Thunderhill Raceway - US Formula 1000 WEST - Rounds 1 & 2

[Nicholas Belling]

Rounds 1 and 2 will take place at Thunderhill Raceway Park on April 12-13. These races are held in conjunction with the SCCA Majors Tour.

The series has asked the SCCA to provide a split start and they’ve agreed. FB will be split away on their own from all other classes ( FA,FC,FE,FM,p1,p2 ).

Don't Forget Friday is an all day Track run Test day for all competitors.

Entry info and registration is here:
https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...2#.UzC-9IXjK8o

Registered Drivers so Far :
Duane Eitel ( Phoenix )
Gary Hickman ( Phoenix )
John Labrie ( Phoenix )
J.R. Osbourne ( Citation )
Larry Vollum ( Stohr )

I know
Nicolas Ortiz ( Firman ) is coming.
Randy Cook ( JDR ) is coming.

Just over 2 weeks before the event who else is coming ?

Schedule for the weekend is as follows :

Thursday 5pm gates open for early entrance/access.
Friday - All day track run test day and scca tech happening
- SCCA registration 4pm - 7:30
- SCCA TECH 5pm - 7pm
Saturday :
8:30am - ( 20 minute qualify )
1:05pm - ( 30 minute Sprint Race )
Sunday :
8:25am - ( 20 min warm up )
10:35am - ( 16 lap or 40 min Race )


Supps for download are : http://www.sfrscca.org/images/2014/R...thillsched.pdf

[Mike B]

We're up to 8 entries:

Randy Cook (JDR)
Duane Eitel ( Phoenix )
Gary Hickman ( Phoenix )
John Labrie ( Phoenix )
Nicolas Ortiz ( Firman )
J.R. Osborne ( Citation )
Rod Rice (Stohr)
Larry Vollum ( Stohr )

I hope we can get to 10 entries so we can give away more Hoosier tires!

[ghickman]

2 names I'm surprised aren't listed are Jose and Jake.

[Nicholas Belling]

http://www.sfrscca.org/images/2014/C...chedrev4_4.pdf

this makes things much more manageable for Sunday.

[JakeL]

2 names I'm surprised aren't listed are Jose and Jake.

I think Jose's professional commitments are going to keep him away from the West coast events for a while - I think he'll be more around our part of the country for a little while.

For me, combination of a new baby, new job, and darn near brand new car was too much to get ready in time. Something like 5 years in a row now I haven't been able to make T-Hill.

Have fun everybody!

-Jake

[Mike B]

Osborne wins round 1 at Thunderhill! Unofficial results:
1 JR Osborne
2 Larry Vollum
3 Randy Cook
4 Gary Hickman
5 Nicholas Ortiz
6 John LaBrie
7 Duane Eitel
8 Rod Rice-DNS

Rice was punted by a sportsracer in qualifying after his shifter broke. He is likely done for the weekend. Randy Cook wins the Sunoco Hard Charger Award!

[Thomas Copeland]

From Today

[Thomas Copeland]

More

[Thomas Copeland]

Some more. Check out the US Formula 1000 website for more (will be posted over the next couple of days)

[scanworks1]

Way to go JR - Details please - new track record????

[Rick Kirchner]

i've been wandering about taking pictures. Talked to James Hakewill for a bit at the worker party, and met butch kummer too.

if the track internet wasn't so slow I'd post a few.

[Christopher Crowe]

Aside from the human link in the chain, which chassis/engine combination placed where? How'd the new Phoenix do?

Thanks much,

Chris Crowe

[Mike B]

Here are the combos I know of:
1 JR Osborne - Citation/Suzuki
2 Larry Vollum -Stohr/Kawasaki
3 Randy Cook -JDR/Suzuki
4 Gary Hickman -Phoenix/Suzuki
5 Nicholas Ortiz - Firman/Suzuki
6 John LaBrie - Phoenix/Suzuki
7 Duane Eitel - Phoenix/Suzuki
8 Rod Rice-DNS - Stohr/Kawasaki

Hickman ran in 2nd place for a good part of the race but faded near the end. Cook had the 2nd fastest lap of the race. Fast lap was JRO (1:41.887) followed by Cook's 1:44.437.

[Stan Clayton]

Fast lap was JRO (1:41.887) followed by Cook's 1:44.437.

Congrats JR!

To put that time in context, here is a link to the current Thunderhill track records: Records

[Mike B]

Osborne wins overall in race 2! Provisional results:
1. JR Osborne
2. Gary Hickman
3. Randy Cook
4. Larry Vollum
5. Nicholas Ortiz
6. John LaBrie
7. Duane Eitel
8. Rod Rice (DNS)

[Mike B]

Apparently Gary Hickman passed under yellow and was bumped back to 3rd, moving Randy Cook up to 2nd. We have tons of Replay XD video to sort through and will post on the US Formula 1000 Youtube channel soon.

[ghickman]

Hickman ran in 2nd place for a good part of the race but faded near the end. Cook had the 2nd fastest lap of the race. Fast lap was JRO (1:41.887) followed by Cook's 1:44.437.[/QUOTE]

Actually I had the second fastest lap on Sunday. After the race was over I agreed to give up my second place to Randy; the Race Steward was leaving it up to Randy to file a protest so we simply swapped positions. I felt it was the right thing to do.

The car was fast all weekend, I was P2 in qualifying on Saturday but broke a throttle return spring during the race and drove the entire race using my foot as a return spring.

Sunday's race my dash went out on the first lap so I drove the entire race without any dash at all, no tach or gear position.

Thunderhill has always been tough on us but I think we finally got past the curse.

Got some killer in car video, had 3 cameras on the car.

[Mike B]

Thunderhill Raceway Park Recap


Rounds 1 and 2 of the Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Championship West kicked off on Saturday with the first and only qualifying session. Shortly after the cars left the grid, Duane Eitel spun his Phoenix, bringing out a full course caution. After he was towed in, the now-shortened session resumed and JR Osborne immediately jumped to the top of the chart. A lap later, Larry Vollum eclipsed Osborne’s fast time but he was soon dropped to second by Gary Hickman. Osborne was just getting warmed up and by the end of the session had put his Citation back on the pole with a fast lap of 1:43.816. Hickman retained P2 with Vollum a mere .017 seconds back. Late in the session, Rod Rice’s shifter broke and as he slowed on the main straight he was hit hard by a sportsracer, ending his weekend.

Final Qualifying grid for Round 1
1. JR Osborne 1:43.816
2. Gary Hickman 1:47.076
3. Larry Vollum 1:47.093
4. Rod Rice 1:53.651
5. Randy Cook 1:55.301
6. John LaBrie 1:57.273
7. Nicholas Ortiz 1:57.406
8. Duane Eitel no time

Throughout race 1, Osborne was untouchable. At the green flag, he took off to a sizable lead. An early full course caution bunched the field up, but at the restart Osborne once again left the field in his mirrors. While Osborne dominated at the front, there was a great battle for 2nd . Hickman held the position for the first half of the race but was constantly pressured by Vollum. After the halfway mark, Hickman started fading and gave up the second spot to Vollum and later dropping to fourth, allowing Randy Cook to get around him. Cook began running down Vollum and was closing on him but ran out of laps, settling for 3rd. John Labrie had moved up to 5th from his 6th place starting position but on lap 13 his tires went away and he spun out of the race, relinquishing 5th to Nicholas Ortiz. Eitel’s problems continued with a faulty clutch, forcing him to park on just the second lap.

Round 1 Race results:
1. JR Osborne
2. Larry Vollum
3. Randy Cook
4. Gary Hickman
5. Nicholas Ortiz
6. John LaBrie
7. Duane Eitel
8. Rod Rice (DNS)

Prize payout- round 1
1st Place – JR Osborne - 2 Hoosier Tires, 1 pair Hyperco Springs
2nd Place – Larry Vollum -1 Hoosier Tire, $50 Hyperco Certificate
3rd Place – Randy Cook - $25 Hyperco Certificate, $25 Sprocket Specialist Certificate
5th Place – Nicholas Ortiz - $15 Sprocket Specialist Certificate

Pole – JR Osborne (1:43.816) - 1 Hoosier tire
Fastest Lap- JR Osborne (1:41.887) – 50% off Sprocket Specialists
Sunoco Hard Charger Award – Randy Cook - $150.00 cash (moved up 2 positions)
Random drawing – Duane Eitel - 1 Hoosier tire
Random drawing – Duane Eitel - 1 Hoosier tire
Random drawing- Duane Eitel - free sprocket from Sprocket Specialists


The grid for round 2 was set using the fastest lap between qualifying and race 1. While everyone went faster in the race, some improved more than others, which shuffled the grid for race 2. Nobody was able to improve on Osborne’s fast lap of the race so he retained the pole. However, the second fastest lap of the race belonged to Cook and that was enough to put him on the front row. Vollum retained 3rd and Hickman dropped to 4th.

Final grid for Round 2
1. JR Osborne 1:41.887
2. Randy Cook 1:44.437
3. Larry Vollum 1:44.716
4. Gary Hickman 1:45.989
5. Nicholas Ortiz 1:47.996
6. John LaBrie 1:48.739
7. Rod Rice 1:53.651
8. Duane Eitel 2:30.742


Osborne continued his dominance in round 2, winning in even more convincing fashion. From the start of the race, after he got by Randy cook at the outside of turn 2 he checked out from the rest of the field and was never challenged. Enroute to victory he also set the Formula 1000 fast lap and won overall. He left Hickman, Cook, and Vollum to battle for the remaining steps on the podium. Hickman got a great start from his fourth spot on the grid and got around both Vollum and Cook on the first lap. The three battled for the entire race and Hickman crossed the stripe in second, followed by Cook, then Vollum. However, a post-race penalty for passing under a local yellow dropped Hickman’s official finish position to 3rd, promoting Cook to 2nd. A little further back, Ortiz and LaBrie were dicing for 5th with LaBrie holding off Ortiz until lap 12. That’s when LaBrie lost control at turn 11 and spun, handing the position to Ortiz.

Round 2 Race results:
1. JR Osborne
2. Randy Cook
3. Gary Hickman
4. Larry Vollum
5. Nicholas Ortiz
6. John LaBrie
7. Duane Eitel
8. Rod Rice

Prize payout- round 2
1st Place – JR Osborne - 2 Hoosier Tires, 1 pair Hyperco Springs
2nd Place – Randy Cook -1 Hoosier Tire, $50 Hyperco Certificate
3rd Place – Gary Hickman - $25 Hyperco Certificate, $25 Sprocket Specialist Certificate
5th Place – Nicholas Ortiz - $15 Sprocket Specialist Certificate

Pole – JR Osborne (1:41.887) - 1 Hoosier tire
Fastest Lap- JR Osborne (1:40.546) – 50% off Sprocket Specialists
Sunoco Hard Charger Award – Gary Hickman - $150.00 cash (moved up 1 position)
Random drawing – Gary Hickman - 1 Hoosier tire
Random drawing – Nicholas Ortiz - 1 Hoosier tire
Random drawing- Larry Vollum - free sprocket from Sprocket Specialists

Check out the Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Championship Youtube channel for some exciting Replay XD footage from the weekend! https://www.youtube.com/user/USFormula1000

[JohnPaul]

Congrats to everyone! JR. you are an animal. The Phoenix car with Hickman showed what it was capable of, very cool!
One thing I noticed is that Race Monitor and the SCCA timing are way off. It shows a 1:40.5 for JR and a 1:43.00 for Hickman in the race (along with different times for everyone else). Does Race Monitor take times from places other than start/finish? I first noticed it in Road Atlanta last month with my times.....
Anyway, great race weekend! Getting ready to head out to VIR this Weds!!!

[Peter Olivola]

RaceMonitor is a direct feed from the official T&S system, not a separate system. There shouldn't be any timing differences although finish positions aren't determined by the transponder based system.

Congrats to everyone! JR. you are an animal. The Phoenix car with Hickman showed what it was capable of, very cool!
One thing I noticed is that Race Monitor and the SCCA timing are way off. It shows a 1:40.5 for JR and a 1:43.00 for Hickman in the race (along with different times for everyone else). Does Race Monitor take times from places other than start/finish? I first noticed it in Road Atlanta last month with my times.....
Anyway, great race weekend! Getting ready to head out to VIR this Weds!!!

[Thomas Copeland]

Nice to see JR win both races. His crew worked really hard up to the last second getting the car ready for Sunday's race. Great work guys!!

[Thomas Copeland]

Also nice to see Neo Sport Camera win it's first two races as a Primary sponsor for JR. Got lots of awesome video from several different perspectives. Thanks JR for a great weekend.

[Thomas Copeland]

Photos (These have been reduced from their higher resolution). All photos will be posted later today on the US Formula 1000 website.

[Nicholas Belling]

Video is being uploaded through out the day to the series YouTube channel from THILL, check it out at

https://www.youtube.com/user/USFormula1000

[JohnPaul]

RaceMonitor is a direct feed from the official T&S system, not a separate system. There shouldn't be any timing differences although finish positions aren't determined by the transponder based system.

I know it shouldn't but it definitely does. I'm not sure why. something isn't right.
JR's 1:40.5 on Race monitor would be a track record so it would be interested to know what is going on.

[Nicholas Belling]

Recently uploaded today :

Front on-board Randy Cook Race footage
Front on-board Larry Vollum Race footage
Rear on-board camera JR osborne

Tomorrow :
JR Osbourne full on-board race footage and few other great videos being put up.

Hope you guys are enjoying the footage!

[Mike Devins]

I know it shouldn't but it definitely does. I'm not sure why. something isn't right.
JR's 1:40.5 on Race monitor would be a track record so it would be interested to know what is going on.

from the official results on SCCA.com

Announcements

New Track Record (1:40.546) for FB by J.R. Osborne.

http://www.scca.com/assets/results/1...nRace-GP2a.pdf

[R. Pare]

What was the old record?

[Stan Clayton]

What was the old record?

JR held that too, Richard. You can follow the link in post #14 above to see all the existing Thunderhill records. Cheers, Stan

[R. Pare]

Thnx. missed that in my first glance-thru.

[Mike Devins]

What was the old record?

1:40.931

[Nicholas Belling]

New Track Record (1:40.546) for FB by J.R. Osborne.

https://www.youtube.com/user/USFormula1000

Video is now live