Bertil Roos Race Series: Round 4 at VIR South Track and Mid Season Report
Blakeslee, PA
July 2, 2010

 
Race 4 of the Bertil Roos Race Series took place June 20-21 at VIR’s South Track.

Group 1 Race 1:
The front row was set with Andy Ourant taking a well earned 2nd place and Tim Nichols taking pole in dominate fashion by 1.18 seconds over Andy and 1.26 over 3rd place. At the drop of the green Tim picked up where he left off after qualifying and rocketed to a commanding lead which he would hold for the entire race. Behind Tim Kevin Anderson slotted into second going into turn one, followed by Toulouse Lafond in 3rd and Andy slotting into 4th. On lap 5 the positions would change as Toulouse, entering turn one, would over shoot and have to rejoin 9th. That moved Andy to 3rd, Stuart Rettie to 4th and Frank Vultaggio, making a return to the series after missing the last 2 events, to 5th. The battles for 4th and 2nd would start to heat up as the race ran on, with, on lap 8, frank making a move to take Stuart for 4th place. This would end up being for 3rd when on lap 11, 3rd place Andy while trying to pressure Kevin, went off in Turn 1 and again in turn 7. After his penalty stop he would rejoin 9th. At the front of the field it was Tim taking the win followed by Kevin in 2nd, Frank in 3rd, Stuart in 4th and Alastair McEwan rounding out the top 5.

Group 1 Race 2:
Race 2 started much the same as Race 1 for Tim as he jumped into a lead he kept to the checkered flag. Behind him at the start it was Frank overtaking Kevin for the 2nd spot and starting a battle that would see the two drivers trading places a total of 5 times. Back in the field it was Andy making a charge to the front and by lap 10 making his way to 4th place. Race 2 would see Sturat fall a foul of the “4 wheels off the road” rule and have to serve a penalty but manage to work his way back to 8th while Earl Ihrie and Zane Gibbs would have quiet but steady races. When the flag dropped it was Tim in 1st,  Frank in 2nd, Kevin in 4th and Toulouse finishing 5th.

Group 2 Race 1:
Group 2 Qualifying saw an outstanding performance from up and coming young driver Paul Alspach taking the pole from defending series champ Mark Vultaggio, and 3rd place rookie driver, who just days earlier graduated from the Bertil Roos 5 Day School, Mark Dagesse. At the start of the race it was Mark who made the better start and took the lead going into turn 1 but only for 2 laps when on lap 3 Paul would retake the lead the two would trade places 2 more times only to see Paul getting the better of Mark for Race 1. Behind the lead group the battle for 3rd was raging on between Dave Long and Mark Dagesse with the two trading places 4 times with Mark D. edging out Dave at the top of the esses on the last lap.

Group 2 Race 2:
A waved off first start saw the field come back around to take the green to start lap 2. Coming out of turn one it was Dave Long with the surprise lead with Mark and Paul slotting into 2nd and 3rd respectively. Dave’s lead would last till lap 5 when Mark Vultaggio, Mark Dagesse, and Paul Alspach all would make their way past. On lap 12 Dave would retake the then 3rd place car of Mark D. for position and hold it till the end. At the end of the race the top 5 were Mark V. in 1st, Paul in 2nd, Dave in 3rd, Mark D. in 4th, and Bruce Hamilton in 5th.
The final finishing orders are as follows:

** Denotes Rookie Drivers

The Bertil Roos Race Series has reached the midpoint in our season and there has been a lot of very good racing. We are pleased to say that we have 11 rookie drivers that have taken part in races this year out of a total of 26 drivers so far at our halfway point. We would also like to take the time to congratulate Toulouse Lafond again on his first series win in Race 2 at Pocono’s East Track and Paul Alspach for his best finish so far in a race series race at VIR just to name a few. The action this year has been hot and is only getting better as the Championship heats up.  There are still seats available for the remaining races so call now to join in on the excitement.  Below is a brakedown of the Championship Standings.

Rookie of the Year Standings: