Elkhart Lake Rolex 08/07/2001   Road America Raceday 1, Laps 1 - 64   The only changes in the grid as we come up to the start is that the 07 turbo Porsche was put back together after an all-night thrash. The other two non-qualifiers, the Mosler and the Miata are also at the rear of the grid. Both had variations on gearbox troubles yesterday. The no. 67 Racer's Group Porsche changed an engine overnight but as they were the slowest qualifier anyway, they simply were placed behind themselves. Gunnar Jeanette is on the driving strength for the no. 75 Team Gunnar Porsche. Tom Patton will co-drive Dick Greer's AGT Corvette.The no. 6 Miracle R & S has not been able to fire up and will start after the pack goes by. Weaver jumps into the lead from his pole spot and steadily opens up a gap over Theys throughout the first lap. Longhi is punted off in the #61 Porsche, but gets back on. The 07 Porsche pulls in with serious problems. WEAVER INTO THE PITS ON LAP 2 !!!!. Bit of gap to Theys then Field then Baldwin with a bit of smoke on the Robinson R & S. Schroeder next, then Pace (Kudzu). Maxwell leads an intense three way battle for SRP II. Pobst narrowly ahead of Buckler in GT. Weaver back into the race after about a 30s stop. Field smokes the brakes trying to dive under Theys at Turn 12, Canada Corner. Weaver starts the charge back to the top from 19th overall. Weaver's car is smoking and is back into the pits again, another 30 sec. stop.Bruno St. Jacques (no. 89 Lola) takes the SRPII lead from Maxwell. Baldwin is slowing with the Robinson car. Theys leads Field by about three car lengths. Weaver is back out but the problem with the no. 16 seems terminal enough that Leitzinger will hop in to take a lap and score points. The two leaders are held up by traffic and Schroeder is able to catch up and make it a three car contest. Kenny Bupp brings the no, 11 AGT car in with problems on the left front. The 07 Porsche in for its third stop. Field takes the lead from Theys while Lally jumps ahead of the other two cars in the SRPII class. Steve Pelke (00 Mustang), Tony Ave in the no. 98 Mazda, and Dan Jones in the no. 67 Porsche all make early stops. Leitzinger is out in no. 16 but goes off course at Turn 5, unable to complete a lap. He takes a short cut back to the paddock and retires. Field has opened up a five second lead over the Ferrari hybrid as we near the first pit stop window. The Norma and Bentley in the Miracle R & S are the first to come in. Schroeder remains in third overall, while Pace takes a big spin and drops the Kudzu down the order. Baldwin is next with the Robinson car. Lally has a slight edge over Jeff Buckumn in the Pilbeam, who has put on a great charge to move into second in SRPII. Maxwell is next while St. Jacques is off the pace and stopped early. Pobst is ahead of the V-8 BMW for the GT lead. Borcheller has moved through the field well. Buckler is down to third in GT and being hounded by Spencer Pumpelly and Darren Law in a fine class battle. AGT is non-contest, Conway a lap over Kerry Hitt. Schroeder closes on Theys and fails in a move to take second place. The no. 11 Camaro is behind the wall, stuck in third gear. The Tambourine Mazda was stranded on course and has been towed back to the paddock. Twenty laps of the 4.0 mile circuit are complete, Jon Field comes in from a 10 second lead and hands over to son Clint in a very quick halt. Theys is now in the lead with Schroeder about 20 seconds down. The Dyson R & S then comes in and EFR takes over. Baldwin was nearly a minute back before coming in for team owner Robinson. A lap later Theys comes in for a routine halt. Bucknum was the first of the SRPIIs to make a routine stop, but the other Lolas pull in a short while later. The no. 6 R & S has gone behind the wall. Pobst holds about a 10 second lead over Borcherller in GT. Bingham in the Saleen is up to 11th overall. Theys double stints and holds the lead over C. Field, with EFR third. The highly experienced Belgian has opened up a gap to the Lola. Jim Downing is now in the Kudzu. Roussel is back in with the Norma and hands over to Sezionale. At 25 laps (1/5 distance), the order is 27 (Theys, Ferrari) 37 (C Field, Lola) 20 (Schroeder, R & S) 74 (Robinson, R & S) 63 (Downing, Kudzu) 89 (Lola, SRPII), -1 lap 22 (Lola, SRPII) 5 (Bingham, Saleen) 25 (Lola, SRPII) 21 (Lola, SRPII) 15 (Pobst, Porsche GT), -2 laps 54 (Borcheller, BMW GT) 48 (Pilbeam SRPII) 09 (Conway, AGT Corvette) 66 (Buckler, Porsche GT) 81 (Law, Porsche GT) 34 (Pumpelly, Porsche GT) 61 (Longhi, Porsche GT) 43 (Baron, Porsche GT) 39 (Papadopoulos, Porsche GT) 75 (Policastro, Porsche GT) - 3 laps 9 (Bunting, BMW GT) 57 (Collin Porsche GT) 10 (Fairbanks, Porsche GT) 02 (Mosler, GT) 78 (Sezionale, Norma) 50 (Stanton, Porsche GT) The Robinson R & S has been towed in after a very slow tour. The team has the bonnet off. Randy Pobst had the door shut on him hard while trying to lap the no. 67 Porsche. Pobst comes into the pits from the GT lead and hands over to Kim Hiskey. The Saleen stops and Ron Johnson takes over. The 75 Porsche is assessed a penalty for a pit stop infraction. The Pilbeam has been spilling some oil and is back into the pits. Darren Law relinquishes the no. 81 Porsche to David Murry. There is a delay in belting him in. The no. 43 Orbit makes a routine stop and driver change. Clint Field misses a shift and the wily old EFR gets past the kid. Clint is unnerved enough to spin completely off at Turn 5 and has stalled on course. He manages to re-fire and Theys remains about 30 seconds ahead in the lead. Further down the course, the Mosler has broken an axle. Doug Goad is now in the AGT class leading Corvette. Correction on the no. 15 car. Kim Hiskey had stepped into the car, but then a decision was made to double stint Pobst. Confusion reigns. The no. 11 Camaro and the no. 07 Porsche return to the race after long stints in the paddock. Another correction, Waddell is now in the Kudzu. The Pilbeam goes behind the wall with a gearbox problem. Theys had a moment at the troublesome Turn 5, but lost little time. The no. 6 R & S returns after a long delay. At 40 laps, Theys is about 30 seconds up on EFR. Nealry a lap down is Clint Field. Fourth overall is the SRPII leader, the no. 22 Archangel Motorsports car, with the Multimatic Lola next. The no. 89 PorscheHaus SRPII car is off the pace with a long stop for a fuel leak. The V-8 BMW now leads GT. The Kudzu regains its pace and is up to fourth overall before pitting. The no. 22 Dyson car begins the second round of routine stops on lap 41. The Weaver car retired with a blown motor. The Ferrari continues to stretch its lead. As we near halfway, the race has Prototype meltdown character to it. On the other hand, the SRPII contest is tight. The no. 22 car leads the class with the Multimatic entry pitting from 2nd in class. Robert Julien has brought the no. 89 car back to third in SRPII. GT also provides a good show, with Pobst chipping away at the BMW's lead. The Lola makes its second routine stop on lap 46 and the very fast Oliver Gavin takes over in a rocket speed pit call. Theys remains out on course, stretching the stint one lap further than last time. Fredy Lienhard hops into the car with new tires and heads back out with the lead intact. Watch for the Dyson team as they try to gain on the slower Swiss driver. The pit stops continue to jumble the SRPII situation, with the Multimatic car now in the lead. The no. 9 Genesis Racing BMW has been towed into the pits while the sister no. 10 car continues, but well down the order. Excellent summer weather has prevailed for most of the weekend and the crowd count is considerably better than last year. Lap 50 standings 27, Ferrari 20, R & S, -2 secs 37, Lola, -1 lap 63, Kudzu 22, Lola SRPII 89, Lola SRPII, -4 sec 74, R & S 5, Saleen GTS 25, Lola SRPII 21, Lola SRPII 54, BMW GT 15, Porsche GT, -16sec 09, Corvette AGT 81, Porsche GT 66, Porsche GT 57, Porsche GT 78, Norma 61, Porsche GT 39, Porsche GT 34, Porsche GT Schroeder is back in the no. 20 Dyson car and he steadily gains on Lienhard, easily taking the lead on lap 52. The 09 AGT leader is in for a long stop. Doug Goad has stepped out and Andy Pilgrim has thus far not stepped in. It looks like brake problems. Gavin is short-shifting the no. 37 Lola, but the quick Englishman's times haven't been hurt. The Pumpelly Racing Porsche is the first of the GT leaders to make that class' second sequence of stops. The 09 Corvette's problems are with the transmission. They are changing it on pit row. The Miracle R & S has been having electrical problems and is also suffering from being tagged during practice. Gunnar J. is not after all running in the no. 75 car. He is here to lend a hand to the team. The 09 Corvette's transmission change is done and Pilgrim is back out. The no. 11 Bupp / Leavy Camaro had meanwhile taken over the AGT lead. The BMW V-8 stops and Pobst takes over the GT class lead. Schroeder pads his overall lead (over 1 minute) and Lienhard slips down to third behind Gavin. The no. 67 Racers' Group Porsche goes off at Canada Corner. It has been a backmarker for most of the day. Lap 64, exactly halfway, and Schroeder begins the third set of stops when he brings the lead car in and EFR takes over the car. They easily retain the lead. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport