SCCA Buttonwillow 14 Formula F the Series Race report
Sharing the report from another site.
With unseasonably warm weather, Formula F The Series took to the track at Buttonwillow Raceway Park for rounds six and seven in the championship. A late cancellation due to closures in Sonoma saw FFTS make a round with CalClub who put on a great event as usual. The field was unfortunately small but could be expected given the weather forecast, the change of venue and concerns over Covid. Those that attended did their best to keep a respectable distance while still getting to race. Distance on the track was another story as up front in qualifying for Saturday, Pole was taken by a mere thirty-seven hundredths seeing a first time pole sitter with Eric Little and his Ford powered Swift DB-1 putting in a 1:47.57. Stewart Paterson locked out the front row for the SoCal Ford powered cars with Eric Poulsen and Chuck Horn fourth and fifth. Rounding out the field was another pair of Fords with Gunnar Lindstrom and Mike Callas.
At the start, it was another Eric showing the way as Eric Poulsen made it three wide into turn one to come out on top. Paterson took advantage into turn two taking second demoting the pole sitter by two spots. Paterson and Little would not take this lightly and got back around Poulsen through Cotton Corners and Riverside respectively. This would not satisfy the pole sitter who wanted the top position back and took it over on a run into turn one on the second lap. Little would set the pace for most of the remainder of the race pulling a small gap to Paterson and then a larger gap when traffic went his way.
But as the traffic giveth, the traffic also taketh away. Closing in on two to go, Little caught traffic out of the Sweeper and lost most of a 3.5 second lead before Sunset. Head down, Little tried to hold off Paterson and did so until catching yet more traffic out of the Sweeper. With a compromised line into Sunset, Paterson pounced and the duo went side-by-side through one and toward two where Paterson had an advantage and shut-down the re-pass opportunity. Little had a bit of lock-up and set off to see if he could get the lead back in the closing lap. It was not meant to be as Paterson took the win by 0.642 seconds. Further back, Chuck Horn would shadow Eric Poulsen until attacking on lap five to take over third place. Poulsen kept Horn close and made Horn drive clean the remainder of the race. Mike Callas would take fifth place while Gunnar Lindstrom appeared to suffer an unknown issue that put him out of the race early.
Sunday qualifying would change the front of the field dramatically. Saturday’s pole sitter would opt for a different set of used tires to attempt to cure a vibration problem only to find that this set had even less grip than the other set. Struggling in qualifying Little shut it down early and came in disappointed with the fourth place qualifying. Up front, Horn and Paterson would put in an effort and with the aid of new tires, Chuck would take a commanding pole with Paterson in second. Eric Poulsen turned in a time consistent with his Saturday qualifying to take third. Mike Callas qualified fifth and the problems on Saturday would unfortunately keep Gunnar off the track.
A crawl to the start line and a very late green (so late that some did not think it came out until getting to Phil Hill) saw a tight pack enter turn 1. Horn would hold the lead with Paterson hot on his gearbox. Little would make a move around the outside to steal third and consolidate the position entering turn 2. On the second lap, Poulsen would make a move under braking into turn 1 returning the running order to that of qualifying. Later that lap, a collision in the Spec Racer Ford field would place the entire group under full course caution followed by a black flag all to clean up the yard sale of bodywork left all over Riverside… the turn not the city… although as bad as it looked, some of it may have gotten as far as the city. CalClub volunteers did a great job cleaning up the debris and gave the group one more go.
On the re-start Little re-took third over Poulsen heading into Cotton Corners and set off to catch the leaders but he could only hold station never able to close the two second gap built by Paterson and Horn. Little did have the best seat in the house to watch several passes and attempted passes with Paterson taking the lead on lap 6 and Horn coming back on the final lap. Paterson sent it deep into Sunset on the final corner and had the race been at the local dirt-track, it would have been the perfect slide job. Unfortunately for Paterson, that pesky pavement meant that Horn would execute the over-under to take the lead back to cross the line with Paterson only 0.2 seconds adrift. Little would cross the line third but be moved to the back for regaining his position on the formation lap promoting Poulsen to third and Callas to fourth.
Formula F The Series next goes back to Laguna Seca the first weekend of August. FFTS thanks its partners CalClub, San Francisco Region, and Hoosier tire for their patience in getting through a very difficult 2020 season. FFTS appreciates all the volunteers that have kept races going where they can and all the employees at Hoosier and Hoosier Tire West for continuing to supply a great tire while keeping their workforce healthy. FFTS hopes you all stay healthy and safe and that the last half of the season allows for more great racing.
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Originally Posted by Steve Davis
