Thursday, January 06, 2011 Just before the holidays, the competitors of the Skip Barber Formula Southern Series raced under wet conditions at Sebring International Raceway. It was a record breaking weekend for the MAZDASPEED Challenge group as both Shelby Blackstock and Tyler Cooke set new track records on BFGoodrich G-Force KDW tires. In Group 2 Race 1, Blackstock set a record of 2:55.329, and in Group 4 Race 1, Cooke set a record of 2:47.487. David Levine and Lucas Bize both became first time winners, Levine winning Group 2 Race 1 and Bize winning Group 4 Race 1. The Skip Barber Formula Regional Run-Off took place at Sebring International Raceway. All Formula Skip Barber competitors of the 2010 Skip Barber Western, Southern and Summer Series were invited to compete in one final on track battle to determine the top Regional Formula Skip Barber racer. Dennis Trebing and Craig Duerson each grabbed a win and tied in points, but Duerson ultimately clinched the win due to a higher qualifying position. Tyler Cooke currently has a four-point lead over Scott Anderson in the MAZDASPEED Challenge Championship and in the Formula Skip Barber Southern Series, Thomas McGregor has a three point lead over Ashley Freiberg. Next, the race for the championship will continue at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida January 22-23.
David Levine after his race win
Group 1 Race 1 – Skip Barber Formula Regional Run-Off Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (4) Dennis Trebing 2. (2) Ashley Freiberg 3. (1) Craig Duerson 4. (3) Tristan Nunez 5. (6) Kyle Gimple 6. (7) Scott Anderson 7. (8) Greg Strelzoff 8. (9) David Knight 9. (11) Azim Gandhi 10. (12) Nick Victor-Smith 11. (10) Ed Wilkinson 12. (5) Luigi Biangardi Top Master: Craig Duerson Fastest Lap: Dennis Trebing (2:55.221 / 76.018mph) Most Positions Gained: Dennis Trebing (3 positions) Laps Led: Craig Duerson 1-4; Ashley Freiberg 5; Dennis Trebing 6-9
Group 1 Race 2 – Skip Barber Formula Regional Run-Off Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (3) Craig Duerson 2. (2) Ashley Freiberg 3. (1) Dennis Trebing 4. (4) Tristan Nunez 5. (12) Luigi Biangardi 6. (6)Scott Anderson 7. (5) Kyle Gimple 8. (7) Greg Strelzoff 9. (8) David Knight 10. (10) Nick Victor-Smith 11. (9) Azim Gandhi 12. (11) Ed Wilkinson Top Master: Craig Duerson Fastest Lap: Dennis Trebing (2:47.619 / 79.466 mph) Most Positions Gained: Luigi Bianbardi (7 positions) Laps Led: Craig Duerson 1-9
Group 2 Race 1 – MAZDASPEED Challenge Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (1) David Levine 2. (3) Thomas McGregor 3. (7) Scott Anderson 4. (2) Tyler Cooke 5. (14) Shelby Blackstock 6. (4) Steven Randall 7. (5) Jayson Clunie 8. (8) Dick Fairbanks 9. (11) DJ Randall 10. (9) Brad Randall 11. (10) Rodney Randall 12. (6) Kieron O’Rourke 13. (12) Steven Molnar 14. (13) Diane Mould Top Master: Jayson Clunie Fastest Lap: Shelby Blackstock (2:55.239 / 75.971 mph) Most improved: Shelby Blackstock (9 positions) Laps led: Tyler Cooke 10; David Levine 2-8
Group 2 Race 2 – MAZDASPEED Challenge Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (2) Thomas McGregor 2. (4) Tyler Cooke 3. (1) David Levine 4. (16) Tyler Wolfson 5. (3) Scott Anderson 6. (9) DJ Randall 7. (5) Shelby Blackstock 8. (6) Steven Randall 9. (7) Jayson Clunie 10. (12) Kieron O’Rourke 11. (10) Brad Randall 12. (11) Rodney Randall 13. (8) Dick Fairbanks 14. (15) Franco Aragones 15. (17) Brian Kinnins 16. (13) Steven Molnar 17. (14) Diane Mould Top Master: Steven Randall Fastest Lap: Tyler Cooke (2:41.287 / 82.586 mph) Most improved: Tyler Wolfson (12 positions) Laps led: Thomas McGregor 1-9
Group 3 Race 1 – Southern Formula Skip Barber Championship Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (1) Thomas McGregor 2. (8) Ashley Freiberg 3. (2) Franco Aragones 4. (3) Shelby Blackstock 5. (4) Greg Strelzoff 6. (10) Alejandro Abogado 7. (5) Jay Fuchs 8. (6) Michael Waters 9. (7) Ed Wilkinson 10. (9) Gus Doppes Top Master: Greg Strelzoff Fastest Lap: Ashley Freiberg (2:46.963 / 79.778mph) Most improved: Ashley Freiberg (6 positions) Laps led: Franco Aragones 1-2; Thomas McGregor 3-9
Group 3 Race 2 – Southern Formula Skip Barber Championship Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (1) Thomas McGregor 2. (2) Ashley Freiberg 3. (5) Greg Strelzoff 4. (3) Franco Aragones 5. (9) Gus Doppes 6. (4) Shelby Blackstock 7. (4) Scott Anderson 8. (6) Alejandro Abogado 9. (7) Michael Waters 10. (8) Ed Wilkinson Top Master: Greg Strelzoff Fastest Lap: Thomas McGregor (3:01.843 / 73.250 mph) Most improved: Gus Doppes (4 positions) Laps led: Thomas McGregor 1; Ashley Freiberg 2; Thomas McGregor 3-9
Group 4 Race 1 – MAZDASPEED Challenge Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (2) Lucas Bize 2. (3) Tyler Cooke 3. (4) Shelby Blackstock 4. (1) Tyler Wolfson 5. (5) Steven Randall 6. (7) Brian Kimmins 7. (14) D.J. Randall 8. (12) Kevin Cyr 9. (13) Rodney Randall 10. (9) Brad Randall 11. (8) Jerry Dougherty 12. (6) Dillion Machavern 13. (10) Charles “Mike” Banz 14. (11) Thomas McGregor Top Master: Steven Randall Fastest Lap: Tyler Cooke (2:47.487 / 79.529 mph) Most improved: D.J. Randall (7 positions) Laps led: Lucas Bize 1-9
Group 4 Race 2 – MAZDASPEED Challenge Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (1) Lucas Bize 2. (2) Tyler Cooke 3. (3) Shelby Blackstock 4. (12) Thomas McGregor 5. (4) Tyler Wolfson 6. (7) Kevin Cyr 7. (8) Brad Randall 8. (5) Steven Randall 9. (9) Jerry Dougherty 10. (10) Dillion Machavern 11. (11) Charles “Mike” Banz 12. (6) Brian Kimmins Top Master: Kevin Cyr Fastest Lap: Tyler Cooke (3:10.620 / 69.877 mph) Most improved: Thomas McGregor (8 positions) Laps led: Lucas Bize 1-9
Group 5 Race 1 – Southern Formula Skip Barber Championship Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (12) Craig Duerson 2. (1) Franco Aragones 3. (3) Luigi Biangardi 4. (2) Kyle Gimple 5. (8) Thomas McGregor 6. (10) David Libby 7. (7) Nick Victor-Smith 8. (11) Bryan Hixon 9. (9) Ronald Hayter 10. (4) Scott Anderson 11. (6) Gus Doppes 12. (5) Shelby Blackstock Top Master: Craig Duerson Fastest Lap: Craig Duerson (2:52.152 / 77.373 mph) Most Positions Gained: Craig Duerson (11 positions) Laps Led: Craig Duerson 1-9
Group 5 Race 2 – Southern Formula Skip Barber Championship Starting Position in Parenthesis 1. (2) Luigi Biangardi 2. (9) Scott Anderson 3. (3) Kyle Gimple 4. (1) Franco Aragones 5. (4) Thomas McGregor 6. (5) David Libby 7. (7) Bryan Hixon 8. (6) Nick Victor-Smith 9. (8) Ronald Hayter Top Master: David Libby Fastest Lap: Luigi Biangardi (2:57.837 / 74.900 mph) Most Positions Gained: Scott Anderson (7 positions) Laps Led: Franco Aragones 1-2; Luigi Biangardi 3-9
Scott Anderson receiving coaching from Instructor Phil Lombardi
2010-2011 Top 10 Skip Barber Formula Winter Southern Series Championship Point Standings 1. 137pts Thomas McGregor 2. 134 Ashley Freiberg 3. 123 Luigi Biangardi 4. 114 Franco Aragones -R 5. 110 Scott Anderson 6. 107 Shelby Blackstock 7. 92 Gus Doppes – GM 8. 91 Alejandro Abogado – R 9. 88 David Libby – GM 10. 79 Mike Waters - GM
2010-2011 Top 10 Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge Winter Southern Series Championship Point Standings 1. 127 pts Tyler Cooke 2. 123 Scott Anderson 3. 122 Lucas Bize 4. 121 Thomas McGregor 5. 120 David Levine 6. 99 Shelby Blackstock 7. 95 Steve Randal – GM 8. 91 DJ Randall 9. 83 Jayson Clunie – M – R 10. 78 Brad Randall
Remaining Schedule for the 2010-2011 Skip Barber Southern Series / MAZDASPEED Challenge Southern Schedule: Rounds 5 & 6, January 22-23, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Fla. Rounds 7 & 8, February 19-20, Sebring International Raceway, Fla Rounds 9 & 10, March 26-27, Palm Beach International Raceway, Fla. Rounds 11 & 12, April 15-16, Sebring International Raceway, Fla Kelly Brouillet
