ARB Motorsports
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
22 - 24 March 2013
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was run on the bayfront temporary street circuit as part of the 2013 IndyCar Series. Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) organized a vintage/historic event as one of the support series during the weekend. Although running simultaneously, HSR divided the 34 cars entered into 8 classes (SP1 - SP8) based upon performance and engine displacement. Despite the Lotus 7 being the smallest car with the smallest displacement of the 7 cars in SP1, I qualified 19th (pole in class). In race one I maintained this position, while in race two I moved up two positions overall.
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
14 - 16 June 2013
The second round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the Vintage Automobile racing Association of Canada (VARAC) at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formally Mosport). Running the Lotus Type 61 in the Formula Ford class an electrical gremlin resulted in a DNF during the first race, but this was solved before a 2nd place in heavy rain during a non-championship points race. The weather cleared in time for the feature race with a 4th place finish.
Circuit Mont-Tremblant
12 - 14 July 2013
The fourth round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the The Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant (Quebec, Canada). Running the Lotus Type 61 in the Formula Ford class a last lap, last corner, pass gave a hard fought 3rd place in the first race, but only 4th was possible in the feature race.
Schenley Park
19 - 20 July 2013
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is held on the roads around Schenley Park in the middle of the city. With straw bails protecting the cars from fire hydrants and other hazards, this event is the nearest to ‘old school’ racing in the US. The event also represents the only vintage race on a street course except the Monaco Classic GP. The Lotus Seven joined several other Seven’s, Formula Juniors, and sports race cars. Qualifying and the first race results resulted in a 4th place grid position for the feature race; however, a broken throttle cable on the first lap while in 2nd place resulted in an unfortunate DNF.
Rockingham Speedway
8 - 11 August 2013
The sixth round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) at Rockingham Speedway. The track was used as a surrogate for several NASCAR circuits in ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’. Due to holding the event in August the attendance was low; however, running the Lotus Type 61 on the road/oval course was a challenge. Two 1st place finishes resulted in vital Monoposto points while double points were obtained for the SVRA Sprint Series Championship as well as jars of moonshine instead of the more usual champagne.
Grattan Raceway
16 - 18 August 2013
The seventh round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association (VSCDA) at Grattan Raceway ( au Grattan XXVII). The twelve turns seen on the track map do not do the elevation changes over the 2 mile circuit justice. The track is the nearest thing to a rollercoaster ride that you drive. With an excellent set-up the handling of the Lotus Type 61 was an advantage, but the tired nature of the engine meant that 4th in the two Monoposto points races was the best that could be hoped for. Time to change to a fresher engine.
Watkins Glen International
4 - 8 September 2013
The ninth round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) as part of the Glenora Wine Cellars US Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International. A freshly built engine by Farley Engines in the Type 61 meant that the power deficit experienced at Grattan Raceway was put behind and translated into a 2nd place finish on Saturday. For the feature race torrential rain caused many competitors to fail to take the green flag, however, 1st place in Formula Ford were welcome.
Virginia International Raceway
26 - 29 September 2013
The tenth round of the 2013 Monoposto Championship was hosted by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) as part of the SVRA Heacock Classic Gold Cup at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). It was also the final round of the regular season of the SVRA Sprint Season Championship. In the first race pole was translated into a win that essentially ensured the 2013 Monoposto Championship in the Type 61 Formula Ford. However, the points spread in the Group 2 SVRA Sprint Season Championship was too close to call between Marc Giroux in his Formula B and myself in Formula Ford. As a result this was the only race Group in SVRA that went down to the last race. With pole in class a win was attainable, although only a 3rd was needed even if Marc won his class. I spent the race keeping the gap between 2nd place David Allison and I constant. It was only after taking the win in class that it turned out Marc had pulled in on the first lap with a mechanical issue.
Hutchinson Island
18 - 20 October 2013
Although the first race event for the Lotus Elise S1 was eventful, it was a success. Group 2 and 3 for the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Savannah Speed Classic contained a wide range of cars with several in HSR’s new Street Stock class, in particular some stiff competition in SSC. Saturday’s race involved a hard fought race with 2nd in class (17th out of 35 entrants) being the best that could be achieved. On Sunday during the feature race a major crash right in front of me caused a heart stopping moment, but the race finished uneventfully with a 1st place in class (13th out of 31 total).
Circuit of the Americas
15 - 17 November 2013
A last minute decision to have a Formula Vintage support race for the US F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas) led to a rush to get the Type 61 ready. With the field consisting of various Formula Atlantic and Formula B cars, the Type 61 Formula Ford was ‘out gunned’. With sanctioning by SVRA the event ran well. Despite a broken shift linkage bracket during qualifying resulted in having to start from last in the first race the final finish position in both races meant that the Type 61 ‘punched above its weight’ and finished a respectable mid pack position both days.