Hoosier FST - Round 5 & 6 Grattan

[Bill Bonow]

Registration for rounds 5 & 6 of The 2013 Hoosier Tire Formula First Championship Series at Grattan Raceway on July 27 & 28 in Belding, MI is now open!

Here is the link: https://www.motorsportreg.com/index....0#.UdIzWFYo6Uk

(4) cars are already registered

Grattan is always a big event for FST and it looks like this year will be no different. Pre-season event poles shows Grattan should have close to 13 entrants!

Go get signed up and be ready to head to Grattan at the end of the month.

[SamF]

And now there are 6 entered.

Blevins, Dave
Bonow, William
Dawson, Dave
Farmiga, Sam
Gordon, Matt
Sharp DC, Douglas

[2BWise]

I'm looking forward to watching the group run. I'll be there but running my FC. Spectating and participating at this track in the past with the FST series has always been enjoyable. I expect nothing short of an entertaining pair of races.

[Bill Bonow]

Three more added:

Blevins, Dave
Bonow, William
Dawson, Dave
Farmiga, Sam
Gordon, Matt
Sharp DC, Douglas
Clark, Robert
Deer, Aaron
Nash, Jim

And it looks like WMR has moved out the lone FV and likely we'll have our own run group!!!

(4) potentials left to sign up

Seim, Doug
Finegan, Brian
Dunlap, Steve
Steeb, Jason

[Doug FST 5]

I'm away this week and will register as soon as I get back. Looks like a great field of cars!

Doug FST 5

[Doug FST 5]

I entered this morning putting us at 10 of the 22 entries for this race weekend so far.

Doug FST 5

[Racerx6212]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I wont be able to make to this one but I will be at Road America with bells on!!

Brian

[rgu]

I know Dave Dawson intends to practice Friday because his car has undone a ground-up rebuild after RA last year. I’m planning on getting there as early as possible Friday to help out. I’m told that other drivers may also be available for practice crew also.



Remember this may be your last chance for inexpensive practice this year as practice at the next three tracks is much more costly. In addition if you are developing a new car there is no better place to obtain class specific help. We are all fanatical (well maybe this is a bit too strong) about bringing new FST’s into the fold.



Here is the track’s announcement:


For Friday practice, garage rental or paddock reservations; call Grattan Raceway at (616) 691-7221. Track has ambulance and corner workers for Friday test sessions.

[Bill Bonow]

We have 11 entries registered for rounds 5 & 6 of the Hoosier FST at Grattan. We are still (2) cars short of our goal of (13).

SRacing has one car available for rental at an insanely cheap rate and it's still available

Here is where we are at the moment:

Blevins, Dave
Bonow, William
Dawson, Dave
Farmiga, Sam
Gordon, Matt
Sharp DC, Douglas
Clark, Robert
Deer, Aaron
Nash, Jim
Seim, Doug
Dunlap, Steve

This will be the first SCCA club race on fresh and widened pavement. Good chance that last years track record will fall.

We have our own race group, nothing but FST!

Will be another great FST weekend, hope you can join in on our fun.

[rgu]

All entrants of prior Grattan races must have gotten the e-mailed letter about the sad state of entries this year. For sure Grattan is a great venue and the organizers have gone out of their way to make it a great event for Formula First. So won’t you please enter our race or talk with other drivers in other classes. There is a lot at stake.

[rgu]

Why waste your time going to summer festivals. Instead of the corn, grape, or bad art festival race at Grattan in a Formula First for a mere $600. Have a hedonistic weekend for a change.

[Bill Bonow]

Looks like we are locked in at (11) cars for the weekend. I leave in the AM, a few competitors are already at the track for the test day.

As always, Grattan will be a blast.

[Bill Bonow]

Just got back from Grattan. Working up a report with a few pics. Bonow wins round 5 and Seim wins round 6.

Great weekend. More soon

[Mike Devins]

I was there working with a DSR and an FB driver and had time to watch both races. Great close racing and really great looking cars.

[Bill Bonow]

Still working on the race report, but here is a few photos from Steven Hill and myself of the FST weekend.

[Bill Bonow]

through Grattan rounds 5 & 6 are now posted at www.formula-first.org

[Doug FST 5]

Literally a cool weekend. Who'da thunk we would need sweatshirts at a GLDIV race in July?

The FFDA did another fantastic job pulling together a great race weekend. Its pretty special to have a run group just for your class. Getting our choice of session format (no car eating Sunday qualifying race) made it complete.

There were 36 entries of formula or sports race cars. I wonder why my home region has trouble attracting these classes in that kind of number.....

Jim Nash looked fast all weekend. Dr. Doug is starting to get used to podium visits. Dave D's reworked car is showing serious promise once the bugs are worked out.

Matt had a tough weekend but I'm hoping he'll have it worked out for RA. The "if it wern't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all" award goes to Rob.

Many thanks as always to Robert for putting a great race car together. Also thanks to Steve and Sarah at Battlepack.com for their support.

Matt did a great job keeping the car running fast with help from Jamie and Craig. Randy took this race off due to a work commitment but will be back. I haven't scared him away yet.

We're already busy getting the car ready for the long straights of RA. Can't wait to get there!

Doug FST 5

[Bill Bonow]

Another great weekend of FST racing took place this past weekend at Grattan Raceway. Western Michigan Region of the SCCA hosted Rounds 5 & 6 of The Hoosier Formula First Championship Series and I'm hear to tell you that Grattan and WMR never disappoint.

General Event Note:

We have been very fortunate to have WMR as our host region. We have been coming to Grattan and WMR as a series for believe it or not, 10 years! In that time, WMR has been gracious enough to give FST our own race group and we always try to make sure we fill our grid. Thank you WMR for a great decade of FST racing at Grattan.

Friday Testing:

About half the grid took advantage of the test day hosted by Grattan Raceway. Dave Dawson had his car out for the first time this year and used the opportunity to shake down his freshly rebuilt Evolution. Dr. Doug Sharp has been to Grattan plenty before, but wanted to drive the track clockwise rather than ride the typical counterclockwise he is more familiar with on a superbike. All in all testing was good and the weather was great.

Q-5:

Saturday qualifying was simple and straightforward. Nice weather, no incidents and the whole field was fast.

Q-5 Results:

1) Doug Seim Mysterian M5.1 1:26.749
2) Bill Bonow Campbell Evolution 1:26.976
3) Jim Nash Mission MRC-09 1:27.537
4) Dr. Doug Sharp Jacer V2K2 1:28.583
5) Dave Dawson Campbell Evolution 1:29.285
6) Robert Clark Campbell Evolution 1:30.100
7) Sam Farmiga Adams Acer-J 1:30.442
8) Aaron Deer Campbell Evolution 1:30.644
9) Matt Gordon Citation FST 1:30.830
10) Dave Blevins Caracal MTV 1:31.354

Round 5 Race Notes:

The Saturday race start had Bonow out to a solid lead at the end of the first lap. At the end of lap 2 it was gone with Seim and Clark chasing him down. It looked to be sizing up to be a three car battle for the point. Seim got by Bonow as did Clark. A couple laps later, Clark pulls of a great pass on Seim into turn 1 to take the lead. Slowly Clark begins to pull away from Seim and Bonow. With 5 laps left, Clark spins to the inside at turn 3. Seim and Bonow get passed Clark who continues, but is a distance behind. A lap later, Seim has a right rear axle bearing retainer cap come loose (first time for everything?) at the jump and suddenly has a major issue in both braking and gear oil loss. Bonow gets around Seim with 2 laps to go. Bonow drives it home to take the checkered flag, while Seim amazingly holds on to maintain his second place by just beating out Clark who was catching him quickly.

Round 5 Race Results:

1) Bonow
2) Seim
3) Clark Fast Lap 1:25.326
4) Nash
5) Dawson
6) Deer
7) Farmiga
8) Sharp DNF
9) Blevins DNF
10) Gordon DNF

Q-6:

Sunday morning, well now the weather sucks. 53°, cloudy and raining off and on. The track is wet. Most of the competitors (well, the smart ones anyway) went out on rain tires. Clark had many spins and a resulting “chat” with the stewards. Must have been an interesting conversation. Rob ended up with his qualifying times pulled and starting from the back of the grid.

Q-6 Results:

1) Jim Nash Mission MRC-09 1:45.647
2) Dr. Doug Sharp Jacer V2K2 1:49.195
3) Sam Farmiga Adams Acer-J 1:49.433
4) Matt Gordon Citation FST 1:50.997
5) Doug Seim Mysterian M5.1 1:51.766
6) Dave Dawson Campbell Evolution 1:53.020
7) Bill Bonow Campbell Evolution 1:55.763
8) Aaron Deer Campbell Evolution 2:57.451
9) Dave Blevins Caracal MTV No Time
10) Rob Clark Campbell Evolution 0:00.000

Round 6 Race Notes:

The weather had cleared. It was still cold, but blue sky was beginning to pop through the clouds. Most importantly, the track was dry. The first few laps saw a large group up front. The race settled into a lead group of three (Seim, Bonow and Clark) with Seim at the point. Clark dropped out after lap three with mechanical issues and did Bonow after lap 7. Seim held on to take the victory by 8.6 seconds over Sharp.

Round 6 Results:

1) Seim Fast Lap 1:26.478
2) Nash
3) Sharp
4) Dawson
5) Deer
6) Bonow
7) Farmiga DNF
8) Clark DNF
9) Gordon DNF
10) Blevins DNS

Next, we're off to Road America for Rounds 7 & 8

[rgu]

Great report bill and 100% accurate.

What amazes me about our group is the resiliency. A lot of problems got overcome but the cars got to the post.

I was impressed with Butch Deer running and lap after lap at a fast pace resulting in a good finish. Dr Doug and Jim Nash went toe to toe lap after lap ending in a steering gear problem for Dr Doug. This was quickly fixed as other competitors helped rebuild the linkage.

A couple years ago Doug Seim won this race with no shocks on the front end. This time he finished second without brakes. He dragged his racing boots to slow down. Some say his heel was sore Monday.

These are reasons why the Hoosier Tire Series is the best regional series.

Come out and join the fun.

[teamclark]

Sorry it took so long but here is the video from Race 1 - note the nice shower of Brake Fluid courtesy of Doug Seim at the end of the race.....

https://vimeo.com/75836757