Jezarian Turns First Laps of 2008
July 30, 2008–Gregory Jezarian and the G. JEZARIAN Fine Jewelry team held their first test of the 2008 season today at Summit Point Raceway in West Virgina. The private test day was ideal for learning the new chassis and refreshing the driver and team after a long respite. Gregory Jezarian adds, “It’s fantastic to finally be back in action. Our funding dried up substantially after rebuilding the new car, if it weren’t for the UnderRatedBook.com and Pier95.com sponsorship we wouldn’t be here today.”
Conditions at the track were extreme with temperatures approaching the high 90s and high humidy. “I’m actually glad the weather was so miserable. Testing the car and team in the worst conditions makes it easier to find any weak links.”
The G. Jezarian Racing team arrived a day early to load-in and reacquaint with a track they’d not seen sincee 2007. The Summit Point main circuit underwent considerable changes since last season. In October of 2007, the track owners smoothed out many bumps and repaved the entire track. The 2 mile long road race circuit boasts nearly 400ft in elevation change, a challenging mix of high speed corners and slower speed technical sections along with a 2900ft front straight enabling cars to reach top speed before heavy braking into the 50mph turn one. Jezarian added, “I drove the track on the pit cart today while Kris was setting the chassis up. I was concerned with the rippling in turn one right at the apex. It looks as if the higher weight cars had ripped up the fresh asphalt and then they’d patched it up several times. Last year I was able to get right on the curbing but with the patchwork I think I’ll have to stay a few feet off it to straddle to bumps”
At 8am Wednesday when the track went green for testing, Jezarian brought the car out for some reconnaissance laps: “I used the morning to get used to the new car. I noticed right off that it’s much harder to drive than the old car, yet more rewarding and certainly more comfortable. I feel as if the old car had more downforce so we tweaked the wings a bit and that put some Gurneys on the rear. This car is very sensitive to aero changes. I’m also trying to get used to running radial tires. We have to run a lot more camber in these than the old bias-plys but I do believe they have more initial bite in cornering and braking. By the afternoon when it got super hot out, our set-up went away and we developed a serious push. I softened the sway bar but she wouldn’t stick. A combination of the tire temps and weather got us. We’ll be working on how to correct that. All said and done, I’m really looking forward to running the 008 and with our new sponsors helping out, we’re all excited to go race.”
