The NorCal Time Trialers made the trip to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA for the latest round on August 11 and 12th. The weekend seemed to get off to a rough start with many flat tires on the tow vehicles, but after the weekend was over there were many smiles from having fun. Again more records were broke with Mark Welch breaking the TTC record on Saturday with a 2:02.362 and Bob Blackwood reclaiming the TTD record with a 2:04.868. The resiliency award goes to Mark Welch who got a flat tire on his RV and Trailer, had his racing battery go dead in his BMW, then his backup battery went dead. After finding out it was his alternator he drove a street bike to Marysville and bought a new one, replaced it and still finished first both days. The sportsmanship award goes to Andy Sutak who towed Bob Blackwood home after seeing Bob have motor problems. This is what TT & grassroots Motorsports is all about. The rest of the weekend played out as follows:
TTR
Saturday saw newcomer Kip Olson bring out his high-powered NSX to claim first with Louise Sousoures in second. Right behind in third was Jeff Leaver followed by Steve Reader and Nick Urosevic. Team Works/D. Brown rounded out the group in sixth.
Sunday Louise Sousoures claimed first with Jeff Leaver getting second. Steve Reader was able to get the podium and Mike Lock just missing out finishing fourth.
TTU
Saturday saw the return of Navid Kahangi but this time in a heavily modified Subaru STI. He finished in first with Lowell Fennie crossing the line in second place able to get those valuable championship points. Claus Groth got the on the podium with Boris Berman in fourth. Igor Lyustin claimed fifth with Team Sutak not far behind finishing sixth (just waiting for the return of the Mustang!).
Sunday Claus picked up the pace to get the gold with Team Sutak getting second and Lowell Fennie getting the final spot and finishing with motor problems.
TTS
Michael Neujahr did another weekend sweep getting first both days with Team Smith right behind and closing the gap. On Sunday the gap was so close everyone was waiting to see if Team Smith could catch Michael, only to fall just short. Team Smith was second both days and Team Shoestring Racing sweeping third for the weekend. Saturday saw Team Poco-loco in fourth only to retire the weekend with mechanical problems.
TTA
Neil Yonk finished in first place on Saturday with Sean Mackenzie in second and David Bongiovanni in third shaking down his new RX7 investment. Sunday saw a reverse at the top with Sean Mackenzied getting first and Neil Yonk in second.
TTB
Ed Rogers claimed first place for the first time this season on Saturday with William Tao in second and Roger Lundergard in third. Chris Black secured fourth with Team Angle right behind and Dave Bongiovanni in sixth. David A. Wright rounded out the group in seventh. Sunday Roger Lundegard finished first with Team Angle right behind for second with Chris Black getting on the podium in third. David Wright got fourth and Dave Bongiovanni finishing fifth.
On a side note I would like to thank David Wright for his service in flying our troops back and forth to wherever duty calls them to be.
TTC
Mark Welch finished first while breaking the track record on Saturday with a 2:02.362. Kurt Jechel claimed second with Team Z Car Garage getting third. Fred Watson finished fourth and Steven Taty and Team Datsun rounding out the group. Sunday saw a repeat with Mark Welch in first and Kurt Jechel in second with Team Z Car Garage in third. Team Datsun finished fourth with Michael Sondel right behind with Steven Taty and Fred Watson finishing up the group.
TTD
Bob Blackwood reclaimed the track record on Saturday and getting first with Laura Thomas behind in second and Mark Woodworth getting the final podium spot. Jerry Bradbury claimed fourth with Zane Abedin in fifth and Team Brown-Heyer in sixth.
Sunday saw Bob Blackwood repeat first but not without having motor problems. Laura Thomas repeated second and Mark Woodworth finishing third. Zane Abedin backed up his fourth place and Team Brown-Heyer moving up a spot from Saturday to fifth.
TTF
Dave Bongiovanni brought out his RX7 to get first both days.
Don’t forget that Nationals at Mid Ohio is coming up September 13-16. You need 5 events to qualify on at least 4 different days. Remember to sign up early as last year they had so many sign ups that TT had 2 run groups. With the speeds NorCAL guys are going we should do very well and show the rest of the nation what NORCAL Time Trails is all about. Also, our next event is in October at Thunderhill, hope to see you all there.
