Varco holds his own against fierce British field in nail-biting BRSCC season opener
21 March, 2022
(Milton Keynes, UK) Two days after racing at Circuit of the Americas, a Formula 1 Track in Texas, SCCA racer Austin Varco strapped into a race-prepped Mk. 1 MX-5 and launched out of pit lane at the fabled Silverstone Circuit.
Jet-lagged and driving on the wrong side of the road, Varco’s first experience against the U.K.’s tightest competition stood out. Shuttled onto the track for the first time, Varco had a total of 20 minutes to practice and qualify for the first race of the day. “I was basically just hoping to one-up last place. That would be a major win for me.” Varco said, while lamenting on how his hand hurts from attempting to shift with his right hand and nailing the door card. Varco ended up qualifying 26th of 79 cars.
Starting 26th, Varco clawed his way through the pack of angry MX-5’s to finish a fair 19th by the end of the 20 minute sprint. “I could focus my energy on the shifting because we use the same brakes in the U.S. — so at least we were faster into the corner, but not so much in it or out of it…”
Picking off some positions at the start of Race 2, Varco found himself running just outside the Top-10 of Britain’s fiercest competitors. Fighting for 11th, Varco and two competitors went three-wide into Village. None of them giving an inch, Varco was caught up in the middle and took some damage on his Close Racing Mk.1 MX-5, ending his run early. After a trip to pit-lane and some banging of the hammer, the last half of the race was spent fighting back onto the lead lap, finishing 34th.
Read more about Close Racing’s program at closeracing.co.uk.