Laguna Seca results

Here are the results from today's IMSA World Sports Car race at Laguna Seca Raceway, plus a brief race description and quotes from the top finishers.

Fn St Car Driver                       Car                Laps
 1  5   3 Andy Evans/Fermin Velez      Ferrari 333SP      82
 2  2  30 Eliseo Salazar               Ferrari 333SP      82
 3  3   2 Jeremy Dale                  Oldsmobile Spice   82
 4  4  50 Jay Cochran/Russell Spence   Ferrari 333SP      82
 5  6  16 James Weaver                 Ferrari Dyson 348  81
 6 10   0 Paul Debban/Leigh Miller     Buick Kudzu        78
 7  9   8 H.Camferdam/R.Mandeville     Mazda Hawk MD3R    78
 8  7  63 Wayne Taylor/Jim Downing     Mazda Kudzu DG3    77
 9  8  22 Craig Nelson/Dan Clark       Lexus Spice        76
10 11  36 Oliver Kuttner               BMW Pegasus        74
11 14   6 Rick Sutherland/Bob Schader  Oldsmobile Spice   70
12  1  33 Andy Wallace/Hugh Fuller     Oldsmobile Spice   50 Mechanical
13 12   4 Rod Bennett                  Chevrolet Bennett  25 Driver
14 16  10 John Jones                   Buick FJ94          4 Mechanical

Did Not Start: Car #5, no car type listed, no driver announced Car #7, Bobby Brown, Buick Tiga DB1V Car #71, Miroslav Jonak/Dick Sasser, Ford Spice

Time of race: 2 hours, 48.609 seconds Winning speed: 90.165 mph for 82 laps/181.548 miles Margin of victory: 7.506 seconds Qualifying time: 1:21.378 97.942mph #33 Andy Wallace Fastest lap: 1:23.017 96.009mph #3 Fermin Velez Lap 78

Lap leaders: #33 1-29 #10 30-31 #33 32-47 #30 48-51 # 3 52-60 #30 61-77 # 3 78-82

The #3 Scandia Ferrari team decided that, because they were doing a driver change, they would attempt the race on just two pitstops. But a yellow flag came out with 15 minutes remaining when Wayne Taylor spun in Turn 5, allowing #30 and #2 to pit under yellow. #30 took only fuel, staying in the lead, while #2, which was dogging the #30 all race, also took tires. When the green came back out, #30 got a one-second lead before being reeled in by #3. #3 dived inside at Turn 2, making contact but completing the pass.

#33 had an enormous lead before losing power. The team announced their retirement because of valve spring trouble.

Velez said he didn't intend for there to be contact in the pass; he was in third gear but thought he was in second.

I may transcribe the post-race press conference later.

-- Ron O'Dell `Keeper' keeper@cats.ucsc.edu keeper@armory.com keeper@ucscb.ucsc.edu