On Saturday, May 5th, Lime Rock Park was the site of the PCA club race hosted by Connecticut Valley Region. This event is always popular with the drivers and the spectators that come to cheer them on. This year there were decidedly fewer spectators due to the wet weather. But the Northeast Region still presented a respectable caravan of supporters that made the trek west to see our local boys race in the rain. The key to success for this club race was rain tires. Each competitor chose his weapon, from R1s to grooved Hoosiers to Toyos. NER drivers finished first in five classes! See the results below. The results are posted as names and numbers - just the stats. Here's a little insight into what the numbers don't show. The cars run in classes determined by model and engine size, then the classes are grouped together so that as many as four classes are running in one race group. This makes spectating without a program impossible. For instance, Mike qualified for 11th position on the grid in his group and finished eighth overall. Yet that same spot meant he started third and finished third in his class. Despite the rain the racers had fun. Here are their thoughts on the race, in their own words. Ronnie Savenor who qualified and finished first in class E said he enjoyed dicing with Don Jacobs in the red 914 in class G5R. The best thing about the whole event was seeing Cal Calamari qualify first and win his first race in class F. Russ Castagna also "Congratulates Cal for dominating the field all weekend". Russ had no competition in his own class but qualified 7th and finished 3rd in Group 1 against all the biggest boys. Jim Colligan said "I had fun and brought the car home in one piece". Even though he "ate the mist of a G6S car for twelve laps" he was disappointed when the checkered flag fell because 12 laps went by too fast, he was enjoying the race so much. Here's a tip he learned in a warm-up session: "R1s on the front and Hoosiers on the back was NOT the hot set-up for the rain", but it was exciting! Sam Lowe said he missed Mike Melton and the competition in class J. LRP is his favorite track; could it be because he's won both times he's raced there? He felt the rain was an advantage for his low powered 914, though he did say "I wished I had rain tires; first time I've needed them." Sam appreciates the spectator support, especially the family attendance. His daughter and new grandson braved the weather to cheer for him. Mark Deltufo impressed his NER comrades by "setting the pace for class I all weekend only to be passed with two laps to go and finish second. Bill Johnson in his second club race finished third and "had a great experience". His only other race, also at LRP, he finished twelfth. That's quite a step up. His efforts didn't go unnoticed; he won the Worker's Choice Award for his Group (5). Bill still drives his 924S to work and on rambles and tours. Conspicuous in their absence from the from the results are: Mark Forrester who had a mishap on Thursday but came back on Saturday to cheer on his buddies. Dave Maynard who drove Carmine for EPE until transmission troubles took him out of the competition. Carol and Barry Brensinger who wisely decided not to run because "we gotta get some rain tires soon!" Barry tried to run the street tires off the 944 on the 914 but they didn't exactly fill up the wheel wells.
Class C 1st Russ Castagna Class G3R 2nd Frank Trombly Class G3S 3rd Mike Noonan Class E 1st Ron Savenor Class E 2nd Jim Grady Class E 7th Hans Warner Class E 14th Nick Efremow Class F 1st Cal Calamari Class G 1st Jim Lewis Class H 5th Jim Colligan Class H 7th Mark Stefanski Class I 2nd Mark Deltufo Class I 3rd Bill Johnson Class J 1st Sam Lowe