17 September 2011
Lakeville, CT – Art Foster came through to win his first F1600 Formula F Championship Series race at his home track in a Van Diemen/Ford. Foster, a long time racer, found the top step of the podium after an epic yet high-attrition battle among the leaders. Ryan Leach was a career best second in the Spectrum/Honda and Colin Thompson tied his career best finish in third in a Swift/Honda.
“It was a bit slow in the beginning,” said Foster. “I held off a bit saving my tires. It worked.”
Foster wasn’t in the lead most of the race, but was when it mattered for the 30-lap caution-free race around the seven-turn road-course in Connecticut, round eight of the ten race 2011 season.
Ryan Leach bounced back for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing from a DNF in the earlier race to finish second, a career best result for the aspiring racer.
“I took it easy at the start,” Leach commented. “Colin Thompson and Jim Goughary were in front and touched, and that let me move into second. I battled with Art most of the way but got into a bit of oil and lost touch with him.”
Thompson gained valuable points finishing third to become the top contender for the Alegra Motorsports F2000 test, awarded to the top finishing driver under the age of 21 in the points standings.
“On the first couple of laps it seemed everyone was doing their own thing,” Thompson said. “I made a move on Jim Goughary, he seemed to come down on me and we touched.”
That moved Thompson way back through the pack, but the 17-year-old was able to recover for a podium drive.
In the fight for the Championship, Tim Kautz and Bill Valet both failed to finish. Valet cut into Kautz’s lead when he won earlier in the day, and Kautz failed to finish. Valet had an electrical short that cut his race short, while Kautz was well in control of the lead of the race before a massive engine failure in his Piper/Ford.
Pole sitter Jim Goughary failed to finish for the second time in the day in his Piper/Honda, after sitting on pole for both races.
The F1600 Formula F Championship Series concludes its 2011 season with rounds nine and ten, at Watkins Glen, October 14-16.
Race Results:
| Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total Tm | Diff | Gap | Avg. Speed | Best Tm | Best Spd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Art Foster | 30 | 27:14.993 | - | - | 101.065 | 53.416 | 103.115 |
| 2 | 16 | Ryan Leach | 30 | 27:15.365 | +0.372 | +0.372 | 101.042 | 53.113 | 103.703 |
| 3 | 5 | Colin Thompson | 30 | 27:15.469 | +0.476 | +0.104 | 101.035 | 52.848 | 104.223 |
| 4 | 72 | Steve Oseth | 30 | 27:15.735 | +0.742 | +0.266 | 101.019 | 53.231 | 103.474 |
| 5 | 4 | Bob Detrick | 30 | 27:43.048 | +28.055 | +27.313 | 99.360 | 54.098 | 101.815 |
| 6 | 6 | John Grooms | 30 | 27:43.542 | +28.549 | +0.494 | 99.330 | 53.872 | 102.242 |
| 7 | 68 | Caitlin Johnston | 30 | 27:45.810 | +30.817 | +2.268 | 99.195 | 54.445 | 101.166 |
| 8 | 44 | Ed Callo | 29 | 27:20.693 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 97.356 | 55.499 | 99.245 |
| 9 | 14 | Ross Devoe | 29 | 27:43.670 | +22.977 | +22.977 | 96.012 | 55.539 | 99.174 |
| 10 | 99 | Sean Maisey | 29 | 27:43.984 | +23.291 | +0.314 | 95.994 | 55.563 | 99.131 |
| 11 | 47 | Jim MacNicholl | 29 | 27:46.872 | +26.179 | +2.888 | 95.827 | 56.002 | 98.354 |
| 12 | 2 | Mike Scanlan | 28 | 26:20.221 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap | 97.596 | 54.724 | 100.651 |
| 13 | 3 | Ric Baribeault | 28 | 27:47.684 | +1:27.463 | +1:27.463 | 92.478 | 56.628 | 97.266 |
| 14 | 88 | Tim Kautz | 26 | 23:33.906 | 4 Laps | 2 Laps | 101.285 | 53.037 | 103.852 |
| 15 | 71 | Forrest Hull | 24 | 21:55.336 | 6 Laps | 2 Laps | 100.501 | 53.101 | 103.727 |
| 16 | 83 | Bill Valet | 19 | 20:50.084 | 11 Laps | 5 Laps | 83.716 | 53.588 | 102.784 |
| 17 | 9 | Doug Hobby | 14 | 13:33.630 | 16 Laps | 5 Laps | 94.775 | 55.266 | 99.663 |
| 18 | 7 | Jim Goughary | 9 | 9:48.084 | 21 Laps | 5 Laps | 84.294 | 53.753 | 102.469 |
| 19 | 93 | Glenn Taylor | 8 | 8:22.907 | 22 Laps | 1 Lap | 87.619 | 56.086 | 98.206 |
| DNS | 31 | Brian Copperthite | 0 | -.--- | - | - | - | -.--- | - |
