HSR Spring Fling Sebring International Raceway, Florida February 17-19, 2017 48 April 2017 Victory Lane
#94 John Harrold, 1979 Chevron B23/36. www.victorylane.com Victory Lane April 2017 49
#25 Lawrence Huang, 2009 Oreca FLM09; #22 Jose Cortes, 2012 Caterham SP300R. story by Philip Pine photos by Larry VanScoy Sebring International Raceway is one of the oldest and most historic road racing circuits in the world, with numerous races of lore taking place since 1950. Built on an active airport photo by xxxxxx #41 Fred Mitchell, 1974 BMW 200. section, it hosts the 12 Hours of Sebring and it is one of the most recognizable names in racing. On a nice warm and sunny weekend in mid-february, the racing tradition at Sebring continued once again as more exciting races took place during the HSR Sebring Spring Fling event, comprised of interesting cars and a pool of talented drivers. With practice and qualifying done and dusted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday s events proved to be a spectacle on their own. The CLASSIC RS CUP, which was full of 911 s and RSRs, was a pretty straightforward race. Mike Banz, in his 1974 50 April 2017 Victory Lane Porsche 911 RSR started off in 1st place but ended up switching places with Todd Treffert and his 1974 911 before lap 2. Banz finished 2nd and Treffert finished 1st. Jeffrey Mitchell was in position of keeping 3rd place until a retirement forced him out before lap 8. As a result, Fred Schulte finished 3rd and Kathy Blaha finished 4th. The BOB WOODMAN TIRES INTERNATIONAL/ AMERICAN CHALLENGE featured a field which was dominated by the German Porsches and BMWs. America represented by Steve Piantieri and his 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2, while Japan was represented by the stronger-than-it-looks 1993 Mazda Miata belonging to Jose Garcia. Thomas Coryn the fighting 1965 MGB represented Britain s interest. Mike Banz in his 1974 Porsche 911 RSR ran away with first place from flag to flag, posting the fastest lap of the race at 2:19.705 and almost finishing the race a minute faster than the next-closest competitor. Fred Schulte in his 1973 Porsche 911 3000cc took 2nd place and never gave it up after Todd Treffert had to drop out from the race. 3rd place was snatched from Jeffrey Mitchell and his 1974 BMW 2002 by George Calfo in his 1965 Porsche 911 right before the end of lap 8. Kathy Blaha, flying from her start at 9th place, was not far behind on the same lap, passing up Mitchell and settling into 4th place while Mitchell and his 2002 finally scored his 5th place. There really is no replacement for displacement, and that 2002 tried its best to keep away from the jaws of the 911s. The H/P/GT MODERN ENDURO featured a field with cars such as a 2017 Porsche 991.2 Cup, a 2008 Riley DP, a 2009 Oreca FLM09, and a 2016 Ligier JS P3. The course of the race was intense, as numerous places swapped around and some drivers really rung out the best in the car. Steve White stole 1st place on the last lap from Victor Gomez in his 2008 Riley DP. Victor Gomez settled in 2nd place with a 2017 Porsche 991.2. Lawrence Huang settled into 3rd place with an Oreca FLM09. John Harrold started in 4th place and essentially kept his 4th place with a 1979 Chevron B23/36. Ted Giovanis in a 2016 #60 Thomas Coryn, 1965 MGB; #63 George Calfo, 1965 Porsche 911.
Porsche Cayman GT4, dominated the field, doing enough to score 5th place. Jose Cortes in his 2012 Caterham SP300R and Carlo Falcone in his 2010 Ford Mustang T/A were dueling it out for 5th place on laps 5 and 6, with Falcone ending up in 6th while Cortes landed in 8th place but had to drop out of the race on lap 13. Ted Giovanis was impressive, charging from 10th place and landing in 5th place in his 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4. This Saturday BRM VINTAGE/GT CLASSIC ENDURO consisted of 24 laps. With a great field of racers, it ranged from 1965 Lola T70 to a mighty 1993 Mazda MX- 5. One can only imagine what a Miata vs. a Lola T70 looks like in a duel. Toni Seiler in a Lola T70 shot out of the gate keeping his 1st place for the first 5 laps. After Seiler dropped to 12th place on lap 6, the speedy Mike Banz, already having moved from 11th to 3rd on lap 3, took advantage of this and grabbed 1st place with his 1974 911 RSR and held it until getting overtaken by Todd Treffert in his 74 911 on lap 15. Treffert was able to hold 1st for about 2 laps until Jeffrey Mitchell in his 1974 911 RSR overtook him. Eventually, the hard-charging Seiler kept calm, back from 12th to claim back his 1st place spot by lap 19 and ran away with it toward the end of the race. Mike Banz in a 1974 Porsche 911 RSR had a flying start and managed to snag 3rd place on lap 3 and 1st place for laps 6-14 before settling into 3rd place after a last second dice with Todd Treffert in his 1974 911 snatching 2nd. Mitchell settled with 4th place while Gabel rounded out the top 5 in 5th place in his 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe. There were some great dicing between George Calfo in his 1965 Porsche 911 and Fred Schulte in his 1973 Porsche 911 at the beginning of the race while fighting for 7th place, with Calfo eventually finishing 7th and Schulte settling for 8th. Jeremy Cooke in his 2008 BMW M3 GT4 started in 4th and was able to get 3rd place before having to drop out of the race by Lap 20. The Sunday GROUP 2/3/5 field consisted of well-prepped cars, including a 1969 Lola T70, a host of 911s, a pair of Miatas and #27 Jose Garcia, 1993 Mazda Miata; #41 Fred Mitchell, 1974 BMW 2002. www.victorylane.com #95 Steve Piantieri, 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2; #54 Scooter Gabel, 1999 BMW E36/8 Z3. near-identical Toyota WSRs. Tom Seiler in his Lola T70 shot out of the gate in 1st place and kept it from flag to flag. Todd Treffert in his 1974 Porsche 911 followed suit, keeping his 2nd place and Jeffrey Mitchell in his 1974 Porsche 911 RSR rounded out the top 3, closing off 3rd place over 20 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Georg Nolte in the 1966/14 Ford GT40 in 4th. 5th place was home to Fred Schulte s 1973 Porsche 911. Nolte did an excellent job in his GT40 passing up David Hinton and Fred Schulte all before lap 6 in order to solidify his standings in 4th place with a best lap time of 2:32.220. While Jim Pace and his 1973 Porsche 911 had a great start, moving up two spots in the first two laps, unfortunately, he had to pull off before finishing the lap, ending his race early. The GROUP 6/7/11 race on Sunday consisted of a small but action-packed field of pure-bred non-production racing cars. The age gaps were present. A 1979 Chevron B23/36 was the most senior of the group, while a 2016 Ligier JS P3 was the youngest of the bunch. Lawrence Huang, in a 2009 Oreca FLM09 took first place after swapping places with a hard-charging JC Perez in a 2016 Ligier JS P3. Jacek Mucha took 2nd place in a 2006 Swift JMS-016P. After a duel for 2nd place, L P Dumoulin, who started from 6th and flew through the field with his 2008 Riley DP, settled for 3rd place. Jose Cortes had a great drive from last place in his 2012 Caterham SP300R and went from 7th place to 4th place. The GROUP 9/10 Race on Sunday with a field of Porsches and a lonely Ford Mustang. Victor Gomez IV, in his almost-new 2017 Porsche 991.2 Cup car, led the pack from flag to flag, its position never threatened, #31 Fred Schulte, 1973 Porsche 911; #141 Todd Treffert, 1974 Porsche 911. especially since he posted the best lap time of the race at 2:09.446. Tom Herb, our 2nd place finisher, fell two spots almost immediately, getting overtaken by the Carlo Falcone in his 2010 Ford Mustang and Cliff Berry in his 2009 Porsche 997.1 Cup, but managed to charge past and reclaim 2nd place seconds before the end of the race. Falcone did an excellent job muscling his Mustang through the field right from the jump and took 3rd place, while Berry got his 4th place finish. Russell Wittenberg was under no threat for his 5th place finish as Ted Giovanis and his 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 had to bow out of the race right after the first lap. Another fine weekend of vintage racing is concluded! Overall, the weekend was very warm and proved to be a challenge for most drivers. Talk about turning up the heat! We look forward to next year s Spring Fling and cannot wait for HSR s next race at The Mitty at Road Atlanta on April 20-23. Victory Lane April 2017 51
#88 Carlo Falcone, 2010 Ford Mustang T/A; #03 Cliff Berry, 2009 Porsche 997.1. CLASSIC ENDURO 1 GTC1 T. Seiler/1969/15 Lola T70 Mk IIIb 1 GTC3 T. Treffert/1974 Porsche 911 2 GTC3 M. Banz/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 1 V2 S. Gabel/D. Lohman/1999 BMW E36/8 Z3 coupe 1 GTC4 D. York/D. Hinton/1973 BMW CSL 3 GTC3 J. Mitchell/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 1 V3 G. Calfo/1965 Porsche 911 4 GTC3 F. Schulte/1973 Porsche 911 2 GTC1 G. Nolte/1966/14 Ford GT40 2 V3 R. Branom/1992 Mazda MX5 2 V2 J. Garcia/1999 Mazda Miata 2 GTC4 J. Cooke/2008 BMW M3/GT4 5 GTC3 K. Blaha/1974 Porsche 911 RSR CLASSIC RS PL DRIVER/CAR 1 M. Banz/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 2 T. Treffert/1974 Porsche 911 3 F. Schulte/1973 Porsche 911 4 K. Blaha/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 5 J. Mitchell/1974 Porsche 911 RSR GLOBAL GT 1 9X T. Herb/2016 Porsche 991.2 Cup 1 GGT5 C. Berry/2009 Porsche 997.1 1 GGT1A C. Falcone/K. Wheeler/2010 Ford Mustang T/A 1 10X D. Roberts/2016 Porsche Cayman GT4/CS 1 GGT6 R. Wittenberg/2009 Porsche Cayman-S 2 9X V. Gomez/2017 Porsche 991.2 Cup 3 9X P. Lasco/2016 Chevy Camaro TA2 1 GGT4 J. Cooke/2008 BMW M3/GT4 GROUP 2/3/5 1 VPT T. Seiler/1969/15 Lola T70 Mk IIIb 1 HP3 T. Treffert/1974 Porsche 911 2 HP3 J. Mitchell/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 2 VPT G. Nolte/1966/14 Ford GT40 3 HP3 F. Schulte/1973 Porsche 911 1 HP4 D. Hinton/1973 BMW CSL 1 SSB S. Gabel/1999 BMW E36/8 Z3 coupe 1 HP5 S. Piantieri/1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 1 MSR3 T. Entsminger/1995 Toyota WSR 1 3X J. McAleese/2006 Mazda MX5 #07 Jacek Mucha, 2006 Swift JMS-016P. 2 SSB J. Garcia/1999 Mazda Miata 2 MSR3 D. McAllister/1995 Toyota WSR 1 5X J. Pace/1973 Porsche 911 RS GROUP 6/7/11 1 LMP2 L. Huang/2009 Oreca FLM09 1 MSR1 J. Mucha/2006 Swift JMS-016P 1 DP2 S. White/L.P. Dumoulin/2008 Riley DP #141 Todd Treffert, 1974 Porsche 911. 2 MSR1 J. Cortes/2012 Caterham SP300R 1 MSR2 M. McDonald/2004 Stohr WF1 1 6X J.C. Perez/2016 Ligier JS P3 1 HASR J. Harrold/1979 Chevron B23/36 GROUP 9/10 1 9X V. Gomez/2017 Porsche 991.2 Cup #66 Georg Nolte, 66/14 Ford GT40. 2 9X T. Herb/2016 Porsche 991.2 Cup 1 GT1A C. Falcone/2010 Ford Mustang T/A 1 GT3B C. Berry/2009 Porsche 997.1 Cup 1 GT3C R. Wittenberg/2009 Porsche Cayman-S 1 10X T. Giovanis/G. Cosmo/2016 Porsche Cayman GT4/CS H/P/GT ENDURO 1 P3 S. White/L.P. Dumoulin/2008 Riley DP 1 GTMX V. Gomez/2017 Porsche 991.2 Cup 1 P2 L. Huang/2009 Oreca FLM09 1 H3 J. Harrold/1979 Chevron B23/36 2 GTMX T. Giovanis/G. Cosmo/2016 Porsche Cayman GT4/CS 1 P6 J. Cortes/2012 Caterham SP300R 1 GTM2 G. Nolte/2008 Ford GT Mk7 1 HGT1 C. Falcone/K. Wheeler/2010 Ford Mustang T/A #72 Craig Ross, 1970 Ford Boss 302. 1 PX J.C. Perez/2016 Ligier JS P3 1 GTM5 C. Berry/2009 Porsche 997.1 INTL/AMERICAN CHALLENGE 1 INT M. Banz/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 2 INT F. Schulte/1973 Porsche 911 3 INT G. Calfo/1965 Porsche 911 4 INT K. Blaha/1974 Porsche 911 RSR 5 INT J. Mitchell/1974 BMW 2002 6 INT S. Gabel/1999 BMW E36/8 Z3 1 AMR S. Piantieri/1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 7 INT D. York/D. Hinton/1973 BMW CSL 8 INT T. Coryn/1965 MGB 9 INT J. Garcia/1993 Mazda Miata 10 INT T. Treffert/1974 Porsche 911 52 April 2017 Victory Lane