SVRA U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International – September 4th through 8th Race Report

The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an outstanding weekend at the SVRA U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International.  We ran in Group 9 – Monoposto Wings and Slicks.  The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire race weekend, with a mix of sunny afternoons & cool mornings, ranging from the mid teens to the upper-20’s Celsius. Over the course of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 9 times; 3 on track practices during the split Wednesday/Thursday test day, followed by one practice, 3 qualifying sessions, Race 1, and Race 2.  There was a large speed differential within the qualifying group!!  We definitely had our work cut out for us, as most everyone in our group had much more horsepower than we did. Here is a list of the cars in our race group:

In the first qualifying session, we qualified 9th of 19 race cars, 3rd in our 9F2 class. In the second qualification session, we qualified 8th of 16 race cars, 2nd in our class.  The 3rd qualification session, we qualified 8th of 16 cars, 2nd in our class.

Our qualifying time in our second session a 1:56.87!! Very respectable!!

Photo credit Hugh Hawley

For Race 1, our race Group 9 included 16 amazing high powered open wheel race cars, including 4 Lolas, 2 Ralts, and lots of F5000’s.  We started in 8th and finished in 9th position, 2nd in class – we were stuck behind a slower F5000 for most of the race, however our STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda performed flawlessly.  In Race 2, we started in 9th and managed to finish in 8th position, once again 2nd in class. We set our fastest lap time of the weekend, a career best 1:56.498!!

Close racing action with the #41 Pro Mazda (photo courtesy of Hugh Hawley)

​Additionally, we had the opportunity to participate in at 75 minute Enduro in Mark Clark's beautiful Swift DB5 S2, a stunning car:

Mark Clark’s Swift DB5 S2 (photo courtesy of Hugh Hawley)

Teddy, Petey and Rusty showing off our 2nd place medal!!!

Our race group featured some unbelievable vintage formula cars - it was a pleasure to be on track with them.  A very big thank you to our sponsors; STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions , to Bill Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their excellent track side support. ​

Click here for more photos from this race weekend.Photos

A very big thank you to the SVRA for hosting such a great event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long suffering and tormented family which follows us from race track to race track allows us to continue to do the racing thing……….