MILLVILLE, New Jersey, September 3, 2021 --- Bobby Krug claims a sixth place finish and steals a podium finish in his second and third race in the Skip Barber Formula Series at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Weather threatened the area but fortunately, all on-track sessions were ran in dry conditions. Krug placed ninth in the first practice session with a time of 1:12.929 around the Lightning layout - over six seconds slower than the fastest time. After a video review session with Skip Barber instructor Carter Fartuch, Krug picked up the pace in the second practice session but still placed ninth with a fast lap of 1:09.665 - now only two seconds back from the fastest driver. The track slowed down into Qualifying 1 due to a massive head wind down the straightaway and Krug maintained similar pace but found an extra position and qualified seventh for Race 1. Krug qualified sixth for Race 2 in the shortened Qualifying 2 session.
"My focus for first practice was to identify the racing line and find comfort in the Formula car, as it's been over four months since the last race," Krug said. "Carter identified my problem areas and I was able to successful resolve them and the time improvement shows that."
The start of Race 1 was not ideal for Krug as he started in the seventh place spot and lost two positiond through turn 1. One spot was regained as a driver went off-track into turn 7 also on lap 1. Krug kept his head down and continued to find speed and was able to run down and pass Jimmy Dai and Akshay Bohra to finish sixth place in Race 1. Krug's fastest lap, 1:08.255, was ran on lap 17 and was eight tenths off of the top spot.
In Race 2, Krug had a intial start but lost positions by the end of lap 2. The driver of the No. 3 Skip Barber Formula car gained two spots through the first corner but was passed back by Jeshua Alianell into turn 7. Krug continued to lose positions as he was passed by Akshay Bohra down the front stretch and Will Lambros into turn 2 but regained positions from both drivers as they made contact into turn 7. Krug, running in fifth, continued to trim down his time and gap to Nikhil Bohra in the fourth place spot. After an attempted pass into turn 1 and turn 7, Krug passed Nikhil Bohra for the fourth place position into the Light Bulb. The caution flew a couple laps later as third place driver, Alianell, locked up the tires and went off track at the end of turn 7; ultimately ending his run at a podium and moving Krug up to third place spot. The restart bunched up the field as Krug restarted behind not only the top 2 drivers but immediately behind the lapped car of Robert Perimutter.
The green flag flew and Krug had a fantastic start and drove around Perimutter and pulled away with the top 2. The session went back under full course caution due to an incident in turn 1 of the restart towards the rear of the field. The 30-minute clock ran out before the race could be restarted, ending the race under the yellow allowing Krug to secure his first ever podium finish in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in only his third start.
Catch all of the content from the Skip Barber Race Series on the ATA Network YouTube channel. For more information on Skip Barber Racing School and their race series, check out their website at https://www.skipbarber.com/!
If you or someone you know is interested in partnering with the Bobby Krug Racing Team for 2021, please contact us at atabobby@gmail.com! Bobby Krug Racing Team would like to thank their private investors, sponsors, and partners: Skip Barber Racing School and Global Force Kartsport.