SPEEDSF CHALLENGE - OCTOBER 3, 2020 - ROUND 8 @ THUNDERHILL WEST
INTRODUCTION
This past Saturday, SpeedSF welcomed 26 track warriors who decided to take part in the SpeedSF Challenge shenanigans at Thunderhill Raceway despite the inland California October heat and ashy air, and it was quite a shootout!
CLASS S1
Class S1 has either thinned the herd or everyone has decided to play in the lower classes for good! 2 entrants were featured for this class: 2nd place finisher Gordon Peng and his 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Gordon’s achilles heel, 1st place finisher Steve Melson behind the wheel of a 2014 Audi R8. Despite the power difference, however, Gordon did a great job squeezing every bit of power out of the Corvette 12 years the senior of Steve’s R8. While Gordon put down a 1:21.797 lap time, Steve threw in a 1:21.188 lap time. Not a bad time delta here!
CLASS S2
Joining the fray were 5 willing drivers ready to accept their fate in S2. The Dirty Mango S2000 once again took 1st place home with a quick 1:22.081 lap time while a NICEBMW Supra driven by Neal Wiebmer took home 2nd place thanks to a 1:22.972 lap time. In 3rd place was Steve Melson in his 1991 Nissan 300ZX. That car is truly “built different” as it put down a 1:24.231 lap time earlier in the day. Needless to say, Steve didn’t need to run the Challenge session as that lap time was simply good enough and the podium place was not threatened.
CLASS S3
Kevin “The King” Schweigert showed no mercy to the other 6 entrants in this class: a 1:20.113 sealed the deal for Kevin’s top podium step AND new class lap record, beating out Patrick Chio’s BMW M3 record in September 2019 of a 1:21.954 lap time. 2nd place driver Gary Wong did his utmost best to squeeze out a 1:21.756 lap time. This barely put him ahead of 3rd place David Fitz-Randolph’s NA Miata as he threw down a 1:21.957 lap time. A close battle here for 2nd and 3rd podium places and it could have gotten either way given the margin. Excellent driving by Gary for staying just ahead of David and a good job to everyone in this class.
CLASS S4
Track dad Matt Belter done did it again, getting on the top step of the podium with a 1:24.396 lap time while BARELY breaking Sohan Kota’s 1:24.538 lap time set in his S2000 back on October 7, 2018! Gabriel Rothman took 2nd place in his 2003 Honda S2000 thanks to a 1:25.302 lap time while 3rd place podium placer Terrence Taylor-Weber put down a 1:27.016 lap time in his 2013 Scion FR-S. Round of applause to Matt for seemingly getting faster every time he gets out on the track AND etching his name in the Challenge digital record books.
CLASS S5
Tony Rodriguez, in true 2020 dominating fashion, broke the class lap record for Thunderhill West by nearly a full 2 seconds! Nate Hackman’s lap time in February 2016 was a 1:27.116 lap time set in his BMW E30. Tony, for all his MBZ-powered efforts, put in a 1:25.228 fast lap time. Crazy good driving! Meanwhile, 2nd podium place finisher Zoe Downing’s 1:32.125 put she and the NA Miata firmly ahead of Mike Jensen’s NB Miata lap time of 1:33.927. Hats off to Tony’s amazing Challenge season thus far! *Waiting for the MR2s to take over S5*
CONCLUSION
Excellent work by our drivers who won their places and set new class lap records! THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the SpeedSF Challenge on a hot and ashy Saturday! For those who are still chasing podium finishes, more seat time, coaching, and watching videos of how to attack the track will certainly get you there!
Round 8 will be here soon! Our next SpeedSF Challenge will be hosted at Sonoma Raceway on November 8th, 2020. Hopefully the fires and smoke are gone by then. We truly appreciate our sponsors and participants as it would not be possible without them!
Thank you to our sponsors Wine Country Motorsports, Titan7 Wheels, Necksgen, and Charles Schwab for their continued and valued support. Please visit their respective websites to show your support and let them know SpeedSF sent you!
