Photo by James Kim
RACE REPORT #3, FROM GLOOMY LAGUNA
Rolling into round 3 of the championship, we had 34 racers answer the call to arms. This was the first time for our series to run with Masters, and they were kind enough to give us a practice session Saturday morning to help our racers get up to speed with the new A29's that most of our drivers would be on for the first time since 2018. Unfortunately though, the trend of cold and gloomy Monterey weather for 2021 continued and we were greeted by gray skies and rain on Saturday morning. Formula Ford racers are nothing if not determined though and 29 of our racers braved the weather to test their mettle for practice! Lots of slides and spins, but fortunately lots of heads up driving was on display by the Crossflow competitors and everyone made it through the wet session with no one much worse for the wear than some dirty racecars.
Qualifying was a bit drier, but still cold. Lots of drivers came into the pits to make setup changes as the session went on, adjusting their cars to the cold weather, the new tires, and the heated competition on track. The grid was set after 20 minutes of madness with Dan Cowdrey in his yellow Titan taking the top spot, followed by Danny Baker, Martin Lauber, Brian Forster's Tiga in 4th (Club Ford pole position), and Colin Cross who was making his return to the cockpit after a long respite rounding out the top 5.
Of course, typical of the class, the grid looked nothing like that by the time the group got to Turn 2 on lap 1! Fanning out 4 and 5 wide as they crested the hill, all in hot pursuit of a familiar little green Lotus... Baker, Cowdrey, Martin Lauber, Cross, Romak, Forster, Heil, Ed Lauber, Ballantyne and Wait with 24 of their closest friends ready to trip over them at any moment.
While the fight at the front was mostly the usual suspects, there were some interlopers as well! John Ballantyne (who came all the way from Montana to race with us) was keeping the guys in the top 10 honest in his first FF visit to Laguna. Ed Van Tassel (on his way to his first visit to the top step of the Masters podium) duked it out Oliver Ramleth and a returning Steve Hoogs. The three of them crossed the finish within tenths of one another. Tom Minnich made some serious gains in the race, moving up 8 spots and resetting his personal best laptime in the process to finish a whisker behind Dan Wise's Crossle. But the big gain of the day was "Lawnchair" Will Jackson in his Titan. As he told us all during the party, Will struggled with a shift linkage issue that hampered him in the early sessions. Using some frontier medicine and some parts off a chair, they managed to get it fixed just in time to make it to grid for the race, only to have a dead battery and need to be push started off! Will worked his way forward having a great run in the process.
Overall, our drivers did a great job showing the Masters group what FF racing is all about! Hopefully when we return to Laguna in 3 weeks for CSRG and round 4 of the championship, someone will pack some sunshine in their trailer...
Photo by James Kim
Masters Division
1st - Ed VanTassel
2nd -Jay Streets
3rd - Brian Swanson
*Note if you are over 60 and we don't have you noted for Masters, please email us*
Photo by James Kim
Club Ford Podium
1st - Kelly Heil
2nd - Colin Cross
3rd - Brian Forster
Photo by James Kim
Historic Ford Podium
1st - Danny Baker
2nd - Steve Romak
3rd - Nora (and Martin) Lauber
POINTS STANDINGS
HISTORIC
Baker, Danny - 37
Romak, Steve - 19
Wait, Andrew - 19
Lauber, Martin - 17
Lauber, Ed - 13
Colyvas, Nicholas - 11
Cowdrey, Dan - 8
Kitchen, Paul - 8
Monahan, Tim - 8
Ballantyne, John - 4
Jackson, Will - 4
Matheson, Kris - 4
Streets, Jay - 4
full list on here
CLUB
Heil, Kelly - 32
Dezzani, Alan - 18
Wise, Dan - 18
Forster, Brian - 17
Swanson, Brian - 13
Lynn, Jim - 12
Cross, Colin - 9
Dupuis, David - 5
Hybels, Richard - 5
Keller, Mark - 4
Posner, Quinn - 3
PARTY HIGHLIGHTS
While it was mighty chilly, folks still gathered on Saturday night for a beer and to revel in the moment and relive battles on track. We had 5 GREAT giveaways from our sponsors this time. Jay and Colin Ivey were on hand to draw the names for the $200 Ivey Engines gift certificates, this time they went to Brian Swanson, and Chris Schoap. Scott Young Enterprises, (the official gearbox parts and service supplier of Crossflow Cup) gave away one Mk box dog ring each to Brian Forster and Dave Sandlin. And finally, the helmet paint by Lechner Racing Design went to Danny Baker! Even though it was cold all day, we had a lot of hearty folks hang around the party for a while! Thanks for coming to all of you!!!
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Please share any onboard video with our Crossflow Cup Drop Box. Just a quick 10-15 seconds (or if a longer video note where to start to see the highlight of a good pass, restart, close finish, three-wide, etc). If you are having technical difficulties, message us for a physical address to mail your flash drive to.
UPCOMING RACES:
CSRG @ Laguna, June 5-6 register HERE
Rose Cup Races @ Portland, July 8-11 register HERE
CSRG @ Sonoma, October 1-3
Thanks from Ethan & Rebecca, see you soon!
Photo by James Kim
FUN-DING THE FUN
Many people have asked how they can help the series, if you want to contribute, sponsor, donate to keep the good times rolling - please feel free to reach out or paypal ethan@shippertracingservices.com. On race weekends too, if you have some down time before the party, come on over to help set up, you can be the first to be served some wine or beer!