Jaremko Claims Fourth DSR Title

Articel by Erin Cechal. Photo provided by Weber.

Mark Jaremko, of Spokane, Wash., blew away the rest of the D Sports Racing field at Heartland Park Topeka to claim D Sports Racing crown number four at the 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs. John Bender, of Vancouver, Wash., and Dorian Foyil, of Nassau, Bahamas, completed the podium.

Polesitter J.R. Osborne, of Centennial, Colo., looked like the man to beat as his No. 83 Equinox Group/Farcon Stohr WF1 took the lead into Turn One, but Jaremko’s No. 2 Goodyear/Redline Oil Stohr WF1-BPS quickly slid by Osborne on the following corner. Osborne didn’t even have a chance to challenge Jaremko, as he pulled into the pits on lap two with mechanical issues.

After only three laps, Jaremko had more than seven seconds on the No. 11 West Race Cars West WR 1000 of Bender in second-place. That gap was erased when a car stuck off course brought out the full-course yellow on lap five. Nothing could stop the Jaremko show however, and when the green flag waved for the restart, the former DSR champion resumed his dominant pace, averaging 75.551 mph around the 2.5-mile track.

“The race went pretty well obviously,” Jaremko said. “When the weather changed, it changed the whole setup of the car. We struggled with that all day and for the race we had it set up for wet, then for dry, and back and forth. It was hard to make a decision as to which setup to use. The fellows at Stohr Cars made the right choice and the car worked on cold tires, and it was good on both starts. The track was horrible, as bad as I have seen it. There was mud and oil everywhere. It was pretty slippery.”

Behind Jaremko, Bender’s runner-up position came under threat in the closing laps, when traffic came into play and allowed the No. 81 Stohr WF1 of Foyil to get within striking distance. Foyil was unable to capitalize and Bender held on to the second spot.

Steve Shelton, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Mark White, of Waunakee, Wis., finished-out the top five. Michael Reupert, of Hubertus, Wis., won the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for advancing 12 positions during the race, from 20th to eighth.

sourced from
[ Jaremko Claims Fourth D Sports Racing Championship ]

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Mercer Wins S2, DiRenzo's Heartbreak

Articel by Adam Horn. Photo provided by Steflik.

Mark Mercer and his Lola 90/91 captured his first Sports 2000 National Championship in the late stages of the race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. John Fergus, of Powell, Ohio, and Bart Wolf, of Elkhart Lake, Wis., finished second and third, respectively.

The start of the race was waved off twice by the starter, but when the green flag dropped DiRenzo rocketed his No. 27 Terpsteo/Goodyear JRE SR-71 F to nearly a three-second lead by the end of the first lap. At the time, it appeared that DiRenzo had the race well in hand, opening up a five and a half second lead by lap seven. But, as the laps ticked by, Mercer continued to chase down DiRenzo cutting the lead down to less than a second by lap 13 of the 18-lap race.

By lap 15, Mercer’s No. 06 Hoosier Tires Lola 91/90 was filling DiRenzo’s mirrors at every turn and finally made the pass on DiRenzo coming out of Turn 14 on lap 16. Just prior to the pass, it appeared that DiRenzo’s machine was experiencing mechanical problems and he pulled into pit lane.

Once in the lead, Mercer put it on cruise control for the remaining two laps, winning by 11.873-seconds (at an average speed of 81.983 mph) over the Fergus’ No. 00 Hoosier Tires/The Fergus Companies Carbir CS2.

“I’ve been sick all week,” Mercer said. “I did not run Wednesday or Thursday and I slept until noon today and I felt a lot better this afternoon. I was pretty nervous and I did not know what the start was going to be like. I didn’t know what Matt [DiRenzo] was going to be like and the tires were a big question. We went with the harder tires and Matt went with the softer tires.

He had a pretty good lead on me. I kept slowly working him down and I could see that his tires were going off. Toward the end, I was catching him every lap and then he got sideways in the Carousel and I said, ‘O.K. he’s losing his tires now so I just kept putting the pressure on him.’ I looked over and saw how many laps were left and I just put my head down and was running my fastest times. All I had to do was get around him. I didn’t see anybody behind me so I began to think, ‘I’ve got this race won.’”

Mark Hardymon, of Delaware, Ohio, finished fourth in his No. 54 Elite Fab/Hoosier Tires CS2, while Marc Walker, of Oldsmar, Fla., brought his No. 1 Comprent Motorsports Fox-Lola 01-03C home fifth. Darryl Shoff, of Reading, Pa., won the Sunoco Hard Charger of the race award for advancing four positions throughout the race, starting 12th and finishing eighth.

sourced from [ Mercer Wins Late in SCCA Sports 2000 National Championship Race ]

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Hans Peter is CSR Runoffs® Champ

Hans Peters claimed the SCCA's CSR National Championship this morning in his Swift 014 Viking after taking the pole in last chance qualifying yesterday. Under sunny sky and 6 MPH winds, but 36 degree temperature, Peters had a seamingly comfortable win at the Heartland Park Topeka track. He took the lead on lap 5, and later allowed the gap to second place to reduce to 1.8 seconds at the checkered flag. Peters turned a 1:32.449 fastest lap early in the race, compared to his best qualifying time of 1:31.996.

“I thought that I made a good start, but maybe they caught me during a shift,” Peter said of his start. “I don’t quite know what happened, but they just motored away from me. So I just tucked in behind both of them [Wade Carter and Mark Jaremko] and waited for something to happen. Mark went a little wide and just sort of slid off, so I got inside of him. Then I got up to Wade and just got up underneath him. Then I selected an area of the track where I thought I was quicker and just took him.”¹

2nd Place

Mark Jaremko in his "DSR spec" Stohr WF1-BPS followed Peters across the finish line in second, turnig a best lap of 1:33.324 compared to his qual time of 1:33.222. He had started the race in third. Jaremko will now use the same car to lead the DSR race on Sunday from pole position.

3rd Place

After taking the lead in turn one of the start and leading the first three laps, Wade Carter in his Swift 008 Viking dropped back to forth after spinning on lap 4 at the exit of turn nine, going off course. He then recovered to repass Jacobson on lap 12 for the last position on the podium. Carter set the fastest lap of the race 1:33.091, early on lap 2, then later cranked off a few more 1:33s while recaturing the third spot. He finished 28.7 seconds behind the leader.

4th Place

Kerry Jacobsen in a Panoz Elan Dp02 finished in forth, with a best time of 1:35.654 set on lap 8, after starting seventh. Jacobs had set the forth fasted lap time in qualifying, but had times disallowed due to fuel irregularities in Qual 3, and a 3 position grid penalty for passing under a yellow flag. In the race, Jacobs was 14 seconds behind third place at the finish. His best qualifying effort was a 1:34.517 lap.

5th Place

Jim Downing and his Ralt RT41-JMS rounded out the top five, after starting in the sixth spot. Downing turned a 1:39.208 best lap en route to his fifth place finish, bettering his 1:40.850 qualifying time. Downing was down one lap to the race leader Peters.

[ Results via SCCA's Live Timing feed ]

Race Lap Notes

Time / Lap# / Lap Note

8:49:24am / 00 / The weather conditions at Heartland Park Topeka are sunny and 36 degrees, with winds out of the west at 6 mph.

8:56:51am / 01 / #74 Wade Carter takes the lead in turn one.

9:03:37am / 01 / #74 Carter leads, followed by # 2 Jarmeko.

9:04:13am / 02 / The top five are #74 Carter, followed by #2 Mark Jarmeko, #66 Hans Peter, #64 Ken Davis, and #38 Kerry Jacobsen.

9:05:53am / 02 / #64 Davis, who was running fourth is off course at Turn 8, car has some damage.

9:06:44am / 03 / #74 Carter continues to lead.

9:08:00am / 04 / #66 Peter passes #74 Carter in Turn Six for the lead.

9:09:08am / 04 / #74 Carter spins exiting Turn Nine and is off course.

9:09:47am / 05 / #66 Peter has the lead.

9:10:26am / 07 / Top five are #66 Peter, with a 4.677-second lead over #2 Jaremko, followed by #38 Jacobsen, #74 Carter and #6 Downing.

9:16:13am / 09 / #66 Peter has opened up a 7.244-second lead over #2 Jaremko, followed by #38 Jacobsen, #74 Carter and #6 Downing.

9:18:39am / 10 / #66 Peter continues to widen his lead over #2 Jaremko.

9:19:41am / 11 / #66 Peter leads #2 Jaremko by 7.379-seconds, followed by #38 Jacobsen, #74 Carter and #6 Downing.

9:21:51am / 12 / #74 Carter passes #38 Jacobsen for third.

9:23:01am / 12 / The top five are #66 Peter, followed by #2 Jaremko, #74 Carter, #38 Jacobsen and #6 Downing.

9:23:38am / 13 / #66 Peter leads by #2 Jaremko by 7.490-seconds.

9:24:35am / 14 / #66 Peter leads #2 Jaremko by 5.704-seconds with four laps remaining.

9:25:51am / 14 / #2 Jaremko was more than two seconds faster than #66 Peter on the last lap.

9:26:42am / 15 / The top five are #66 Peter, followed by #2 Jaremko, #74 Carter, #38 Jacobsen and #6 Downing.

9:28:21am / 16 / #2 Jaremko was nearly 3.5-seconds faster on the last lap than the race leader #66 Peter.

9:29:19am / 16 / #0 Miller is in pit lane.

9:30:22am / 16 / #0 Miller has a flat right front.

9:30:46am / 17 / #66 Peter leads #2 Jaremko by 3.173-seconds on the final lap.

9:31:17am / 18 / Checkered Flag for #66 Peter, who wins by 1.826-seconds over #2 Jaremko, followed by #74 Carter, #38 Jacobsen and #6 Downing.

9:33:16am / 18 / This is Hans Peter, of Overland Park, Kan., first SCCA National Championship.

Time is for reference only and is cued from the Central Time Zone


¹ [ Peter Captures First SCCA C Sports Racing National Championship At Heartland Park ]

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Runoffs® Race Grids Set After Qual 4

Last chance qualifying was the order of the day.

CSR

Hans Peters and his Swift 014 Viking was third following Wednesday's Qual session 3, but jumped to the CSR pole position today by being the only driver to break into the 1:31s with a 1:31.996 lap. Wade Carter in his Swift 008 Viking dropped on spot to outside front row, standing on his 1:32.780 time from Wednesday, after only mustering a 1:35.247 out of 3 laps completed today. Mark Jaremko in his "DSR spec" Stohr WF1-BPS likewise dropped to third using his 1:33.222 lap also from Wednesday qualifying. Kerry Jacobsen in a Panoz Elan Dp02 improved his time to a 1:34.517 and retains forth place on the grid. Ken Davis will be on the inside of the third row in fifth with his Lola's after improving his best time to 1:37.597. 17 CSR drivers have posted times for tomorrow morning's race.

S2

Matthew DiRenzo retained the top spot in S2 with his JRE SR-71F car, by being the only S2 driver to crack into the 1:40s with a 1:40.971 lap. After sitting out the final two qualifying session, Mark Mercer and his Lola 91/90 stay in second based on his 1:41.417 lap from Tuesday. John Fergus stays in third after setting a 1:42.282 with his Carbir CS2 also on Tuesday. Mark Hardymon drove his Carbir CS2 quicker today, improving his time to 1:42.562, to maintain his forth place spot. M. Bart Wolf and his Carbir CS2.5 (1:43.238) leap-forgged Micheal Baultz and his Lola T90/90 (1:43.257) by only 19 thousanths of a second to take over fifth with Baultz in sixth.

DSR

With no one able to better his best lap from Wednesday, J.R. Osborne in his Stohr WF1 stayed on top of the charts with his best time in Qual 3 (1:33.340). Mark Jaremko stay on the outside front row base on his best lap from Monday (1:33.377) in his Stohr WF1-BPS. John Bender in the factory West WR 1000 improved his time to a 1:34.756 to retain third spot. David Rigon also improved his time, in the factory Gloria B6S, to a 1:36.126 to keep his forth spot.

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Radical Cup US Series in 2007

The series is comprised of 8 races within the Southeast U.S., with Radicals competing in three classes (1300cc, 1500cc, other) based on engine displacement. Race weekends will consist of a 90 minute endurance race and two 30 minute sprint races. Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishers in each class. Each participant will also be eligible to receive points towards the Radical Cup Championship.

Radical Sportscars has formed a new American subsidiary, to be known as “Radical North America”. The company will be headed by Larry Huang, US racing veteran and former technology entrepreneur, and Chris Hall, professional driver/instructor.

Radical North America will focus on developing a one-make Radical series, the Radical Cup, to complement the SCCA and IMSA-sanctioned series in which Radical owners currently compete. The new Radical subsidiary will also operate as a distributor in the Atlanta area.

The Radical Cup is an amateur racing series for owners of Radical Sportscars. Sponsored by Radical North America, the Radical Cup series is designed to provide a professional and family friendly weekend environment for both novice and experienced drivers, to safely experience the performance of their Radicals.

The Radical Cup, will run at venues including Sebring Raceway, Barber Motorsport Park, Daytona International Speedway and Homestead Miami International Raceway.

Radical North America will provide track side spare parts and technical support to all participants. Arrive and drive services, private coaching and data analysis will also be available.

Radical North America will also offer the innovative, “Rookie-to-Racer” program designed to safely and methodically help the rookie driver develop the skills necessary to compete in the Radical Cup. “The Radical Cup is not a professional or professional feeder series. If you aspire to be a professional paid driver we would be happy to refer you to an appropriate series,” says CEO Huang.

Huang reiterates, “The Rookie-to-Racer program and the Radical Cup series are targeted at automobile enthusiasts who have successful careers but are looking for a way to experience driving a technically advanced race car and to learn the skills associated with racing.”

Radical co-founder, Mick Hyde elaborates, “The US is a large market, with potential to be our biggest. With Larry and Chris now on board as part of the Radical team and with the help of our US distributors, I am confident that we can repeat our achievements in Europe, also in America.”

Huang says, “The Radical Cup is an appealing alternative to both aspiring and veteran racers. The combination of performance and safety, with lots of track time and low operating costs should be an attractive proposition for a wide range of potential competitors.”

Hall says, “Radicals are truly remarkable race cars. The combination of high power, low weight and high-downforce aerodynamics allow these cars to perform at levels that exceed purpose-built race cars costing significantly more. The use of well-proven designs and high quality engineering insures both reliability and low operation costs. In addition, Radical has incorporated the latest innovations in safety by using technologies developed for Le Mans prototype cars. The Radical provides a unique opportunity for both veterans and novice drivers to get involved in the race experience. Veterans can get in these cars and become competitive immediately, and it’s also fantastic for amateurs to learn in and grow with.”

[ Radical North America - Radical Cup ]

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Runoffs® Qual 3 Brings Faster Times

The third of four qualifying days rewarded patient drivers with a cold but dry track. Overcast skies remained until the middle of the CSR/S2 group. While times in eariler sessions of the day seemed to be slower than Monday, the majority of DSR drivers, and more than half of the CSR/S2 drivers, were able to improve their times.

DSR

30 DSR cars posted times in this third qualification session, with J.R. Osborne in his Stohr WF1 topping the charts. His best time in Qual 3 (1:33.340) was only 37 thousandth of a second faster than Mark Jaremko's time (1:33.377) posted in Qual 1 with his Stohr WF1-BPS on Monday. John Bender in a West WR 1000 was again third fastest, improving his time by half a second to a 1:35.014 from his previous 1:35.679 on Monday. David Rigon in the lone factory Gloria B6S was forth quickest and keeps his forth spot set on Monday (1:36.824). Larry Vollum, part of the Stohr WF1 stampede, lowered his time by more than 2 seconds to set the 5th fastest time (1:37.436) of the session, but Steve Shelton in another Stohr WF1 retains that fifth spot in the overall qualification results with his tiem (1:37.209) from Monday. Larry takes the sixth spot overall.

Kevin Mitz in his Cheetah SR1 (1:39.522) still leads the unoffical non-tunneled DSR sub-class, still followed by Tom Bootz and his Speads RS (1:39.610). They again posted the 11th and 12th quickest times for the Qual 3 session. Bill Johnson in a Swift (1:42.604) turned in the 18th fastest time for Qual 3.

Mark White in a West WR 1000 posted the 7th fastest time in Qual 3, after only finishing one lap and ending at the bottom of Qual 1. Harry Goldman in another Stohr WR1 also got on the board with the 15th best time of the day after posting no tiem on Monday. John Hill still has not set a time, understandably waiting at home with his expectant wife.

[ DSR in Acrobat pdf format ]

CSR

Wade Carter in his Swift 008 Viking again set the top time in CSR, improving his previous best by half a second to 1:32.219. Mark Jaremko in his "DSR spec" Stohr WF1-BPS took second in the session and overall with a 1:33.222 lap. Hans Peters and his Swift 014 Viking were third in the session, dropping him to third overall based on his Monday 1:33.358 time. Kerry Jacobsen in a Panoz Elan Dp02 also did not improve his time, but stays in forth overall with his 1:34.786 Monday time. Ken Davis, who only completed one lap today, retains fifth with his Lola's (1:40.413) Monday time.

[ CSR in Acrobat pdf format ]

S2

Matthew DiRenzo reclaimed the top spot in S2 with his JRE SR-71F car setting a impressive time of 1:41.248. Mark Mercer and his Lola 91/90 were at the top of the chart at the end of Tuesday, but Mercer did not participate in today's session. However, Mercer stays in second overall with his 1:41.417 lap from Tuesday.

[ S2 in Acrobat pdf format ]

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Few Surprises After Runoffs® Qual 1

Photos provided by Lee Stohr.

The results from the first of four qualifying session were viewed, via Live Timing feed, for the SCCA's 2006 Runoffs. Former DSR standout, Mathew DiRenzo, raised a few eyebrows when his top S2 time bettered multiple S2 National champion John Fergus by almost 2 seconds.
Photos provided by Lee Stohr.

DSR

The first DSR Qualification session saw 31 cars post times. John Hill is not at the track yet, understandably waiting at home with his expectant wife. 1.5 second was the separation between the pair of Mark Jaremko in his own Stohr WF1-BPS (1:33.377) and J.R. Osborne in another Stohr WF1 (1:34.003), back to third place John Bender in a West WR 1000 (1:35.679). David Rigon driving the lone factory Gloria B6S posted a 1:36.824 for forth, followed by Steve Shelton in another Stohr WF1 (1:37.209) in fifth.

Leading the unoffical non-tunneled DSR sub-class was Kevin Mitz in his Cheetah SR1 (1:42.534) in 11th position, followed by Tom Bootz and his Speads RS (1:42.581) in 12th, then Bill Johnson in a Swift (1:42.812) in 13th.



[ DSR Qual 1 Results (web page) ]
[ DSR in Acrobat pdf format ]

CSR

The combined CSR and S2000 afternoon Qualification session had the top three spot separated by only tenths of a second. Wade Carter in his Swift 008 Viking set the top time (1:33.219), followed by Hans Peters and his Swift 014 Viking (1.33.358) in seocnd, with Mark Jaremko in his "DSR spec" Stohr WF1-BPS (1:33.573) in third. Kerry Jacobsen in a Panoz Elan Dp02 (1:34.786) claimed the forth spot, follwed by Ken Davis and his Lola (1:40.414) in fifth.

[ CSR Qual 1 Results (web page) ]
[ CSR in Acrobat pdf format ]

S2

Matthew DiRenzo, posted the fasted time for the S2 class (1:41.495) with his unique JRE SR-71F car, 7th fasted time of the combined session with CSR. Multiple National champion John Fergus had the second fasted time in S2, almost 2 seconds behind DiRenzo (1:43.292) in his Carbir CS2. Third fasted was Michael Bautz in a Lola T90/90 with a best lap of 1:43.580. Mark Mercer in his Lola 91/90 (1:44.096) was in forth, then M. Bart Wolf in a Carbir CS2.5 (1:44.158) in fifth.

[ S2 Qual 1 Results (web page) ]
[ S2 in Acrobat pdf format ]

[ Live SCCA Runoffs Time feed ]

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Sirianni Tests SSR1 at Beaver Run

Mike Sirianni tested his new car at Beaver Run and was with in a couple of seconds of his previous best time. This was accomplished while breaking in an engine and not reving it over 9,000 RPMs.

Sirianni 's crew chief, Michael Devins, reported that "Overall impressions of the car were very favorable. Mike did a 59 flat with no chassis tuning except for one spring change at the rear while the track was cold (mid 50's), and while still breaking in the new motor. The LSR Prince took 2 years of development to get to a 57 in perfect conditions."

After the third session, Mike got a call from home and had a family emergency. The practice session was cut short. Because of the limited testing time and the family issues, Mike decided not try to take the new car to the 2006 Runoffs.

For more information and photos, view the
Sirianni Chassis page.

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New 2007 Speads RS07A Shown

Racing Concepts LLC now have displayed their revised car which is being offered as a 2007 model, the Speads RS07A. The new car features "substantially revised aero package." The rolling chassis is designed to take any type or capacity of motorcycle engine.

The RS07A is a new car for DSR and CSR racing in the SCCA. As with previous models, the RS07A will accept most any motorcycle engine/transmission and retains the immensely strong tubular chassis for ease of maintenance and repair. The new design preserves the strength of chassis and mechanical grip present in the earlier models and adds a substantially revised aero package, designed by noted aerodynamicist Paul Haas, consisting of revised floor, twin diffusers (tunnels) and revised bodywork. Mechanically, revisions include revised suspension geometry, adjustable pushrods, larger foot box, and floating brake rotors with radial mount wildwood calipers. The braking, in a word, is fantastic.

Speads Chassis page

Racing Concepts Speads DSR/CSR page

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