Norcal News
By Kevin Smith
Published: November 6, 2007
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The Season Finale for the NorCal Time Trialers came quickly after Thunderhill, 2 weeks to be exact. This time it was at the world famous Infineon Raceway (Sears Point). The excitement was in the air with championships to be won and lost with many groups undecided going into the weekend. With the weather promising to be near 80° for both days it looked to be a perfect weekend. It took awhile for the weather to heat up though and the first couple sessions Saturday were very slippery and fast. The driving was impressive, but the sportsmanship was even better. Mark Welch gave up some seat time to let a fellow competitor use his car to set a time and clinch the championship in the group. This is grassroots racing at its best showing what TT is all about and what type of man Mark really is. Well done! On a side note we want to thank all of the competitors in TT whether you did one day or the whole season. It was so much fun on and off the track with everybody. We especially would like to thank Andy Sutak of Team Sutak who graciously made his trailer “Camp Sutak” allowing TT competitors to park and hang out under his canopy and in the trailer. And also a big thanks to Albert Butterfield who took care of business when it had to be taken care of. We are looking forward to the same thing next year.
Do not forgot about the awards banquet on November 17, 2007 at the Irish Cultural Center. Go to www.nasaproracing.com to download the form and sign up.
Now back to racing as the weekend played out as follows:
TTR
Being an all Porsche weekend, except TT, we had some familiar faces returning to compete with us driving their go-fast Porches. Saturday saw Louise Sousoures and Donna Sylvanovich pull ahead and set the bar high for all competitors. Louise set fast lap of the weekend with a 1:46.832 to win Saturday. Right behind was Donna with a 1:47.337. Getting on the podium was Brian Lowrance in his 911 with Robert Walter getting fourth. 5-8 was as follows: Earl Green Jr., Kirk Millet, Ray Nickson, and Joseph Ramirez.
Sunday saw a change at the top with Donna beating out Louise to keep the bragging rights even between them. Kirk Millet picked up enough speed to get on the podium in third with Fred Jackman rounding out TTR in fourth.
The season champion this year in TTR is Brian Lock. Congratulations!
TTU
With the championship still to be decided this was going to be a tense weekend for all involved and every position watched. Team Sutak had the lead but with Lowell Fennie right behind every point was valuable. Saturday saw Igor Lyustin in his high-powered NSX finish at the top with Lowell right behind in second. In third was newcomer Lou LaCourte in his beautiful Porsche. Fourth place was Boris Berman and in fifth was Team Sutak getting a time in the very short fourth session.
Saturday night everyone was figuring out how to place on Sunday to get the championship and it all came to one thing, go out and have fun and hit the gas. With that Lowell finished first with Lou LaCourte bettering his time to get second. In third was Boris with Team Sutak getting fourth clinching the season championship by 10 points after the drops. Now that is close.
The season champion is Team Sutak with Lowell in second. Congratulations!
TTS
With the season points already decided in this group it was “go out have fun and try to better your time”. Saturday saw the battle of the fox body Mustangs with Team Smith setting his personal best to get first place with Team Shoestring Racing finishing second with his freshly set up Mustang.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with Team Smith in first and Shoestring Racing in second.
The season championship saw Michael Neujahr getting maximum points with Team Smith second and Shoestring Racing third. Congratulations!
TTA
With the championship standings already set this group had the same mentality as TTS with “go out have fun and try to better your time”. They did just that with Neil Yonk returning to get first on both Saturday and Sunday in his Red Porsche and Team Callaghan getting second both days in his ’66 Mustang.
The season championship has Team Goodsport Racing/3s in first, Team Callaghan getting second and Neil Yonk in third. Congratulations!
TTB
Nothing was decided in this group in the season points going into this weekend, so every point mattered. Saturday saw Team Bill Arnold BMW Repair get first with some really impressive and fast driving. He is definitely giving everyone something to mull over the off-season. Second place belonged to Team RFR/GST with Steve Kane getting on the podium making a push for third in the overall standings. Fourth went to Ed Rogers with Chris Wedekind in fifth.
Sunday saw Team Bill Arnold BMW Repair repeat his first place while setting a new track record with 1:51.028. Team RFR/GST was able to clinch the season championship with a second place finish and Steve Kane repeating his podium third from yesterday. He was short for the third in the season by a mere 13 points. Fourth place on Sunday went to Chris Wedekind and fifth was Ed Rogers.
The season championship belongs to Team RFR/GST with Team Bill Arnold BMW Repair in second and Team 3s/Goodsport Racing in third. Congratulations!
TTC
Mark Welch came into the weekend as TTC champion for this year and he was still able to impress everyone setting the track record at a blistering 1:51.176. Mark claimed first place on Saturday while only getting half the seat time due to sharing his car. The hot battle for the season points was between Fred Watson and Team Z Car Garage. Team Z Car Garage was able to secure third place on Saturday with Phil Joy in his legend car taking second. In fourth we saw Steve Sacks and Fred Watson rounding out the group in fifth getting valuable points. Sunday saw Mark Welch take first with Team Z Car Garage bettering his cause with a second. Steve Wilson brought his Legends car to a third place finish knocking Phil Joy off the podium to fourth.
The season championship goes to Mark Welch, second place to Fred Watson and ONLY 15 points behind in third is Team Z Car Garage. Congratulations!
TTD
This group went down to the last session on Sunday to determine the championship standings. Bob Blackwood had a slim lead over everyone and could not afford to have a bad weekend. Saturday saw Jerry Bradbury bring his Mini home to a first place finish with Bob Blackwood in second while trying to learn a car he first sat in that morning. In third was Bill Broeder getting on the podium.
Sunday Bob Blackwood needed to have a top 2 finish and he did, getting first place with Team Brown-Heyer getting second place. This gave the championship to Bob Blackwood by a slim 15 points.
The season championship belongs to Bob Blackwood, second place to Team Brown-Heyer and Jerry Bradbury in third. Congratulations!
TTE
All Dennis Golden had to do was run both days to clinch the championship. He not only did that, but he won both days while setting a new track record with a 1:58.119 on Sunday. Finishing second on Saturday and Sunday was Jeff Srinivasan while George Mavromatis got the final podium spot both days.
The season champion is Dennis Golden. Congratulations!
TTF
With Hugh Carter clinching the championship at Thunderhill Mark Villaluna wanted to give Hugh Carter something to think about for next year. He did by setting the Track Record on Saturday with a 2:05.610 and getting first place for the day.
The season champion is Hugh Carter. Congratulations!
