Dauntless P2007.c Shakedown Tests

Dauntless Racing had a successful test day at Thunderhill Raceway in California evaluating their new CSR bodywork on a Ralt RT-40/41 Formula Atlantic chassis. The usual initial bugs were worked out, then the team proceeded to do preliminary tuning of the chassis and aerodynamic setups. By the end of the day the Clayton family had the car down to record breaking lap times.

Rennie Clayton, the son and team driver, reports, "We had a very successful shakedown run today at Thunderhill to work out teething troubles. We were unable to make the SCCA Regional race last weekend, but made it to the track today running with NCRC / TracQuest in their Open group (think ITE). Not going to release any lap times, but suffice it to say that if we'd been running at the SCCA weekend, there would be a new CSR track record (possibly outright, I'd need to check). We were running the same Hoosier tyres that I won the 2003 Formula Atlantic National Championship on - literally the same set, from 4 years ago.

As expected, there were a few mechanical gremlins to work out, but nothing that caused us to miss any sessions. A great deal was learned about the behaviour of the car with the new body kit, as well as how it all integrates together.

I can safely say at this point: It is fast."

Proud father Stan Clayton added, "I too had a great time at the track today, and it was awesome to get the Ralt back on track after a 4-year hiatus. The NCRC folks were very friendly and welcoming -- a big thank you for sharing the track with us! All the drivers in the Open group were very professional (half the cars sported SCCA stickers... :D ) with lots of point-by's and good, heads-up driving.

As Rennie notes, there were a few mechanical issues to deal with. I think the punch list has about 10 items on it, though nothing major. The engine ran like a top, and the new bodywork seems to really work well. We started off very conservatively, as this is our prototype bodywork and we didn't want to damage it. You can see in the photo that the car was quite high (about half an inch higher than in FA trim). As the day wore on we continued to lower the car (almost to FA ride height now) and fine-tune the aero package. All in all, I must say that I am quite pleased with our progress. Sorry about being a bit cagey about the details, but we are not yet at our final configuration and don't want to give away too many details too early. After all, we don't want to give our competition at the Runoffs too much to go on...!"


[ Dauntless body photos ]

[ Duantless Bodywork page ]

[ Dauntless Racing website ]

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CSR & DSR Will Not Combine, For Now

The August edition of SCCA's FasTrack included important information in the Club Racing Board (CRB) minutes from July 3 & 5, 2007. It states that "Sports Racer – The CRB has rescinded its recommendation to combine CSR and DSR due to member input."


[ Club Racing section of August 2007 FasTrack ]

[ Full August 2007 FasTrack ]

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Liverato Wins, Sets Record at Glen National

Story by Bill Bell from the SCCA News page.

Jean-Luc Liverato, of Alpharetta, Ga., was third overall and first in DSR driving a Stohr WF1. Liverato also set a new DSR record at The Glen, turning a 1:51.311. William Goldkind, of Holbrook, N.Y., took the CSR win in a Viking and David Dullum, of Falls Church, Va., was the S2000 victor in a Lola.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 17, 2007) – The 59th running of the Glen Nationals, dating back to the original street races in 1949, attracted 320 competitors to the 2007 edition, presented by the Finger Lakes Region Sports Car Club of America. Some of the best national drivers, from Maine to Florida and parts of the Midwest, came to test their skills at one of the most famous and historic road courses in the United States.

Saturday was devoted to practice and qualifying sessions for each of the seven race groups. Following practice and qualifying, an open Town Hall meeting was held with SCCA President Jim Julow and local directors Brian Holtz and John Sheridan, and the evening concluded with a picnic supper for all participants.

Race Three was composed of Formula Atlantic, D Sport Racing, C Sports Racing, F 1000 (FB), Formula Continental, S2000, and Formula Mazda. The start was delayed by two extra pace laps due to slippery course conditions. On Lap Five, a full-course yellow was called for four laps, and green flag racing resumed on Lap Nine. At the finish, it was two Formula Atlantics in first and second position; Paul Lecain, of Dandown, N.H, driving a Ralt Toyota in front, followed by Ahsen Yelkin, of Austintown, Ohio. Polesitter and third in FA, Hans Peter, of Overland Park, Kan., set a new FA track record of 1:45.074, after being held in the pits and starting the race from dead last.

Jeremy Hill, of Toronto, Ont., won FB in a Photon VD, setting an FB track record of 1:54.621 in the process. In FM, it was Jeremy Grenier, of Point of Rocks, Md., and FC was won by Mauro Fauza, of Auburn Hills, Mich., in a Van Diemen. Justin Hoffman, of Herndon, Va., took the FE victory in a Van Diemen and set a lap record of 1:59.171.

Forty-three Spec Racer Fords took the green at the start of Race Two. Lee Hill was the early leader followed by Mark Eaton. Hill took over the point on Lap six, but one lap later, Herb Sweeney, Jr., took the lead with Hill now back in fourth position. Lap nine saw a new leader, Mick Robinson, followed by Derek Defonce and Eaton. This held through four laps of full-course yellow. At the finish, it was Eaton, of Eau Gallie, Fla., Defonce, of New Preston, Conn., and Robinson, of Melbourne, Fla.


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Messenger Building Tatuus/Dauntless-GSXR

Jay Messenger, long time Sports 2000 racer, announced plans to build a DSR/CSR car. The basis of the chassis will be a 1998 Tatuus Formula Continental (pictured to the right). Current plans are to power the car with a George Dean built 2007 Suzuki GSXR engine, & cover the entire assembly with Dauntless Racing bodywork.

Jay says that the Messenger SR will be based on a 1998 Tatuus FC "highly developed and modified from its original state. It ran at the 2006 runoffs and had a fastest lap of the week at 1.40.479 in qualifying."

"As far as final drive/engine bay mods I am teaming up with Mike Alexander of PDG Racing Technologies in Austin, Texas (512)431-7400. Mike is a Professional Engineer with 30+ years experience in SCCA with an emphasis in CSR/DSR. Mike will be testing the torsional rigidity of the Tatuus chassis and the related computer modeling as he adapts his chain drive design to the unique Tatuus chassis."

Jay adds, "While not final, I am currently working with Rennie Clayton to develop a unique version of the Dauntless bodywork (unveiled in March 2007) that will incorporate the Tatuus nose, cockpit and low rise tail section."

"I will look at doing some additional conversions for any '98 or newer VD, or any '97 or newer Tatuus chassis. The designs, engineering and concepts will be very readily adapted to any of these chassis. If someone is out there with an interest in one, they should contact me directly with questions, comments, or suggestions. I look forward to joining the XSR community!"

Jay Messenger
806-946-7252 cell
[ Messenger Racing ]

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Frappr Map Still Alive, Needs Awakening

Over 100 folks previously stuck a pin in our map to show where they are, and in many cases to display a photo of their car. Click here to go to the larger map and join if you choose to.

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Roebling: Downing Double, Liverato Record

Story by Bruce Dover from the SCCA News page.

BLOOMINGDALE, Ga. (July 3 , 2007) - The racing at Roebling Road Raceway for the Lou Ella Cook Memorial 27th Annual SEDiv Double National was as hot as the weather. Twelve track records were set over the course of the weekend at the 2.02-mile road course just outside of Savannah, Ga. Obviously, the re-paving done over the winter agrees with the track and racers. Luckily, those infamous late afternoon thunderstorms, so prevalent in Georgia in the summertime, held off until after the racing was done on both days.

Saturday

Race 3 - (FA, FB, FM, CSR, DSR S2)
After an early lead by polesitter Dorian Foyil, of Nassau, Bahamas, the D Sports Racing car of Jean-Luc Liverato of Alpharetta, Ga., and the Formula Atlantic of Canadian Jacek Mucha swapped the lead until Liverato took it for good on lap seven, going on to win the DSR class by 20.717 seconds over Foyil and setting a new DSR class record of 1:04.466. Mucha took the Formula Atlantic win over Ben Johnson by 6.724 seconds.

Jim Downing of Atlanta, Ga., took the C Sports Racing win and Ken Tyrell, of Tallahassee, Fla., won FB and set a new FB class record of 1:08.603. In Formula Mazda, defending National Champion James Goughary, of Jupiter, Fla., won over David Donovan by 2.795 seconds.

Race 4 – (SRF)
A group of Florida drivers put on quite the show in the Spec Racer Ford race. Mark Eaton, Brian Schofield and Nathan Offutt swapped the lead seemingly every lap. On lap eight, Eaton took the lead for good, but the battle behind him never let up. Schofield and Offutt were eventually joined by Jordon Gore and Andrew Charbonneau. Each of them ran in second place at one time or another during the remainder of the race, with Schofield ending up on the second step of the podium, 9.733 seconds behind Eaton, but only 0.280 seconds ahead of Gore, who was only 0.173 seconds ahead of Charbonneau.

Sunday

Race 3 – (FA, FB, FM, CSR, DSR, S2)
Saturday’s winner, Jean-Luc Liverato, dropped out after only six laps, making life much easier for Dorian Foyil, who won the D Sports Racing competition by a minute. In Formula Atlantic, Jacek Mucha won again over Ben Johnson, this time by 46.799 seconds.

There may have been only two C Sports Racers running, but they had one heck of a battle. John Zuccarelli III managed to take the lead from Jim Downing early, but when they got into lapped traffic on lap nine, Downing was able to regain the lead and hold off Zuccarelli for the win by 7.584 seconds.

Formula Mazda win was again taken by James Goughary over David Donovan by 3.838 seconds.

Race 4 – (SRF)
Once again, the Spec Racer Ford race offered the most excitement of the day. Mark Eaton, Matthew Inge, Mick Robinson, Jordan Gore, Nathan Offutt, Brian Schofield and Andrew Charbonneau all contributed to an outstanding race. Eaton took the lead from Robinson on lap two, but then dropped out on the following lap, allowing Robinson to take over. On lap four, Inge took the lead again, but four laps later Offutt was out in front. Offutt then dropped back to fourth as Schofield slipped into the lead on lap 10. Charbonneau slowly worked his way to the front from a ninth-place start and took the lead on lap 14. He was able to hold the lead until lap 20 when Schofield snatched the lead again. It was all Schofield could do to keep Charbonneau behind him and squeak out a win by just 0.077-second!


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