May 12, 2008
4/22
CORR: Pomona Event Schedule
1/23
BITD: Official Parker 425 Course MapVildosola Racing finishes fourth
Small problems keep the team off the podium
After a year of absence, this past weekend the SCORE San Felipe 250 came back to its roots and the beautiful, warm town of San Felipe was again the host of another exiting chapter in the Vildosola Racing history books.
Vildosola Racing came in to their backyard on a clear mission, conquer at any cost the race victory and secure enough points to continue their quest for the SCORE Trophy Truck championship. The Red Army came out in full force, with over seventeen visual pits, five chase vehicles and two high speed attack vehicles positioned strategically on the course they were ready to attack. When the plans were finalized, the trucks rechecked and the meetings behind them the team was ready to take San Felipe and reclaim the glory of past years.
Vildosola Racing Trophy Truck #4 sporting their new sponsor, Red Bull, received the green flag three minutes after 10:00 am Saturday morning just outside the Arches in San Felipe. Team owner and driver Gus Vildosola was behind the wheel with navigator and ace mechanic Javi Valenzuela with the task of completing the first 93 miles to Morelia where he would hand over driving duties to Tavo. The challenge ahead of them was more than 232 miles of the most brutal terrain this beautiful peninsula has to offer.
The Ford F-150 marked with the emblematic #4 was off the line and with a clear mission, to deliver a clean truck to Tavo so he could continue the assault on the San Felipe 250. Gus noted, "We had a clean start and didn’t have any issues, we knew our competition going to be tough to beat; we tried to keep a good pace and ended up passing some of the guys with problems. The truck ran well and when it was all said and done for me I left Tavo a clean truck running physically in fifth."(he passed Cadiente, Sohren & Bobby Baldwin)
Vildosola Racing’s Trophy Truck arrived at the main pit area twelve minutes behind the race leader, the pace of the race was very fast but Vildosola was still within striking distance of the three ahead of him. The pit stop was flawless and they took on a full tank of fuel, two tires and a driver change in under one minute. At this point Tavo Vildosola took the controls of the teams’ Trophy Truck and was poised to track down the leaders.
Tavo started to make up some of the time lost immediately, visual pits were reporting that Trophy Truck #4 was gaining on their competition and the excitement grew as every mile went by. Before dropping into Matomi Wash, Tavo had passed a limping BJ Baldwin and Trophy Truck #22, running physically in fourth place and closing in on Chad Ragland in Trophy Truck #33.
"In terms of the crew, they did an excellent job, I cannot recall a race where everyone was so prepared, executed their assignments to perfection and kept me informed without delay of my position and that of my competitors. I knew that I was going to have to push hard to catch some of the truck in-front of me, realistically Collins and Post were a little out of reach, but that did not keep me from trying". Tavo commented
The battle for third place was raging on; Tavo was behind Chad Ragland only twenty seconds as they both dropped into Azufre wash. Tavo had made up more than three minutes in just seventy miles on the savvy veteran but bad luck struck when Trophy Truck #4 suffered two simultaneous rear flats at RM 182. What made matters worse was that the air jacks did not function properly reducing Tavo and Javi to use the manual jack. They lost approximately twelve minutes changing both tires and were at this point clearly out of contention for the podium.
After this Tavo continued to his next visual pit and stopped for a replacement tire, he know realized that it was impossible to make his lost time back up, so opting for a different strategy he decided to go for the finish and secure valuable points for the chase for the championship. This is not to say he was going to disappoint fans and spectators alike, he pushed forward as hard and fast as he could, living up to his reputation of leaving 100% out on the course and not ever backing down. Five miles before the finish, Tavo suffered another rear flat and stopped to change it with the help of a couple hundred fans. Minutes later Trophy Truck #4 crossed the finish line; beaten, battered and put through its paces in fourth place.
Vildosola Racing would like to thank their sponsors: Mexicana Logistics, Red Bull, Águilas Del Desierto, BFGoodrich Tires, Mastercraft, PIAA Lights, MSD, Papas & Beer, OGIO, MOMO & NTR Films.
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