Mateo’s final race of 2024 was back to Road America for the SCCA Runoffs. It was his first time at the event which is known for being a long one. Mateo did “Runoffs-lite” by forgoing the 3 days of practice and even the first of 3 days of qualifying. Had he started qualifying on Day 1, he would have been the first FF on the track by virtue of leading the Hoosier Super Tour points for the season. Instead, Mateo started Day 2 in the back because he didn’t have a time from Day 1. Even without a draft partner for qualifying, Mateo was able to get the 7th fastest time during the Wednesday session.
Thursday’s qualifying was more challenging as FF shared the track with F600. A yellow flag on lap 4 came on what should have been a solid flying lap. As a result, Mateo was unable to improve my position and would start the race on the inside of row 4.
The race was an eventful one. There were numerous lead changes. Mateo moved up from P7 to P4 by turn 5 on the opening lap. The lead group ranged from 4 to 8 cars throughout the race. On lap 10 of 13, another car on the outside of Mateo in turn 5, turned in earlier than him and went over his wheel. Fortunately, Mateo was able to rejoin the race in 7th but with a gap to the leaders with 3 1/2 laps to go. Some quick driving by Mateo, setting fastest lap of the race on lap 11, enabled him to catch the leaders and get back in the mix at the end of the race. Going into the final turn to the uphill finish, it was a drag race for second through fourth. Mateo finished 3rd on track.
Penalties assessed after the race, elevated Mateo’s final standing to second, just missing the win by 0.11 seconds. In addition to the podium result, Mateo was also hard charger, moving up from 7th to 2nd and set fastest race lap at 2.22.057, nearly 0.6 secs faster than the next fastest lap.
The second-place finish also clinched the second consecutive FF Hoosier Super Tour Championship for Mateo. As FF will no longer be run in most of the Super Tour events, it is likely that he will also be the last FF HST Champion as well.