Watkins Glen Rolex 19/05/2001   Race Report Mothballed Racers   A joint reporting effort between Bill Arlow (at the track) and Janos Wimpffen. Conditions at the start made for much uncertainty among the Grand-Am regulars. The rainy pre-race sessions had left little time for sorting and cars were starting from all sorts of unaccustomed places. The normally “no. 2” Dyson entry, the no. 20 Riley & Scott, was on pole. At least it was in the very capable hands of Andy Wallace. Alongside came Didier Theys in the Doran-Judd, out for its run of the year. Kevin Doran had attached the Ferrari moniker back to it, now that Lavaggi had done the same with his 333SP in the European series. Ross Bentley was starting in the Miracle Motorsports R & S, which had briefly appeared at Phoenix. Only then came the main protagonists of the Arizona event, Jon Field in his Lola-Judd and James Weaver in the main Ford-powered Dyson car. At the very tail end of the grid was Jack Baldwin in the older Robinson Riley & Scott, after the team famously stuffed the new C-type into a Styrofoam barrier that could just as well have served as its packing crate back to the shop for repairs. Thirty-six cars took the start, with the Mosler joining several laps late and only completing a few tours before the gearbox broke. Wallace got away cleanly at the start from Field, who got the jump of Theys. Weaver also made a good start and demoted Bentley, who rapidly fell from contention. Baldwin was quickly among the top ten overall, but an early stop with tire problems and handling problems from the lack of setup soon rendered it non-competitive. Ahead of him was the scramble for the SRPII lead with Andy Lally’s Archangel Lola ahead of the like car of Bruno St. Jacques. Elsewhere in the classes Darren Law’s G & W Porsche held of Terry Borcheller’s V-8 BMW for the GT lead and Larry Schumacher’s GT1 Porsche had the better of the Saleen, which had been penalized for jumping the start. Only three AGTs started and Craig Conway had things to himself in the early going. After once missing the chicane, Field muscled his way past Wallace on lap 11 and began to pull away. Wallace was soon caught up by his charging teammate, Weaver, who also passed Theys enroute toward a strong second place. In SRPII Lally kept the class lead, with St. Jacques coming under pressure from the other Archangel entry of Durand. However, the no. 22 Lola soon made an early and long stop. The complexion of the GT contest also shifted early when the BMW stopped with a broken radiator. Rundown at 30 minutes (17 laps) 37, Lola 16, R & S, -2 s 27, Ferrari, -5s 20, R & S, -16s 6, R & S, -82s 21, Lola SRPII, -1 lap 22, Lola SRPII 74, R & S 62, Kudzu SRPII 88, Lola SRPII 99, Porsche, GTS 89, Lola, SRPII, -2 laps 78, Norma 80, Porsche GT 5, Saleen 07, Porsche GT 09, Corvette AGT 50, Porsche GT 34, Porsche GT Lally was able to consolidate the SRPII lead when the no. 89 Lola and later the no. 22 both stopped. Rich Grupp was now moving quite fast in the Kudzu as were Ron Johnson in the Saleen and Spencer Pumpelly’s GT3R, all hounding their respective class leaders. Up front Weaver took the lead when Field pitted at about the 45 minute mark. Weaver, meanwhile, was able to pit without losing the lead. The Weaver vs. Field battle intensified during the second stint, with the Lola passing into the lead through traffic and getting re-passed when Weaver used the AGT Camaro as a pick. The first yellow flag period came from the traditional AGT car getting stuck in a precarious position situation (the no. 46 Corvette). Weaver handed over to Leitzinger and Field to Gavin during this lull. The Riley & Scott came out ahead at the restart, while in SRPII Lally was well clear of Grupp. Johnson was now steadily chasing the Porsche GT1 and the Pumpelly Porsche soon gained the GT lead. 1 Hour rundown, 35 laps 37, Lola 16, R & S, -0.4 s 27, Ferrari, -49s 20, R & S, -61s 74, R & S, -1 lap 6, R & S, -2 laps 21, Lola SRPII 62, Kudzu SRPII 99, Porsche GTS, -3 laps 88, Lola SRPII 89, Lola SRPII 81, Porsche GT, -4 laps 5, Saleen GTS 34, Porsche GT 50, Porsche GT 07, Porsche GT 42, Porsche GT 43, Porsche GT 78, Norma 57, Porsche GT The next half-hour saw a fine three-way battle for the lead between Leitzinger, the Ferrari, and Gavin. The Archangel Lola kept ahead in SRPII in a good scrap with the Kudzu. The no. 89 Lola’s effort came undone when it scraped the wall. The Saleen had finally taken control of the GTS contest. The Bupp / Leavy Camaro took over the AGT lead when the Conway / Goad Corvette went behind the wall for a major gearbox overhaul. A major accident occurred at the 90 minute mark when Kim Hiskey’s Porsche and the no. 6 Riley & Scott of Brent Sherman collided at the S-bends. Both cars were heavily damaged and the drivers were hospitalized but later released. The no. 16 Riley & Scott emerged the leader at the restart and gained several seconds on the Intersport Lola. The other Dyson entry, the pole winner, had begun to fade with what would prove to be a terminal head gasket problem. Closing on him was the Ferrari. 2 Hour rundown, 57 laps 16, R & S 37, Lola, -11 s 20, R & S, -22s 27, Ferrari, 36s 21, Lola SRPII, -2 laps 62, Kudzu SRPII 88, Lola SRPII, -3 laps 5, Saleen GTS, -4 laps 99, Porsche GTS 81, Porsche GT, -5 laps 50, Porsche GT 34, Porsche GT A mere 10 minutes of green flag racing ended when the no. 92 Schultheis Porsche spun on course. It came as Weaver (back in no. 16) was adjacent to the pit entrance and he was able to jink the car into the lane. The Lola stopped a lap later and the Riley & Scott was able to regain the lead on the next restart. Down in AGT there was the usual contest as to which car can spend the most time behind the wall. The no. 11 Camaro was taking its turn and this put the Conway / Goad Corvette back into the class lead. During the latter half of the race their fortunes would improve greatly. Not only would they go on to win AGT, but they continually flirted with placement within the top ten overall. In SRPII, the Kudzu had caught and passed the no. 21 Lola. The Law / Drendel / Murry Porsche received a boost in its hold on the GT lead when the Stanton / Hajducky car went into the gravel. This brought out yet another full-course caution. It also left the Seikel Motorsports Porsche of Buttiero / Collin with second place in GT. 3 Hour rundown, 83 laps 16, R & S 37, Lola, -4 s 27, Ferrari, -17s 20, R & S, –28s 62, Kudzu SRPII, -2 laps 21, Lola SRPII 5, Saleen GTS, -4 laps 99, Porsche GTS 88, Lola SRPII 74, R & S, -5 laps 81, Porsche GT, -6 laps 57, Porsche GT, -7 laps 09, Corvette AGT, -8 laps The next half-hour saw the race turning steadily in favor of the Intersport Lola as the Dyson Riley & Scott was slowing a bad wheel vibration. But then a yellow flag intervened and both leader stopped. The Lola took on only fuel while the tires were changed in the Dyson pit. One of the Genesis team BMWs had stopped on track, necessitating the intrusion by the pace car. Now the Riley & Scott’s handling was up to par and the scintillating battle for the lead was again joined. The Ford powered car took the edge but was only able to pull a few seconds clear. Then just before the four hour mark it all changed when Doug Goad into the AGT Corvette punted the Intersport car into the guardrail during a lapping maneuver. The Lola staggered back around but was retired. 4 Hour Rundown, 112 laps 16, R & S 27, Ferrari, -14s 37, Lola, -2 laps 62, Kudzu SRPII 21, Lola SRPII, -3 laps 6, Saleen GTS, -5 laps 99, Porsche GTS, -8 laps 81, Porsche GT 74, R & S, -9 laps 57, Porsche GT, -10 laps 09, Corvette AGT 10, BMW GT, -12 laps 11, Camaro AGT 75, Porsche GT, -13 laps Another brief interlude came when the delayed no. 22 Archangel Lola went into the barrier. This allowed the Ferrari to catch up to Weaver in the Riley & Scott. However, on the restart, Weaver was able to re-open the gap. The other class contests also widened, with the Kudzu moving to a full lap clear of the Lola and the Saleen consistently faster than the Porsche. Only in GT was there a change when the Seikel Porsche moved ahead of the G & W entry. As the final hour approached, Weaver was able to open up a 35 second gap over Theys. But after having steadily created the margin, the gap began to shrink rapidly. The Ford was obviously off-song. He continued, gamely holding on until a more-or-less regularly scheduled stop was warranted. One cylinder was gone but the team decided to hold on for what would be an easy second place with field otherwise depleted of competitive SRPs. In GT, the class lead soon swung back to no. 81 G & W car when the Seikel entry developed a flat a long distance from the pits. 5 Hour Rundown, 143 laps 27, Ferrari 16, R & S, -29s 62, Kudzu SRPII, -4 laps 21, Lola SRPII, -5 laps 5, Saleen GTS, -8 laps 74, R & S, -10 laps 99, Porsche GTS, -12 laps 09, Corvette AGT, -13 laps 57, Porsche GT 81, Porsche GT, -14 laps Theys wanted to prove a point and set the race’s fastest lap in the fading light. The last half hour on increasing darkness had little effect on the race as the overall and class contests. The Ferrari even had a time for a late splash and then a careful thread past a last lap accident involving the no. 61 GT Porsche. The first post-Daytona Grand-Am enduro was played out in two acts. The first half of the event featured some of the best wheel-to-wheel SportsRacer action seen since the founding of the series. But the latter half again pointed out the fragility of these rather aged beasts — another missing cylinder or two and we could have been treated to an SRPII class Kudzu winning overall. If not in the engines themselves, there is something amiss in the formula. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport