SPEEDSF CHALLENGE - FEBRUARY 28, 2021 - ROUND 1 @ WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA
INTRODUCTION
Welcome back to WeatherTech Laguna Seca! The break between SpeedSF seasons felt like an especially long one - but we wait no longer! 13 brave drivers shook off the cobwebs and decided to try their hand at starting the 2021 SpeedSF Challenge season strong, and they did not disappoint!
Class S1
German engineering superiority reigned supreme here - distant cousins faced off and ended with favorable results! Kenton King drove the Porsche 981 GT4 Clubsport to a 1st place podium finish thanks to a 1:36.621 lap time. This separated Kenton and 2nd place podium placer, Steve Melson, by a mere .146 seconds. Keep in mind Steve’s 2014 Audi R8 is not a purebred racecar which makes deserves a round of applause in it of itself!
Class S2
In a very interesting and close finish, the podium placers were all within tenths of each other! 1st place driver, David Fitz-Randolph, showed the might of the NA Miata with a great 1:37.067 lap time while 2nd place driver Paul Whiting was not far behind in his Porsche 718 GT4 thanks to a 1:37.162 lap time! Meanwhile, it seems as though the Dirty Mango S2000 might have lost some of its juices! A 1:37.660 was all it could muster… perhaps an off-day?
Class S3
Leave it to Gary Wong in the 2004 Honda S2000 however to reclaim the mantle thanks to a 1st place finish, dominating the class with his 1:40.060! This isn’t surprising since he set his new PB the day before at Laguna - a 1:38.9! Round of applause for Gary, who has definitely been on a tear with his great form as of late. David Rahemi’s 1:48.770 allowed him to take 2nd place in the 986 Spec Boxster - a respectable showing as well!
Class S4
Seems like this turned into a Spec S2000 class, which also meant lap times were very close to each other! Jason Parraga took 1st place in his 2008 S2000 CR thanks to convincing 1:42.063 lap time, while Nathan Hackman took 2nd place in his 2008 S2000 with a very close 1:42.493 lap time! In 3rd place was Tianheng Chen, whose 1:44.593 lap time in his 2003 S2000 secured his spot far ahead of the 4th place S2000 belonging to Jason Levine. Great driving by all with similar chassis! It really goes to show driver mod is really the best mod.
Class S5
Easy to podium if you’re the only driver in this class, right? Nevertheless, a 1:49.896 lap time is great for an NA Miata! Hats off to you, Zoe Downing!
CONCLUSION
Excellent work by the drivers who took their places on the podium! THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the opening SpeedSF Challenge on a pleasant Sunday. Brush off that rust! There will be many opportunities to chase podium finishes. This can be achieved with more seat time, coaching, and watching videos of how to attack the track!
Rounds 2 and 3 will be here soon! Our next SpeedSF Challenges will be a double-header hosted at Thunderhill Raceway on April 10 (clockwise configuration) and April 11 (counter-clockwise configuration). There’s still ample opportunity to shake off those cobwebs! We truly appreciate our sponsors and participants and we are forever thankful as all of this would not be possible without them!
Thank you to our sponsors Wine Country Motorsports, Titan7 Wheels, Maxxis Tires, 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!
