Bertil Roos Racing School
4th Annual Bertil Roos Enduro

Blakeslee, PA
October 26, 2009

Tim Nichols and Glenn Brooks claim victory at the 4th Annual Bertil Roos Enduro.

The Enduro held October 24, 2009 on NJMP’s Thunderbolt circuit was a timed race, unlike the Roos Race Series events.
The field was set in qualifying as Dennis Macchio, the owner and president of the Bertil Roos Racing School, set the pace with a 1:39.717, putting the instructor team on pole. The defending Enduro champions, the Vultaggios, would line up second with a time of 1:39.820. The rest of the grid would line up as Tim Nichols / Glenn Brooks 3rd, Tim Hannen / Peter Cellino 4th, Bruce Hamilton / Norman Lizzul 5th, Gary Peck / Dennis Macchio 6th, Jason Rabe / Alastair McEwan 7th, and Luis Jimenez / James Benson 8th.

Stint 1:
When the green flag dropped for the first 45 minutes it was Dennis Macchio taking the early lead coming out of Turn 1. Mark Vultaggio, Glenn Brooks, Tim Hannen and Norman Lizzul were close behind and on lap 3 Mark would take the lead. Dennis stayed close and on lap 5 would pass Mark to retake the top spot. This was short lived, however, as Mark would again pass for the lead going into 1 but this time hold it till the end. A close race ensued behind with Dennis coming under pressure from Glenn but would not crack and held on to 2nd. Norman Lizzul on the start got the better of Tim Hannen, but on lap 10 an error by Norman allowed Tim Hannen to go through into 4th. On lap 19 an ailing James Benson, after attempting to try to make the distance had to give in and park the car for the rest of the stint. Seven laps later he would be joined by Gary Peck, one of the winners of the Rookie Runoffs, who would run afoul of the “Three Times Four Wheels Off” rule and would receive a black flag to end his session. With time running out Mark Vultaggio started to slow as Dennis started a charge that would bring him to 1.778 seconds behind at the flag.

Stint 2:
At the start of the second 45 minute stint the cars were released in the intervals that they finished which saw Frank Vultaggio going out first followed closely by Vince Majewski and Tim Nichols. Frank held the lead till lap 6 when Vince, going down the front straight, got a draft and went through into the lead. Behind him Frank and Tim would battle for second till lap 12, on this lap it would become the battle for the lead. At the end of lap 11 a car leaving the pits would drag water out onto the race line into Turn 2, which on lap 12, as the leaders entered the turn would catch out Vince causing him to go off and having to bring the car in to be checked. The battle would go on between Tim and Frank where on lap 17 Tim would take the lead. Frank, not giving up, would get a run on the last lap coming down to the checkered only to come up short by .098 of a second, making this the closest finish in the Bertil Roos Enduro.

After 90 minutes of racing the results were:
1: Tim Nichols / Glenn Brooks
2: Mark Vultaggio / Frank Vultaggio (.098 seconds behind)
3: Dennis Macchio / Vince Majewski (37.582 seconds behind)
4: Bruce Hamilton / Norman Lizzul (59.647 seconds behind)
5: Jason Rabe / Alastair McEwan (1 Lap)
6: Gary Peck / Dennis Macchio (2 laps)
7: Luis Jimenez / James Benson (3 laps)
8: Tim Hannen / Peter Cellino (DNF)