INTRODUCTION

Imagine a SpeedSF weekend that’s almost like a Formula 1 weekend: 2 practice sessions on Friday, 1 practice session + 1 qualifying session on Saturday, and the main event on Sunday. That’d be crazy right?

Whelp, a 3-day weekend capped off with Sunday’s SpeedSF Challenge was sorta like that! 3 full solid days at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca warmed up some of these happy drivers for the big day, driving lap after lap around the famed racetrack in time for some clean Sunday laps.

23 drivers took to the stage on this fine smokey Sunday. “Mercedes-Benz” (Tony Rodriguez) led the way in S5 with a fast lap over 3 seconds faster than the closest competitor, while other classes featured some broken class records!

CLASS S1

Two big boys with lots of power! Gordon Peng in his Corvette C5 Z06 and Steve Melson in his 2014 Audi R8. Steve took home 1st place with his 1:37.924 lap time while Gordon took 2nd place with a not-so-far-off 1:38.096 lap time. Great performance from both drivers!

Class S2

3 drivers, 3 podium placers! Gary Yeung brought back the Dirty Mango S2000 and took 1st place thanks to a great 1:38.893 lap time, while Thomas Huber in a 2020 BMW M2 took 2nd place with a cool 1:40.554 lap time. In 3rd place, we have Thomas Mak in his Tesla Model 3 who threw down a 1:42.947 lap time. All-in-all, not a bad time out for this group!

Class S3

A hotly-contested group full of fast bois, it seems as though the lap times in this group are encroaching upon and are even faster than the current lap times of the drivers in Class S2! Kevin Schweigert took 1st place with a staggering 1:36.432 lap time in his 2015 Subaru BRZ. While his time didn’t beat his previous best lap time (not too far off), he is still the proud record-holder for this group at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca!

2nd place driver David Fitz-Randolph piloted a 1995 Mazda Miata and is getting very close to Kevin’s time, however, and with a 1:37.399 lap time, he’s fixing to beat it sometime soon! It will definitely be a clash of the titans as the season progresses.

Jeff Tam took his M3 around the track for some cleanup duty and posted a 1:40.466 lap time. This barely edged him over 4th place driver Neal Wiebmer’s lap time of 1:40.485 — a difference of only 0.019 seconds! Great driving in this group!

Class S4

Track Dad Matt Belter exceeded all expectations yet again and he just seems to be getting better and better with every track day. He not only placed 1st in S4 with a 1:41.971 lap time while behind the wheel of his 2017 Subaru BRZ, but he broke the class lap record for this track! An old record has finally fallen: Scott Smith’s Miata lap time of 1:42.504 set back on August 4, 2016. Great driving here, Matt!

2nd place driver Sohan Kota took his place on the podium with his 1:45.193 in his 2000 Honda S2000 while 3rd place driver TH Chen put down a 1:47.650 lap time for his efforts on the track. Another excellent showing from our S4 drivers!

Class S5

The speed in Tony Rodriguez’s car must be due to the red vinyl, right? Pre-vinyl, his old record at Laguna Seca was 1:46.685 back in July earlier this year. However, he now out-did himself with an even faster lap time: 1:45.205, with both times set in his 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder. Great to see the MR2 out there being driven by anyone, even greater to see it driven in anger like this!

Speaking of which, another wonderful driver by the name of Joe McGuigan drove an MR2 in anger too! His 1:48.744 lap time put him squarely in 2nd place and he will just get even faster as the season goes on. Watch Class S5, goodbye Miata bois, and hello MR2 men!

Oh, our apologies, there is ONE Miata still commanding a respectable time: 3rd place driver Zoe Downing put down a 1:50.090 lap time in her NA Miata, but maybe an MR2 might be in her future if Tony and Joe continue to dominate this class!

Class X

Fast boi part of one! David Colbert lit up the track with his 1:33.658 lap time in his 1980 Lola T540 D Sports Racer, per usual course of business! Gotta love the purebred race cars!

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! 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 7 will be here soon! Our next SpeedSF Challenge will be hosted at Thunderhill Raceway (East) on September 6th, 2020. 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!