From: Rich Urschel To: ; Subject: SFR Solo2 Round 1 Date: Saturday, March 18, 2000 11:39 PM SFR Round 1 Solo2 by Rich Urschel Boondoggle by the Bay opened the SFR regular season as usual albeit a few weeks late. This year we were at 3Com Park with a weather forecast promising early showers and clearing in the afternoon. As is often the case, the forecast was correct but the timing was off. By the 9:00am start time the rains had gone leaving a drying course with several large puddles that would turn to drying mud in the afternoon. By the third runs of the first group the course had dried sufficiently to start getting some heat in the R tires and slicks allowing times to start coming down as they would do so all day. John Kelly gave us a simple, you couldn't get lost in a snowstorm course that most cleverly incorporated the infamous 3Com ridge and bumps. The back side of the course consisted of a straight with a few kinks just wide enough to let a Lotus 7A straight through to the slightly uphill how long can you wait until braking zone leading to a right-left sequence with some tempting undulations that could have been used as banking had they not been followed by another immediate right. The bumps and water/mud provided three separate opportunities to alter one's normal around the inside autocross line. Vernon Head and Katie Kelly again served as chairs of this most difficult opening event. The turnout by 11:00 am had Katie fretting over the ability to finish in time, but with dual grids, worker changes enacted on the fly, and a little luck, 271 competitors made three runs each with only the very last of the runners switching on their headlights. Halfway through the first runs of the first group yours truly uncorked a run on wet compound Hoosiers that would stand as FTD until the next group. John's next course might make those back side kinks a little narrower so a Lotus Elan can't also accelerate straight through. E Prepared went to Neil Verity, MGB, over Dwayne Komush in a Fiat 124. Ed Chang put his CSP trophies aside and took E Stock in a new Civic SI over five other drivers. Alan Graner took second in a Civic with Brian McKenzie claiming third in another. Au Nguyen, who could rarely find any H Stock competition while winning the 1999 Championship, found himself in midpack in third place with Russ Bowlus of Davis taking the win in a reportedly LOUD Civc, and Larry Sharp, 1999 AP winner, taking second in a new Ford Focus. That was the real Ben Martinez in fourth place in his other Capri, this one unmodified. Volkswagens dominated the new F Street Prepared class, with Scott Fraser, Marty Nygaard, and Sean Wheeler taking the top three spots. The best rookie performances in the group were Jeremy Bergsman in and E stock Integra, Steve Smith in an H Stock Civic, and Steve Anderes in an FSP Fiat 124. In the second group Jim Ochi captured top time of the day in his E Street Prepared BMW M3 but coned it away, and handed the car over to codriver, Chris Cox who made his effort at FTD stick. Kirk Meline moved up from the Street Tire class to capture second with Jim salvaging third. No one ran F Stock but the best rookie performance of the group came from Michael Santos in his FS Mustang. Second went to George Lawson in an ESP Pontiac Formula with Chris Warner driving his ESP Talon to third place. The third group brought a new look and new drivers to G Stock. 1999 F125 Champ Peter Mottaz in a BMW 325is lead early but fell to third as first Joe Siam in an Integra eclipsed his time, and finally, Jesse Wills took the win in his Honda Prelude. Donald Lew kept his Toyota Supra pointed more or less straight to take D Street Prepared over Arie Villasol in a Capri. The best rookie performances of the group came from George Chiou in an Integra, Michael Donion in a Ford Probe, and Bill Caldwell in a Toyota Celica. In the fourth group SFR's regional Solo2 Chief, Charlie Davis, took a break from prepping his CP Pontiac to steal away the A Stock victory from car owner Jerry Mouton. Dan de Gruchy in a Porsche 911 just missed catching Jerry for second. B Stock belonged to Craig Boyle less than a tenth back from the best A Stock time. Kevin Lahey and Philip Hogue were the next quickest of seven Miata drivers. Four more Miatas visited C Stock with Scott Zediker, 1999 Rookie CSP Champ Dennis Armstrong, and Doug Gengtes taking the top three spots. Of nine rookies in the group Kevin Kluge took first in an A Stock BMW M3, with Richard Bright, C Stock Toyota MR2, second, and Altan Odarasiogu, A Stock BMW M3, third. After the mid-day course walk, top time of day was bested again by Soebe Soekamto driving Chok Balmaceda's Really Orange Integra in Street Touring R. Eric West brought his Civic home in third. Some 21 drivers participated in the class. In C Street Prepared Don Ebaugh (co-winner of 1999 Most Improved Male Driver) took first in his red Civic Si besting the Audis of Corey Smith and Steve Sherwood, and 15 other drivers. The best of 18 rookies in the group were Andy Hill, VW Passat, Brandon Johnson, VW Cabrio, and Reid Donnan, Acura Integra. In Group 6 Don McKenna and Steve Hobaugh traded new top times of day until Don finally took the ultimate time and first in Super Stock in his blue Gran Sport Corvette. Chris Boynton running an ASP Porsche Turbo in the wrong class was credited with third over Kevin Stevens on street tires. A Street Prepared went to 1999 Champion Jeffrey Gordon, Mazda RX7, Enno Wein, RX7, and Andrie Hartanto, Acura NSX. B Street Prepared was claimed by Jesus Villarreal, Corvette, over Anissa Mohler, Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. Only three rookies ran in the group with Brian Elloy coming out on top in a BMW M roadster, and Steve Sota, Corvette claiming second. The seventh group of the day claimed the top three PAX times posted by Teresa Neidel in the new Silver Boxster, Derek Butts, MR2, and Andy Mckee, Boxster, all in the, where else, PAX class. Of 17 drivers in the Street Tire class, Jim and Dave Rowney claimed the top two spots in a BMW 328i with '99 Champ David Parker claiming third in his Nissan 300ZX. The last group saw F125 carts coning and DNF'ing almost every run with Jason Shadd taking first over Vernon Head. In Kart Jr 1 James Mouton bested Elyse Mottaz and Chris Spencer. Five drivers turned out for the new Street Modified class with Jim Zalesny, Talon, Kenneth Liao, Camaro, and Chris Sims, Mustang, taking the top three spots. OSP saw the return of Tito Solis in his own car to regular season action for the first time in two years, and a surprising top three of Mert Solis, Starlet, Lee Darzycki, 300ZX, and Gino Coscolueza, Corolla. A total of 25 drivers braved the twilight including a FWD Lotus Elan. Heading the list of 11 rookie drivers were Soslan Kibilov, 300ZX, Calvin Wan, Corolla, and Jeff Finder, Maxima.