Norcal News
By Kevin Smith
Published: April 24, 2008
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The latest NorCal Time Trial event was April 12-13 at legendary Sears Point Raceway. The sign ups set a record for NASA with close to 500 competitors at the track. In TT alone we had over 50 competitors each day. The weather was very hot and so was the competition, we had some excitement in Turn 7 on Saturday, but as usual we had records fall with Team Sutak besting the TTR record with a blazing 1:44.803 and Bob Blackwood in TTD bettering his record time with a 1:53.245. The rest of the weekend played out as follows:
TTR
Charles Ng rented a Mazda GT2 for the weekend and picked up first place on Saturday with a time of 1:53.279. Second place belongs to Neil Yonk in his ’73 Porsche 911 with a time of 1:54.485. Only .066 seconds behind Niel was Dennis Clark in his 1997 Ferrari
F355 to get the final podium spot in third. Fourth place was Grant Lipsky with Art Stavro in fifth with Michael Nuejahr in sixth as he waits for his go-fast racecar to be finished hopefull by Thunderhill.
Sunday saw Team Sutak compete in TTR for the first time with his 2004 Mustang, and all he did was take first place and beat the track record with a time of 1:44.803. Charles Ng followed up Saturday’s first with a second place finish while Dennis Clark and his Ferrari got another podium spot of third. Grant Lipsky finished fourth again on Sunday with Michael Neujahr picking up on spot for fifth. Neil Yonk and Art Stavro rounded out the group in sixth and seventh respectively.
TTU
Team Sutak is trying to lay claim to the season championship early in his 2004 Mustang by claiming first place with a time of 1:44.684. Gerry Gasber is doing his best to make it as hard as possible on Team Sutak by staking his claim for the championship with a solid second place finish in his ’06 Z06 with a time of 1:46.758. Igor Lyustin was able to claim third place in his ’92 Acura NSX by laying down a lap of 1:53.881. Getting fourth was Michael Bowman in his high powered 07 Corvette with Boris Berman right behind in fifth. Rounding out TTU for Saturday was Andrie Hartanto with a time of 1:56.434.
Sunday saw a repeat of first and second place with Team Sutak pulling another fast time of 1:45.434 and Gerry Gasber right behind with a 1:47.026. This group is going to be fun to watch as the season goes on to see how all of this shakes out.
TTS
Saturday saw some excitement for first place finisher Sean Mackenzie in his ’06 Evo. If you have not seen the video it is on you tube, go check it out. Anyway what happened was Lou Courte (4th place in TTS) broke his motor in his 02 Porsche C4S in the braking zone for Turn 7 and oil was all over the track. Sean went to hit the brakes and it instantly spun him sideways. He did a full 360 by the time he stopped with about 6 cars spinning all around, luckily there was no damage to anything except Lou’s motor and maybe a few people’s underwear. Sean was able to recover and set a winning time of 1:51.523 later in the day. Second place belongs to championship point’s leader Team Smith in his ’93 Mustang with a time of 1:52.085 who was able to avoid all of the oil without a problem. Third place went to Team Yearbook who battled overheating issues all weekend in his ’92 Ford Mustang. Lou was able to record a time and got fourth with Edward Hugo in his ’04 Porsche GT3 in fifth.
Sunday saw Sean Mackenzie repeat his first place as he bettered his time to a 1:49.162 without all the excitement of Saturday. Team Smith also bettered his time to get second place with a time of 1:50.969. Third Place went to Team Yearbook and Edward Hugo ended Sunday with a fourth place finish.
TTA
TTA was a battle between red AWD Evos and RWD Mustangs all weekend. Team Lee Myles Transmission made a guest appearance in TTA with his 03 Evo to claim first place convincingly with a time of 1:52.662. Second place saw Team Buttafoco/Howard set a time in the last session in his ’05 Evo of 1:54.304. Third place went to Steve Kane to be the top-finishing Mustang of the day 1:54.897. He has his black 06 Mustang make a very quick appearance in Sean’s (TTS) video with some not so fun excitement from the oil in Turn 7. Fourth place went to Team Callaghan in his ’66 Mustang only .5 seconds behind a podium spot. Rounding out the group was Will Clark in his ’05 Evo with a fifth place finish.
Sunday saw everyone get better time, but Team Lee Myles Transmission took first again with a time of 1:51.753. Second saw Will Clark find the pedal on the right as he bettered his time by 5.365 seconds. Third place was a repeat of Steve Kane with a time of 1:52.978. Team Callaghan was right behind in fourth with a time of 1:53.858. Team Buttafoco/Howard had some power steering issues but was able to get the valuable season points to claim fifth.
The Evos may have won this battle, but stay tuned to see how the Mustangs come back.
TTB
Again this weekend TTB should have been called TTBMW. Saturday saw Mark Welch in his 1988 BMW M3 get first with a time of 1:52.300 with Anthony Zwain/SpeedTrapp Racing right on his bumper with a time of 1:53.298 get second. The final podium spot belonged to Ed Rogers in his ’02 BMW M3 with a time of 1:56.229.
Sunday saw the whole group in the 1:51.xxx range. This is as close as it gets with Team Bill Arnold BMW Repair getting first in his 98 BMW M3 with a time of 1:51.583. Mark Welch claimed second place with a time of 1:51.790. Third place went to Anthony Zwain/SpeedTrapp Racing only .010 seconds behind in his 87 BMW 325is.
TTC
Saturday saw Richard Vijeh/Speedtrapp Racing take the first place medal with a time of 1:53.107 in his 1993 BMW 325is. Second place was Team Z Car Garage in his Infiniti G35, who also was a spin victim from Lou’s oil in Turn 7. He actually ended up exactly where Sean Mackenzie was after the spin but the racing gods were very nice to Dave as Sean was no longer there. Third place was Michael Nunley in his 08 Mustang with a time of 1:59.788. Fourth place Joe Ramirez in his 07 Honda S2000 2:01.285. Fifth place was Michale Steele with Tasha Standridge right behind in sixth. Seventh was Michael Sondel followed by Alvin Gogineni and Team 3S/Goodsport Racing rounding out the group.
Sunday saw a repeat of the top 3 spots of Richard Vijeh/Speedtrapp Racing getting the gold with a blistering time of 1:51.420 and Team Z Car Garage in second with Joe Ramirez in third. Getting fourth Tasha in her 97 M3 was able finish ahead of Michael Steele in his 95 Porsche 993, but only by .003 seconds (wow that is close). Michael Nunley finished sixth with Michael Sondel in 7th and Team 3s Goodsport Racing in 8th.
TTD
Saturday saw Bob Blackwood set the pace from the first lap. His fast time of the day was 1:55.225 to claim first in his 87 Porsche 944. Second place was Derek Sabol who has put some time in at Sears Point with a time of 1:59.155. Third was Matt Kim in his 00 Honda S2000 with less than .200 seconds behind Derek in his 00 BMW Z3. Fourth place belonged to Jason Cook in his 92 BMW 325is with a time of 2:05.716. Fifth was Ray Nickson followed by Scott Clough, Glynn Dennis, Steve Russo, Bruce Brower and Paul Geddings for 6th through 10th respectively.
Sunday saw Bob Blackwood pick up the pace with a record-breaking time of 1:53.245 to claim first place. Second was Derek Sabol who also bettered his time to a 1:56.728. Third place was Matt Kim with Paul Geddings in fourth driving his 85 Mercedes 190e. Fifth was Doc Brown in his Miata with sixth going to Bill Broeder. Seventh through 10th were: Jason Cook, Glynn Dennis, Ray Nickson and Scott Clough.
TTE
Saturday saw a BMW 325is claim first driven by Sean Trapp/Speedtrapp Racing with a time of 2:04.947. Second was Dave Rowsey in his 92 Honda Civic with a time of 2:18.176. The final podium belonged to Thomas Coon in his daily driven Ford Focus, not quite as much HP as the Z06 I bet. Finish fourth was Vincent Parker in his 06 Mini.
Sunday saw a new winner of Vincent Parker with a time of 2:03.218 with Sean Trapp/Speedtrapp Racing in second. Third place went to Dave Rowsey with Thomas Coon in fourth.
Thank you to Tasha Standridge who stood in beautifully as trophy girl for our awards.
I would also like to say a special thank you to Andy Sutak for his hospitality to TT competitors allowing all of us to hang out at the trailer and talk about racing under his awning. Also for sharing his energy drinks, rehydrating drinks, and Muscle Milk bars from his sponsor CYTOMAX.
Remember, next event is coming up quickly and is back by popular demand, Thunderhill backwards, those of you who loved it last year should be ready to break some more records and those of you who have not ran it, don’t miss out!!!! Hope to see you there!
