60+ Racing Adventures-2nd
Round at Monza
The 2nd Round of the 60+ Racing Adventures
League for drivers age 60 and older ran Wednesday, 6/21 at Monza, running the
Grand Prix layout, running the Pro Mazda.
29 drivers qualified for the first session with several drivers breaking
below the 1:50 lap mark.
Turns out that starting on the Pole at Watkins Glen and
Monza may not translate into an advantage. The long straights at both tracks
make drafting a major factor. In fact,
Pennsylvanian Donald Strout having earned the Pole Position in both events
failed to even earn a podium in either.
One distinctive aspect of the 60+ Racing Adventures League
is rules regarding safe passing and “corner rights”. Close racing into T1 at
the start at Monza often leads to incidents—here the drivers showed respect and
restraint with a “clean start” in both sessions.
It was not long however until the close and fiercely
competitive racing began. John Unsbee
lost control in Ascari on Lap 1 and was launched by unavoidable contact from
John Morgan. Richard Coulombe looks on.
Antonio Reis, starting in P3, was able to follow polesitter
Strout on the inside line into T1, moving ahead of Jos van de Ven. Strout held
him off for Lap 1 but on Lap 2 failed to do his best in Ascari, enabling
Antonio Reis to draft him on the following straight. Strout pulled behind Reis
entering Parabolica and committed an error, running into Reis, taking both cars
out of contention.
Canadian Steve Carkner, starting from P8 in the first
session took the Checkered Flag, beating out Jos van de Ven by inches—0.04
seconds. Jos, from the Netherlands had started the race on the front row in P2.
Carkner’s teammate, Floridian Mark Robertson joined Carkner and van de Ven on
the Podium. Robertson had started in P6.
After Strout and Reis were taken out of contention, the
race turned out to be a battle between Jos van de Ven and Steven Carkner.
Carkner played it cool and let his teammate Bill Lawrence duke it out with van
de Ven for much of the race, but on lap 14, Carkner asserted himself and took
the lead. Jos van de Ven retook the lead on lap 15, and Carkner passed again
into T1 on the last lap and was able to hold off Jos for a near photo finish.
In the second session, or “second chance” race that
includes all the drivers from the first session except the top 3 finishers,
Strout again set the pace and earned Pole with a margin of 0.44 seconds over
Bill Lawrence. Lawrence, from Canada and a teammate of Carkner, however gave
their team the second win of the day, beating out Antonio Reis from Portugal by
only 0.9 seconds. Strout, Lawrence and Reis had been in a three-car battle
for most of the race, but Strout lost control in the Curve di Lesmo, allowing
Nevada’s John Unsbee to take 3rd place at the finish. According to
Strout, “Lawrence and Reis were relentless and I could not shake them. Filling
my mirrors constantly, I got rattled and just decided to let them go, and
follow them until the last lap. I had figured I had a bit of an edge over them
going thru Lesmo, Ascari, and Parabolica and while following them, I kind of
sized them up. My intent was to execute
a pass on one exiting Lesmo, and passing the second one going into Curva
Parabolica, but I made an error in judgment and lost control. An old man’s
mistake! These tracks where the draft is strong makes strategy very important,
but I did not have the skill or temperament to pull off what needed to be done.
Definitely not my best day!”
Lots of close racing at Monza and lots of battles for
position behind the four cars mentioned in P1-4. Remigio di Pasqua and John
Morgan raced wheel to wheel for much of the race until Morgan spun in
Ascari. Close behind (in the photo) was
Jay Freels and Jim Oliver.
After two events, the Team of Carkner, Lawrence and
Robertson have a substantial lead over the Team of John Unsbee, Jim Oliver,
Michael Key and P J Salley. Not far
behind in third place in the Team Championship is the Team of Bruce Poole, Joel
Martin and Jay Freels.
The series maintains a Driver Championship and a Team
Championship. Team assignments are
determined by the League Organizer to pair up 3 or four drivers that together
have a “fair” chance compared to other teams.
In other words, less experienced or accomplished drivers are paired with
the more experienced so each team is deemed to have a “fair” chance to win the
Team Championship that pays $100 to the Winning Team, $50 to the 2nd
Place Team and $25 to the 3rd Place Team for the Season.
Steven Carkner is leading in the Driver’s Championship,
followed by his teammate Bill Lawrence. Third in the Driver’s Championship is
Andrew Fidler, winner of the Watkins Glen event who suffered computer/internet
issues at the Monza event.
The next event for the 60+ guys is at Lucas Oil (IRP)—a
short track oval with little banking and a regular venue for the real life Pro
Mazda series.
