Skip Barber Summer Series Take on Lime Rock Park

Skip Barber Summer Series Take on Lime Rock Park: Racers Set Sights on Road America

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  Skip Barber Summer Series racers took to Lime Rock Park this past weekend to build on the momentum of the first rounds in Road Atlanta. Current Skip Barber Racing School partner BFGoodrich also provided participants and families shirts to celebrate Rounds 3 & 4 of the series.  Familiar faces showed their dominance in the arena while newcomers quickly learned the notorious nature of Lime Rock Park – a speedy and exciting track filled with history. The weekend proved to be difficult with rain in the forecast early in the week and wet track conditions later in the weekend. Racers had to quickly adjust their lines to maximize their success during turns and passes. In the first Group, Formula, Skip Barber Racing School Academy Champion Chase Owen snagged a well-deserved win holding off hard-charger Timo Reger who started the race in the back due to an incident in the first qualifying session. At one point of the race, Reger was more than 12 seconds off from the leader but inched closer to Owen each lap of the session. Reger would follow Owen in the podium and would secure a 2nd place finish. Rounding out the group was Kyle Masson. The highest finishing Grand Master, Chris Brassard, narrowly missed the podium, coming in 4th place. In the second race of Group 1, Timo Reger built on his second place finish in the first race - he would qualify on pole in the second qualifying session of the weekend, which proved to be a smart move since his starting position would solidify his win in the second race of the weekend. Reger would be followed by Skip Barber Karts to Cars Scholarship Winner Daniel De La Calle in second. Rounding out the top three was Grand Master Jeffrey Stern who drove consistently and expertly to beat younger drivers including Kyle Masson and David Porcelli. In the MAZDASPEED Challenge, Jim Craige came out of ‘retirement’ to jump into a seat of an MX-5 and his muscle memory kicked in. Craige grabbed two outstanding wins. Experienced young racers did not give up without a fight however - Gavin Reichelt and Bryan Hixon fought hard with Craige in the first race of Group 2, but couldn’t make their passes stick. Craige would be followed by Hixon in second and Reichelt in third. The second race for Group 2 proved to be remarkable as Craige had to work harder than ever to hold off the pack behind him. Craige would be successful, but not by a big margin. Reichelt, who took home second, narrowly missed Craige by a mere .17 seconds. Zachary Month would round out the top three. In Group 3, Race 1, familiar faces showcased their dominance in the series including last year’s Runner-Up in the Skip Barber Karts to Cars Scholarship, Dakota Dickerson, who took home the win followed by hard-charger Jorge Herrera who narrowly missed the top spot. Grand Master Jeffrey Stern rounded out the top 3 beating his share of past scholarship winners. In the second Race of the Group, last year’s Karts to Cars Champion and Runner-Up went head to head, but Dakota Dickerson’s pole position would be difficult to overcome for Daniel De La Calle who would move two spots from his starting position to grab second. Grand Master Pat Daly had an epic bobble after the downhill at the track, but his experience showed as he saved going four off in a big way. He would round out the top three. In the second group of the MAZDASPEED Challenge, Jim Craige could not restrain doubling in Group 2 and 4 and it paid off. Craige would continue his dominance taking home the win in his two respective races. Jose Da Silva would take home 2 second place finishes while Masters racer Ken Martin would take home 2 third place finishes. Racers rest for a few weeks before setting their site on the iconic Road America circuit on July 6-9, 2015for Rounds 5&6 of the Skip Barber Summer Series.

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Group 1, Race 1 

• Pole Sitter: Chase Owen
• Winner: Chase Owen
• Top Master Racer: Chris Bassard -GM

Competitor                 Total Time                     Diff                     Best time             

1. Chase Owen                 25:39.458                                            58.636
2. Timo Reger                   25:44.333                04.875                   58.524
3. Kyle Masson                 25:53.278               13.820                   59.017
4. Chris Brassard -GM        26:24.923               45.465                  01:00.292
5. David Porcelli                 26:29.331               49.873                   59.087
6. Jeffrey Stern -GM           26:37.802                58.344                  59.052
7. Craig Zaph -M,R             25:49.998               1 lap                     01:01.255
8. Charles Stricher              25:53.228               1 lap                    59.730
9. Peter Meck -R                26:11.134                1 lap                   01:01.730
10. Paul Fletcher -GM            26:38.868             1 lap                    01:02.810
11. John Purcell -GM              25:39.676              2 laps                 01:00.724
12. Christopher Denicolo -M    25:53.131              4 laps                 01:03.502

 

Group 1, Race 2  Pole Sitter: Timo Reger Winner: Timo Reger Top Master Racer: Jeffrey Stern -GM

• Pole Sitter: Jim Craige-M
• Winner: Jim Craige-M
• Top Master Racer: Jim Craige-M