When the GTC teams had cleared the pits, fifteen GT cars pulled onto the track for their qualifying session. Adam Baldwin was the first car out onto the track. He was followed onto the track by his teammate, Stephen Bailey and Jake Witcher. On his first flier lap, Baldwin stopped the clocks in 1:22.241 in his # 41 Doug Henson Porsche 997 RSR and with about five minutes remaining, Baldwin clicked off another flier lap and lowered the GT pole time to 1:22.063. Second quick in GT was Stephen Bailey in the # 8 Doug Henson Corvette C6.R with a time of 1:22.920. Third quick was Drew McLean in the # 82 VLMS Ford GT-40 with a time of 1:23.555. Fourth quick was Bill Brehm driving the # 70 Critical Mass Racing Porsche 997 RSR and rounding out the top five in GT was Bruce Fisher, driving # 19 Talon Racing BMW M3 GTR with a time of 1:24.143. The slowest GT qualifier was Jerry Daniels driving the # 6 Porsche 997 RSR with a time of 1:25.915.
With qualifying completed the grid set for both races, I gathered my equipment and headed out to where the hotel shuttle was waiting to whisk me back to the hotel. I joined three other members of the press corps who were all seated. Once again, our conversation was spirited as we discussed the way the qualifying sessions had gone and who we expected to win each race. Dinner was excellent and when we finished, I headed up to my room, took a refreshing shower, watched the local news and climbed into bed for an refreshing night of sleep.
Monday, I was up early and enjoyed a quiet breakfast by myself before taking the hotel shuttle out to the track. The Championship series teams were scheduled to run their brief warm-up session during the morning so after walking through the garage and chatting with some of the teams and drivers, I headed to the press room. I wasn't expecting much speed from any of the teams during the warm-up. Most teams simply send their driver to run two or three medium speed laps and then return to the pits so the crew can check for leaks or any fasteners that were not properly fastened. But Drew McLean must have changed his race set-ups between the end of qualifying and the start of the warm-up because he got hard on the throttle. Driving the # 82 VLMS Ford GT-40 was the first car on the track and he put the hammer down on the start of his first timed lap and turned a 1:24.754 and then he nailed it again on his final warm-up lap. He recorded a 1:24.159 on that lap. I'm sure those laps must have reassured McLean that he had the speed he wanted available during the race. In the GTC class, Garth Buchanan led the field recording a 1:29.068 in his # 23 Feint Motion Motorsports GTC.
The championship series cars were all pushed out onto the grid between1:30 and 2:00 pm. Once they were all in place, the spectators were invited out onto the grid to get an up-close look at their favorite cars and a chance to greet and get a photo with or the autograph of their favorite driver. This is a VOR tradition that takes place at all of the championship races whether they feature the Grand Touring Series or LeMans Championship cars. An hour later, the public address announcer asked the crowd of spectators to return to the infield so that the race they had all come to see could be started.
Twenty-two cars (15 GT and 7 GTC) sparkled in the afternoon sun light as the grid was cleared. Crew members moved back to their pits while team managers and some crew chiefs had a brief final word with their drivers as they were fastening their safety harness. The grid was cleared of all personnel and the twenty-one drivers waited for the command start their engines. After a brief moment of silence, the race marshal announced "Drivers, start your engines" and twenty-one high revving race engines roared into life. Pole sitter Adam Baldwin led the field on their formation lap around the track. When the drivers returned to their grid spots, all of the prepared mentally for the moment that the green lights would flash for the exciting standing start.
When all of the red countdown lights were lit, there was a momentary pause before the green starting light flashed before the drivers. And as soon as the green flashed, Stephen Bailey got the jump off the start and pulled into the overall lead. Once the rest of the field was away, Bill Brehm started from pit lane trying to catch up with the rest of the field. Once they were underway, pole sitter Adam Baldwin hooked onto the rear bumper of his teammates car and the two of them began to steadily pull away from the remainder of the field.
Pit action began almost immediately as Bill Brehm, Chris Chappell, Paul Schuman and Damjan Meze all stopped at the pits on lap 2 resulting from some kind of extra-curricular activity on the track. Paul Schuman, driving the # 2 Doug Henson Racing Corvette C6.R retired from the race after completing two laps. The cause of his retirement is unknown. Damjan Meze retired on the following lap. Once again the cause of his retirement is unknown. On the same lap, Drew McLean, driving the # 82 VLMS Ford GT-40, retired from the race with a broken suspension. On lap 5, Chris Chappell, driving the # 15 Feint Motion Motorsports Porsche GTC, retired resulting from an accident. Bill Brehm, driving the # 70 Critical Mass Racing Porsche 997 RSR retired on the following also resulting from an accident.
With 56 minutes remaining the race and 13 laps completed by the leaders, the top five in GT were Stephen Bailey in the # 8 Doug Henson Racing Corvette, Adam Baldwin in the # 41 Doug Henson Racing Porsche 997 RSR, Bruce Fisher in the # 19 Talon Racing BMW, Jon Backof in the # 3 Doug Henson Racing Corvette and Pawel Korbel in the # 11 Happy Days Racing Viper GT. The top five in GTC were JT Tami in the 97 Flying Lizard GTC, Chuck Penfield in the # 16 Scuderia Bollesnegro GTC, Ryan Mayfield in the # 996 Scuderia Bollesnegro GTC, Garth Buchanan in the # 23 Feint Motion Motorsports GTC and Scott Berube in the # 28 Feint Motion Motorsports GTC. At this point in the race, it looked like the largest teams might even sweep the podiums in their respective classes. At this point in the race, the gap between the two GT leaders and their third place teammate, Jon Backof, opened up to 20 seconds.
On lap 14, Baldwin made a pass on his teammate and he led laps 14 through 28 leading up to the pit stop scramble. Things started to deteriorate for the Doug Henson Racing Team. After completing 23 laps, Jon Backof retired from the race from unknown reasons and four laps later his teammate, Adam Baldwin, also retired from unknown reasons.
With 28 minutes remaining and 25 laps completed, the top five in GT were Baldwin, Bailey, Fisher, Korbel and Mike Hirsch driving the # 39 Hirsch Racing BMW M3 GTR. Back in the GTC race, the top five at this point were Penfield, Mayfield, Buchanan, Bill Robotham in the # 00 Feint Motion GTC, and JT Tami.
At this point in the race, planned pit stops started to happen. Alexander Lugones in the # 34 Feint Motion Motorsports Porsche 997 RSR was the first to peel off for his stop. On the following lap, Adam Baldwin stopped and retired from the race Bailey pitted on lap 29 giving the lead to Bruce Fisher and returned in second place. Fisher pitted on the following lap giving the lead back to Baldwin which he never relinquished for the remainder of the race. The GTC cars were steadily climbing up the overall leader board with GTC leader Ryan Mayfield sitting in 7th position overall.
The final three drivers to pit were Jake Witcher, driving the # 9 Talon Racing BMW M3 GTR, and the two GTC leaders, teammates Mayfield and Penfield. Witcher regularly is one of the final drivers to pit so that was no surprise. He was P2 when he pitted and when he returned to the track, he was P8. It was a bit more surprising that both of the GTC leaders waited until lap 38 to stop. Even more surprising to me was the fact that they pitted together instead of pitting on separate laps to avoid any confusion in the pits. Mayfield won the pit stop race, grabbed the GTC lead and returned to the track in 9th place overall. Penfield returned in second in GTC and 11th overall.
By the time all of the planned pit stops had been completed, the race clock was down to 18 minutes remaining. The top five GT leaders were Bailey, Fisher, Korbel, Hirsch and Lugones. In GTC, the top five leaders were Mayfield, Penfield, Buchanan, Tami and Berube. On lap 44, Hirsch retired from 3rd place overall with a suspension failure moving Jake Witcher into the 5th spot in GT.
Once he gained the lead, Bailey held nothing back and began lapping the field. With four minutes remaining Bailey lapped the third place finisher and had there been a few more minutes on the race clock, he would have quickly put the second place finisher down a lap as well. After the checkered flag had been given to the race leader, I happened to notice that there was a real battle going on for 10th place between Garth Buchanan in the #23 Feint Motion GTC and Jerry Daniels driving the # 6 Talon Racing Porsche 997 RSR. After the race, I caught up with Daniels and he said that Buchanan had spun which allowed Daniels to get right on his rear bumper and then side by side through the final turn. As Daniels entered the turn, it looked like he might have the momentum to carry him past Buchanan, but he got loose on exit and they crossed the finish line side by side with Daniels force to settle for 11th place overall.
Stephen Bailey driving the # 8 Doug Henson Racing Corvette C6.R captured the overall win and the top step on the GT podium. Following Bailey across the line was Bruce Fisher driving the # 19 Talon Racing BMW M3 RSR and taking the spot on the third step of the podium was Pawel Korbel driving the # 11 Happy Days Racing Viper GT. Rounding out the top five in GT were Alexander Lugones driving the # 34 Feint Motion Motorsports Ferrari F430 GT and Jake Witcher driving the # 9 Talon Racing BMW M3 GTR. Following the race, I caught up with Adam Baldwin whose night did not go the way he expected. He suffered a mechanical failure and had to retire from the race. This is what Baldwin had to say about his night: "Stephen, with his Corvette power and British slyness, made a superior start and jumped ahead of me off the line. We ran in lockstep for 13 laps, trading quick times and working through traffic together. On lap 14 he had an issue and I capitalized-- taking the lead, cushioning my gap, and using the tires I had been saving behind Stephen. I continued this for another 15 laps or so until the ignition box in my Doug Henson Racing Porsche 997 failed and my race was over."
Filling the GTC podium were race winner Ryan Mayfield driving the # 996 Scuderia Bollesnegro Porsche GTC, Mayfield's teammate, Chuck Penfield in the # 15 Scuderia Bollesnegro Porsche GTC and JT Tami driving the # 97 Flying Lizard Porsche GTC. Rounding out the top five in GTC were Scott Berube in the # 28 Feint Motion Motorsports Porsche GTC and teammate, Bill Robotham, driving the # 00 Feint Motion Motorsports Porsche. After the podium ceremonies, Mayfield had this to say about his race: "My mindset for this race was wrapped around being cautious and not taking chances. I made sure not to take any chances, and minimize any mistakes. My teammate Chuck was never giving me a break and he eventually got me, but when I set the fastest lap, he was forced to move over All joking aside, anyone could have won this race thanks to how competitive the GTC field is. So when either of us has a bit of good luck involved, it's much appreciated."
The teams from the top to the bottom of the final Timing and Scoring Report all raced hard. There was some contact between some cars, but this is to be expected in a sprint type race limited to 75 minutes. All finishers can be proud that they ran the full 75 minute distance.
The GTS series now takes a mid-season break in the schedule. The next race on the GTS schedule is the Interlagos race on August the 16th. Next Monday, August 2nd, the LMC series heads south to Brazil for a race on the flat track ,Jacarepaguá. This race has something special for everyone. This may be the one race this season that you don't want miss whether a driver, a member of a team, someone's significant other, or a fan of sports car racing. I'll be there and hope to see all of you there as well. Until then, please drive safely, wear your seatbelts and don't talk or text on your cell phone while you are behind the wheel of your vehicle.
