40 Cars Entered and 23 Of Them Were Formula Car Challenge Competitors
The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear visited Sonoma Raceway for a double-header event this past weekend. Rounds nine and ten took place under very hot and hazy conditions, and the event was very well attended as drivers were looking to take advantage of track time at the historic track in anticipation of this years’ SCCA Runoffs on the same configuration.
The race group featured 40 racers, and the paddock had not been that full since 2008. There were some new faces like Christopher Tarhan in Formula Mazda, and the series return of Todd McAllister, this time stepping into the role of team owner running Gokul Manean.
After a hazy and hot test day due to some distant fires, the FCC racers were ready to qualify for round nine. Due to the number of cars on the track, and the limited number of sessions it was decided that all of the non-race sessions would be considered qualify sessions and be combined. Once all the times were tallied Jay Horak had secured pole position for Pro FM, Courtney Crone was on pole for FS, and Bill Weaver would lead the way for the 14 Formula Mazdas that were entered.
In the race Pro FM racer Horak took off from the pack with John Purcell holding onto second place. FCC veteran Sean Prewett was all over Purcell most of the race but was unable to get close enough to steal that position. Crone also got a great start and was well ahead of the other FS drivers. Tao Takaoka secured second place in FS, and Bryson Lew was right on his tail finishing just a second behind him. In the Formula Mazda class Weaver led from wire-to-wire, but the battle for second was epic between Brad Drew and newcomer Christopher Tarhan. They traded positions multiple times during the race, but when the checkered flag flew Drew was ahead.
Round 9 Podium – Formula Mazda
1st – Bill Weaver
2nd – Brad Drew
3rd – Christopher Tarhan
Round 9 Podium – FormulaSPEED
1st – Courtney Crone
2nd – Tao Takaoka (Also secured Hard Charger Award)
3rd – Bryson Lew
Round 9 Podium – Pro Formula Mazda
1st – Jay Horak
2nd – John Purcell
3rd – Sean Prewett
Sunday’s race was an extra 10 minutes long, and Pro FM driver John Purcell used that time to his advantage. Pro FM pole sitter Jay Horak held the top spot for most of the race, but just as the end drew near Purcell pounced and stole the win. In FormulaSPEED Rayce Dykstra was by far the fastest car, but had to make up positions on the track. A minor incident with the leader left him unable to continue. Courtney Crone took the FormulaSPEED win two days in a row, and Bill Weaver secured both FM wins. The top five Formula Mazdas were incredibly close most of the race. A mid-session yellow flag bunched them up even closer, and Christopher Tarhan was able to grab the second spot away from tough competitor Derry O’Donovan.
Round 10 Podium – Formula Mazda
1st – Bill Weaver
2nd – Christopher Tarhan
3rd – Derry O’Donovan
Round 10 Podium – FormulaSPEED
1st – Courtney Crone
2nd – Bryson Lew
3rd – Tao Takaoka
Round 10 Podium – Pro Formula Mazda
1st – John Purcell
2nd – Jay Horak
3rd – Sean Prewett
At every Formula Car Challenge event series partners provide additional awards to the competitors. At this event, select drivers were awarded complimentary Goodyear Racing tires. Tire winners at this event were Tao Takaoka, Woody Yerxa, Randy Sturgeon, and Bruce Semler. The next event for the Formula Car Challenge takes place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca July 27th – 29th.
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