 Driver Points

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Emily Howe	70
2	Mira Schmitt	53
3	Chris Nolte	51
4	Bree Widner	50
5	Steven Carlile	45

Top 5 Team Points

Pos	Team	Points
1	Prismatic Motorsports	131
2	+MVT Racing	120
3	Go For The Gap Racing	59
4	Fitzpatrick Racing	29
5	Prismatic Academy	29