{"id":6337,"date":"2022-10-19T15:58:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T15:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6337"},"modified":"2022-10-19T16:05:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:05:07","slug":"thomas-schrage-the-perfect-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6337","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Schrage: The perfect weekend!"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRANDS HATCH, England<\/strong> \u2013 Thanks to the Team USA Scholarship, I have made two trips across the pond to England in the last three weeks. It\u2019s been busy, for sure, and even though my last blog was only just over a week ago, there\u2019s so much has happened that I need to tell you all about!<\/p>\n

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Thomas barely had time to notice the fall colors at PittRace!<\/p><\/div>\n

This past weekend I completed my 2022 Formula Race Promotions F1600 season with a bang at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. After so much driving in England over the past few weeks, the transition back to my Rice Race Prep Mygale-Honda was a little rough initially, but once I knocked the rust off, I ended the final practice as the fastest car on the track with terrific speed. Qualifying also went well. I had the magic lap that lined us up on the pole for Race 1, but I knew the toughest part of the weekend was still ahead, especially since I entered the weekend’s first race \u2013 of three \u2013 with a championship battle closer than I would have liked. I needed to do my best not to let the points gap close and I did just that. After a close battle up front with eight other cars in the early stages, I took off for an 11-second lead at the checkered.<\/p>\n

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Three poles, three wins and three fastest race laps!<\/p><\/div>\n

The first win was the turning point that stretched my points gap far enough to make the rest of the weekend easier, but I kept pushing anyway. In the next race, I led from green to checkered with a 15-second advantage this time. The second win of the weekend locked up the championship and it was time to celebrate. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my back.<\/p>\n

The final race on Sunday afternoon was an opportunity to take everything in one last time. Once again I started from the point and did my best to break away. I managed to build a nine-second lead, only for the Safety Car to join us on track with five laps to go. For the first time all weekend, I would be challenged from behind at the end of a race. I knew I had to keep everyone behind on their toes to pull off another win, and it all came down to a two-lap shootout. I held on to my ninth win of the season and third of the weekend.<\/p>\n

During my flight back to the UK after the race on Sunday night, I found myself asking which win from this season was my favorite. It truly was a hard question but it had to be my very last race just a few hours earlier. I will always look back at the 2022 championship and remember when I stepped into the blue #01 Rice Race machine for the very last time with no limitations or championship involved.<\/p>\n

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Thomas (center), Ayrton Houk (left) and Hugh (brother of Max) Esterson filled the top three positions in the F1600 championship.<\/p><\/div>\n

This championship means so much to not only myself but the whole Rice Race Prep crew! It\u2019s finally setting in that this isn\u2019t just a championship, but a symbol of all the hard work our team put in all year long. I believe the key to my success this year is the same one that has helped me through my whole career, just simply wanting it so badly, knowing I won\u2019t let it slip away.<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh weekend has prepared me for the Formula Ford Festival in ways most might not think of. From my perspective, the benefits were all mental. Not only did I fly back to the States after winning a championship but I was able to learn so much after a week of driving in England. I\u2019m more confident than ever, knowing I\u2019m driving better than ever, and the Formula Ford Festival is this week!<\/p>\n

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Brands Hatch. Paddock Hill Bend. Wow!<\/p><\/div>\n

I arrived at Brands Hatch Circuit for the first time on Tuesday, and wow! The track is amazing and has so much more banking and elevation than I realized. Videos do not do it justice. This track will be a completely new experience and will be incredible to race on. Thanks to Racecraft1, I have had my fair share of laps on the sim over the past month to prepare.<\/p>\n

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Ready to go for this weekend!<\/p><\/div>\n

We also had a couple shots taken of us with our Team USA Scholarship cars and gear. The cars look absolutely fantastic, I would even say the best on the grid. We also put on our Team USA Scholarship suits for the very first time and I felt like a new person!<\/p>\n

Today we started testing and my first laps did not disappoint. I continued my fast pace once again and I\u2019m looking forward to the next five days here chasing the gold! I want to thank all the Team USA Scholarship supporters and will make sure to keep everyone updated throughout the whole Festival week.<\/p>\n

From the UK,
\nThomas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRANDS HATCH, England \u2013 Thanks to the Team USA Scholarship, I have made two trips across the pond to England in the last three weeks. It\u2019s been busy, for sure, and even though my last blog…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,5,195],"tags":[117,191,188,68,119,110,203,132,114,113,121,204,207,206,198,111,208,205,66,190],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6347,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337\/revisions\/6347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}