{"id":11580,"date":"2013-08-06T22:56:57","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T02:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maineracing.com\/wp\/?p=11580"},"modified":"2013-08-06T22:56:57","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T02:56:57","slug":"v-for-vorrilas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2013\/08\/v-for-vorrilas\/","title":{"rendered":"“V” for Vorrilas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"DSC_3702\"story by Chris Roy<\/p>\n

Alex Vorrilas of North Reading, MA is racing Legends in the Moat Mountain Road Course Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). This past weekend, Alex raced a double header on the road course at NHMS, getting his fourth podium finish this season.\u00a0 <\/span>Before the race, I sat down and spoke with Alex about his racing career: \u201cThroughout my childhood, there had always been racecars in my life, and for some reason I never seemed to express any interest in the sport. I competitively ski raced from the age to three to about eighteen, and loved playing soccer as a kid. Instead of helping my dad work on his 700 horsepower GT Endurance car, I would kick a soccer ball against our barn door while he tweaked and adjusted the engine. It seemed to be a tradition in my family to begin racing, since both my grandfather and my dad both attained their auto racing licenses when they were eighteen years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was fourteen, my dad asked me if I wanted to try karting, and I figured I would give it a try. I did an indoor summer camp, and really enjoyed it and did fairly well. From there, we did some indoor leagues and decided to buy our own kart for outdoor racing. We purchased an 80cc Honda shifter kart and auto-crossed for a number of years with the extremely kart-friendly Cumberland Motor Club, before getting into the 125cc Rotax Max class. From there, we again went back into shifter karts, and have run just about every class karting had to offer. Karting has given us the opportunity to race against some of the best drivers in the world, and provided me the opportunity to race in Europe and the UK and make some great lifelong friends in the process. We went from supporting our own program to owning and operating ApexKartSports, which is dedicated to providing on and off track support to karters. I never would have thought karting and racing would be such a big part of life as it is now, but it is a hobby and sport I can partake in for the rest of my life, and I am thankful I got into it when I did.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Alex has a lot of experience racing at NHMS, getting plenty of seat time in karts on the road course: \u00a0<\/span>\u201cRacing a kart on the road course at NHMS is unreal. Probably some of the most fun we had in karting was the few times we got to run the road course in a kart with the New Hampshire Karting Association. Unfortunately, in the Northeast, kart numbers are low and it\u2019s tough to get enough people to get an event on the full road course currently; but I know for a fact lots of guys are really looking forward to being able to run on the road course in the future. It\u2019s an experience everyone should get to have, and probably one that not enough people have had. I hope so see karts back on the full course again soon because karting is a stepping stone to cars and other forms of motorsports, and the skills you can hone develop in a kart are unmatched by anything else. It is really the first experience we had with drafting, and it allows you to really see how fast your kart will go. The speeds of the karts are probably not that far off from the Legends, and with no suspension in a kart you learn where all of the bumps are. So yes, I would definitely say my experience in a kart has helped.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A logical next step after racing in karts is moving up to a Legends Car:\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAbsolutely, Legends racing is a cheap and affordable way to go racing. It is definitely a natural progression to move from karts to Legends Cars. These cars are by no means easy to drive and we are learning that as we go. Every session out is a learning experience, and each time I become more comfortable with the differences Legends have to karts. Karts handle better, stop better, grip better, and in some cases, are even faster than Legend Cars, but this car is hands down one of the most fun things I have ever driven. All in all, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more kart folks make the jump to Legends, and I look forward to having more cars on the grid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex had a seesaw of a ride this season, with a double-header on the road course at NHMS two weeks ago, even though he finished the first race with a trip to the podium. The 59 Legends Car actually caught on fire in the second feature race. Alex is looking forward to getting his first win this weekend: \u201cI certainly hope so! Last race was probably one of the most disappointing races I have had to date, but that\u2019s racing and we are still learning. After last weekend, my head definitely wasn’t in the right place, but we are planning on coming back harder than before this weekend and getting back to victory lane with Betty Blue Nose where we belong. We have our sights set on that third place spot in the overall standings in the Moat Mountain Road Course Series, so we definitely need some good luck to come our way in the races ahead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Alex\u2019 success and problems have a pattern of occurring every other race – a great race on Saturday and early trip home on Sunday: \u201cSunday bloody Sunday\u2026 We seem to run well on Saturday and then everything seems to just fall apart every Sunday. I think we have only finished one Sunday thus far, so I am shocked to see that we are still seventh in the point\u2019s standings. This season has been tough though, to say the least. We went into the season just hoping to run mid-pack, cut our teeth into Legends Car racing, and bring home one trophy. To date, we have brought home three and definitely should have had a lot more. That third place spot in the Moat Mountain Road Course Series standings just seems to be slipping out of grasp a little at a time, but we are going to do our best to close the gap. I spent most of the week going over video from past weekend\u2019s trying to see how I can improve my driving, because I think that is what needs the most work right now. I am certainly hoping we have all of the gremlins worked out of the car and our streak of bad luck is over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing about racing on the road course at NHMS is the fact that there are two long straightaways, where the Legends Cars can pull up to one another and use the draft.\u00a0 <\/span>Essentially, the two cars split the wind difference between them: \u00a0<\/span>\u201cDrafting is huge, even more so in qualifying in my opinion. Two cars are always going to be faster than one, and it\u2019s a big advantage to have a teammate who runs similar lap times to go out and qualify with. Unfortunately, we are usually solo in qualifying unless we can catch a draft off another car, but we seem to end up in that third spot on the grid pretty regularly – so I guess we are doing something right\u2026 Regarding clean air versus dirty air; that\u2019s probably a question better answered by Shaun Buffington because he seems to have the market cornered on clean air.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When racing on the road course, the drivers have long straightaways, hills, left and right turns.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>All this factor in when setting up the car: \u201cSetup to us is still a fairly new with the Legends Car, but luckily Bob Weymouth has been a Godsend and has been showing my dad and I the ropes. I honestly can’t thank him enough for putting up with my endless questions on setup, and for taking the time to explain how to make certain changes, and how those changes will affect the car. I am the third generation in my family who has been involved in road racing, but never has anyone in my family raced something with such a short wheelbase. This is what makes the setup so confusing and difficult, but I’m sure we will get there eventually. With the long straightaways, hills, and some very slow speed turns it\u2019s definitely tough from a setup perspective. There is not much flexibility in the gearing that 600 Racing offers, and for a road course like NHMS, depending on which gear pack you choose to go with, you\u2019re going to have to give up a little somewhere. Until last weekend, we had only changed tire pressures, and got my brakes dialed in where I like them. We are one of the only cars running the new 2013 brake system, so it has been somewhat of a trial and error basis with that so far. With the format being a single joined practice and qualifying session it is tough to play with setup. I am not familiar enough with the car yet to make a big change and risk losing valuable spots on the grid when it comes to race time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most important elements in road racing is hitting your marks: \u00a0<\/span>\u201cHitting your marks lap, after lap, after lap is probably the most important part of road racing. Hitting your marks is how you become a consistent driver. You can be the fastest driver out there, but if you only have one fast lap and the rest are way off pace then it\u2019s useless. It\u2019s definitely easy to miss a braking point or turn-in point when you\u2019re racing hard with someone. I tend to drive with the same motto as Franco from Gumball Rally, where he rips the rear view mirror out of the car and says, \u2018What’s-a behind me is not important. You just need to focus on what is ahead of you and forget about that is going on behind and around you.\u2019 That\u2019s not to say I don’t check my mirrors, because I check them a lot! You just cannot let the mirrors drive the car for you. Missing your mark one turn can really throw off your rhythm for the next few turns and can result in someone taking the advantage and making a pass. That\u2019s not the time to throw a block on someone or do something rash, that\u2019s an opportunity to get back in your rhythm and work on setting up a pass.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex does a lot of work with kids getting them started in kart racing: \u201cKids are the next generation of racers. When my dad and I are not racing the Legends Car, we are supporting young and old karters at local karting events. We have learned a lot over the years in karting from numerous people and through trial and error. If we can help someone in any way to make their time in karting more enjoyable, we are going to do so. It would seem foolish to move on and not pass along some of the knowledge we have accumulated over the years. It\u2019s pretty awesome to see kids as young as five killing it in a kart. I wish I started when I was that young, but just to be a part of helping a driver develop themselves is a great feeling. When a young driver can go from telling you the whole go kart \u2018stinks\u2019 to being able to give you specific information on setup and how they are feeling a go kart react is fantastic. I look forward to continuing helping out in karting, and eventually racing some of these kids in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex would like to thank his sponsors \u2013 ApexKartSports, Checkered Flag Indoor Karting, Twocan Racing, Peachwave of Rowley, AMSOIL, Bob\u2019s Tire Grooming, Driven Steering Wheels, Moat Mountain Smokehouse and Brewing Co., Facility Maintenance Services, and last but not least, Mom and Dad.<\/span><\/p>\n

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story by Chris Roy Alex Vorrilas of North Reading, MA is racing Legends in the Moat Mountain Road Course Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). This past weekend, Alex raced a double header on the road course at NHMS, getting his fourth podium finish this season.\u00a0 Before the race, I sat down and spoke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,6,20,4],"tags":[1160,1339],"class_list":["post-11580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maine-racing-news","category-new-england-racing-news","category-nhms","category-latest-touring-news","tag-granite-state-legends","tag-nhms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}