Nearly two months after finishing up the opening two rounds of the new season in Florida, the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge traveled to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the third race of the year, where drivers and fans arrived in droves, eagerly anticipating an action-packed weekend of racing.
3.5 kilometres in length, Laguna Seca is one of the most historic and celebrated racing circuits in the United States and it’s home, of course, to one of the most iconic corners in world motor racing: the Corkscrew, an undulating corner with a sudden elevation drop resulting in a tricky blind crest.
Unlike Sebring, proceedings for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Laguna Seca began on Friday and concluded with the race on Saturday.
Both days of competition saw glorious weather and perfect track conditions, with the first practice session beginning on a clear, crisp Friday morning.
In GS, the dynamic duo of John Edwards and Trent Hindman, who came agonizingly close to a win at Sebring in March, swept the session in the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3, while series newcomer Derek DoBoer and James Davison placed second in the #09 TRG – AMR Vantage, followed by the #41 Tower Motorsports Nissan 370Z of 2012 champions John Farano and David Empringham in third. CJ Wilson Racing swept the top two in ST, with the #98 CRG – I Do Borrow Honda Civic of Sarah Cattaneo and Owen Trinkler rounding out the top three.
In Friday afternoon’s second practice session, it was Nissan’s turn at the top of the timing sheets as the marque scored a 1-2 in GS, with the #28 Tim Bell Racing Nissan 370Z of Tim Bell and Dane Cameron leading the #14 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z of Cincinnati natives BJ Zacharias and Brad Jaeger. The Canadian pairing of Anthony Mantella and Mark Wilkins, driving the #8 Mantella Autosport Vantage, took third.
Mazdas once again had a great showing in ST, with the #26 Freedom Autosport MX-5 of Andrew Carbonell and Randy Pobst holding down the point over CJ Wilson’s McAleer/McCumbee, another Freedom Autosport MX-5 of Mat and Mark Pombo, and CJ Wilson sister car of Tyler McQuarrie and Elliot Skeer. The #93 HART Honda Civic of Chad Gilsinger and Michael Valiante was fifth.
Despite lingering in twelfth in the second practice session, the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 bounced back, with Trent Hindman, the 18-year-old racing sensation from New Jersey, taking his second consecutive pole position over the #01 CKS Autosport Chevy Camaro Z/28.R of Eric Curran. Charles Espenlaub took the #99 Automatic Racing Aston Martin Vantage to third. Meanwhile in ST, it was all smiles at CJ Wilson Racing as Elliot Skeer took pole position in his series debut, subbing for the recovering Marc Miller, injured in the previous round at Sebring. The other CJ Wilson Mazda MX-5 of Chad McCumbee took second over the #26 Freedom Autosport MX-5 of Randy Pobst.
GS Race
Three gruelling sessions on Friday all boiled down to one thing: the race, to be run on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at one of America’s most iconic tracks.
After the #01 CKS Autosport Camaro of Eric Curran overtook polesitter Trent Hindman early in the race, the Camaro had a mirror full of BMW for an entire hour until Hindman took back the lead in turn 5, just prior to the halfway point.
Soon after, Hindman pitted, handing over driving duties to teammate John Edwards, who held off a hard-charging Lawson Aschenbach (#01 Camaro) to take their first win of the season after two back-to-back second places.
“Two seconds and a first is not a bad way to start the season,” said an elated Edwards after the race. “I really thought we should have won the first two races. We’re not going to win every race, but the good news is we’ve been competitive with our M3 at every race, at tracks that are very different.”
Kris Wilson and Max Riddle quietly went about their business and took a superb third in the #07 TRG – AMR Vantage. The #28 Tim Bell Racing Nissan 370Z of Tim Bell and Dane Cameron took fourth, followed by the #41 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z of BJ Zacharias and Brad Jaeger in fifth and the sister #14 Doran Nissan in sixth.
ST Race
It isn’t called Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for no reason. A story of Mazda domination, the ST class saw a tremendous three-way battle between the two CJ Wilson Racing MX-5s of Stevan McAleer and Tyler McQuarrie and the #26 Freedom Autosport MX-5 of Andrew Carbonell. The three exchanged positions multiple times, but it was Carbonell who took the win over McQuarrie, who passed teammate McAleer on the final lap. The win marks Freedom Autosport’s fourth consecutive victory and Mazda’s sixth in ST.
“Mazda Raceway is a momentum track that favors our Mazdas,” said class winner Carbonell. “This time, it was tougher for me because I was racing similar cars. I had to find out where I could capitalize on our car’s handling, and it was really strong in Turns 3 and 4 so I could get a good run into Turn 5.”
Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competitors are quickly learning to expect the unexpected. The race was marred by a record seven cautions and two rollover accidents. In fact, two GS cars failed to make it to turn 1 cleanly, with Andrew Baxter and Al Carter making contact and prompting a yellow.
Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Liam Dwyer, an injured military veteran driver with a prosthetic leg making his Series debut, lost control of his Mazda MX-5 and ploughed into the #11 Mitchum Motorsports BMW 128i of Lee Carpentier. While Carpentier was able to continue, it was race over for Dwyer.
On lap 16, Ramin Abdolvahabi rolled his #91 Irish Mike’s Hyundai Genesis after hitting the tire barrier in turn 5 and another dramatic incident unfolded on lap 40 after Scott Maxwell flipped his #15 Multimatic Racing Ford Mustang Boss at the exit of the Corkscrew.
It can only be described as a rather bizarre, nonetheless thrilling, instalment to a so far intriguing 2014 season of Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge racing.
The series will roll into Lime Rock Park, a 2.4-kilometre bullring in Lakeville, Connecticut, on Memorial Day weekend. Practice and qualifying will kick off Friday, May 23; the race will take place the following day.
Beck Duggleby
