VARA/SVRA Duel in the Desert Spring Mountain, Nevada

Transcription

1 VARA/SVRA Duel in the Desert Spring Mountain, Nevada February 5-7, 2016 story by Steve Gorwitz photos by Michael Phipps, MSD Photography #48 Ken Rodenbush, 1964 Volvo 1800S; #18 David Isaac, 1973 MGB; #917 Gus Gomez, 1971 Porsche 914; #471 Val Ascencio, 1968 Porsche April 2016 Victory Lane

2 Victory Lane April

3 #96 Dennis Ambayec, 1978 Lynx B; #6 Eric French, 2012 Vindicator; #00 Robert Rinck, 1969 Volkswagen Caldwell D13; #17 Rick Titus, 1972 Caldwell D-13. VARA kicked off its 2016 campaign with the Duel in the Desert, a joint event with SVRA taking place at the Spring Mountain #59 Tyler Butterfield, 1972 Royale RP-14. Motorsports Ranch in Parumph, Nevada, located an hour outside of Las Vegas. It s 50 April 2016 Victory Lane a fun circuit in a beautiful setting, and you can always count on some outstanding early spring weather in the high deserts this time of year, making for ideal racing conditions and also providing an opportunity to shake the cobwebs out as a new race season kicks off. Spring Mountain saw a reasonable turnout for this, the first event of the year, with practice sessions occurring on Friday, qualifying sessions and early races running on Saturday and final flag races on #19 Norman Marshall, 1978 Lola 440; #76 Dana Larsen, 1976 Merlyn Mk 29. #29 Michael Kelley, 1965 Ford Mustang GT. Sunday morning. The field were divided into six separate race groups for the weekend. which offered up lots of track time and lots of outstanding racing. GROUP 1 was the domain of Club Fords and Formula Fords, and John Barron s 1993 Van Diemen RF93 was the winner in the 6-lap flag race on Sunday, easing his way to a comfortable victory. A considerably closer battle for second saw Eric Little, 1986 Swift DB-1, coming out on top and reaching the finish line a couple of seconds ahead of the 1978 Lola 440 driven by Kinnon Marshall, who was also ranked as the top finisher in the CF class. GROUP 2, a collection of Porsches and sports racers, was highlighted by the outstanding drives of class winners Bob

4 Ericsson, Toyota WSR; Paul Deneen 1994 Toyota WSR; and the 1985 Porsche 944 driven by Scott Craig. GROUP 3 s 6-lap flag race on Sunday saw A.C. D Augustine, 1965 AC Cobra, pulling out a second win over Vincent Dean, 1965 Shelby Cobra. Running in the third position was Keith Kuchler, driving a 1974 Porsche 911 RSR. Among the assortment of BP-type cars, the fastest finisher was the 1965 Mustang 289 driven by Craig Skeels, who wound up finishing in fourth place overall. The fastest cars of the day were running in GROUP 4, with Phillipe Reyns turning the day s fastest lap mph in his 1974 Chevron B-27, while the best overall time belonged to group winner Brian Blain, averaging mph on his way to taking the chequered flag in a 1974 March 742. Finishing in second place was the 1985 Ralt RT-5 driven by Robert Merritt. In the third sport was Vincent Tjelmeland, 1980 March, while Reyns wound up finishing fourth. Alfas, Datsuns, and BMWs populated the #67 Brian Blain, 1974 March 742. grid for GROUP 5, with the top spot being claimed by Gregory Nitzkowski, 1972 Datsun 610. The race for second was an ever-so-close duel, with between a pair of BMW 2002s, #7 Deveraux Langdoc, 1977 Blakely Bantam; #37 Harris Koenig, 1987 Renault; #27 Tom Grossman, 1972 Datsun with Rob Bellevue s 1970 model eking out a narrow win over Ken Blasko s 1969 model. In another relatively close tussle, the BMW of Mark Francis claimed the fourth spot just ahead of Phil Eglin s 1972 Datsun 510. GROUP 6 fielded one of the larger groups of the final day, with 21 cars answering the call to the grid. The race was won by Steven Smith, 1969 Triumph GT6, with Tom Farrington taking the runner-up honors in his 1963 Elva Mk VII. The race for the final spot on the podium was claimed by David Isaac, 1973 MGB, who beat the 1965 Triumph of Mark Vaden to the line. #94 Frank Manning, 1964 Corvette; #32 Dennis Fitz, 1967 Corvette. Not a bad opening salvo to the season. VARA s British Extravaganza runs later on in this month, taking place Apr at Buttonwillow Raceway in Central California. #8 Fred Trueman, 1967 Porsche 911S; #13 Mark Vaden, 1965 Triumph. Victory Lane April

5 #9 Kevin Ayers, 1963 Triumph Spitfire; #471 Val Ascencio, 1968 Porsche 911. GROUP 1 1 FFN J. Barron/1993 Van Diemen RF93 2: FFN E. Little/1986 Swift DB-1 1 CF K. Marshall/1978 Lola 440 2: #35 Phillipe Reyns, 1974 Chevron B FFN B. Hatle/1984 Ford Swift db-1 1 EFF G. Fowler/1986 Swift DB-1 2: FFN G. Roberts/1984 Swift DB1 1 FF R. Jones/1969 Winkleman WDF1 2: CF A. Rogers/1982 Lola T640 3 CF D. Larsen/1976 Merlyn Mk29 5 FFN J. Reichert/1998 Swift DB6 GROUP 2 1 WSR B. Ericsson/Toyota WSR 2: WSR1 P. Deneen/1994 Toyota WSR 2: CR S. Craig/1985 Porsche 944 2: CR S. Neel/1984 Porsche CSR J. Bernheimer/1965 Bobsy SR-3 2: WSR2 D. Martinez/1994 Toyota 2: GROUP 3 1 AP A.C. D Augustine/1965 AC Cobra 2: AP V. Dean/1965 Shelby Cobra 1 GTO K. Kuchler/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 2: BP C. Skeels/1965 Mustang 289 2: #53 Rob Bellevue, 1970 BMW BPGT F. Manning/1964 Corvette 2: AP J. Bouzaglou/1973 Porsche 911 RSR 2 GTO G. Lemke/2006 Factory Five Challenge 1 BP1 R. Rinebold/1964 Kellison 2: BP M. Kelley/1965 Ford Mustang GT 3 BP T. Diaz/1965 Ford Mustang GT350 4 AP C. Hillman/1969 Corvette 3 GTO M. Brandhoff/1965 Cobra 2 BP1 J. Parille/1966 Ford GT GTX J. Ornstein/1985 Corvette 2: GROUP 4 1 F2 B. Blain/1974 March 742 2: FSV3 R. Merritt/1985 Ralt RT/5 2: FSV2 V. Tjelmeland/1980 March 2: F2 P. Reyns/1974 Chevron B-27 2 FSV3 P. Lisec/1985 Ralt RT/5 1 S2 R. Rich/1986 Swift DB-2 2: FC A. Johnsen/1972 Lola 320 2: SSB D. Jacobs/1971 Chevron B-19 2: FSV1 T. Butterfield/1972 Royale RP- 14 2: FB D. Chapman/1968 Brabham BT- 21B 2: GROUP 5 1 BS G. Nitzkowski/1972 Datsun 610 2: BSL R. Bellevue/1970 BMW : BSL K. Blasko/1969 BMW BS M. Francis/BMW 3 BS P. Eglin/1972 Datsun BS M. Rose/1971 BMW BSL R. Wolpow/1968 BMW BS R. Eder/1974 BMW BS T. Leeming/1973 Alfa Romeo GTV 7 BS B. Wass/1967 Alfa Romeo GTV 1 BSL1 G. Youdeem/1972 BMW : BS M. Thurlow/1971 BMW BS M. Kinna/1972 BMW 2002 GROUP 6 1 DP S. Smith/1969 Triumph GT6 2: CSR T. Farrington/1963 Elva Mk Vll 2: EP D. Isaac/1973 MG MGB 2: DP M. Vaden/1965 Triumph 1 GTL T. Grossman/1972 Datsun : DP G. Gomez/1971 Porsche DP J. Rodenbush/1966 Volvo P1800S 5 DP K. Rodenbush/1964 Volvo 1800S 2 EP T. O Brien/1967 MG Midget 6 DP D. Wallace/1964 Triumph Spitfire #29 Gary Fowler, 1986 Swift DB-1. 1 FV1 R. Titus/1972 Caldwell D-13 2: FV2 D. Ambayec/1978 B Lynx 2: FP K. Ayers/1963 Triumph Spitfire 3: FV3 E. French/2012 Vindicator 3: DSR F. Mons/1962 Elva Mk VI 3: FV1 R. Rinck/1969 VW Caldwell D13 3 EP R. Varner/1964 MG MGB 2 DSR S. Patterson/1952 Devin MG Special 7 DP D. Langdoc/1977 Blakely Bantam 8 DP V. Ascencio/1968 Porsche 911 Vintage Race Tires Our Specialty Racing Tires for SCCA, Vintage, Club Racing & Auto Crossing. Panasport Wheels - BBS Wheels - HRE Wheels Alignments & Cornerweighting By Brandon Kraus 2896 Grove Way, Castro Valley, CA Open M-F 8:30-5:30 Lunch Closed RACE (7223) - Fax EST April 2016 Victory Lane