- 10 April 2011
Alton, VA – Tim Kautz, standing Formula F National Champion, won Sunday’s F1600 Formula F Championship Series race at VIRginia International Raceway by a whopping seven seconds over John Robinson (Swift/Ford) and Bill Valet (Swift/Ford).
Kautz started from pole in his Piper DF3/Ford, taking the second win in Series history after finishing fourth in the first race of the inaugural Series weekend at VIR on Saturday.
“It was fun, I saw the guys battling it out behind me and just kept up a good pace,” commented Kautz post race, driving with sponsorship from Reliance Tool. “I saw Beasley in my mirrors going into one corner and then he just disappeared.”
Sam Beasley, who sat on pole for race one of the weekend and started from the front row today, was looking to be a factor before he went off in turn 17 while running a close second to Kautz. The seventeen year old recovered from the early race off-course excursion to finish tenth in his Mygale/Honda.
As the race went on, a battle emerged among the leaders.
Beasley had already gone off, while Colin Thompson went three wide with Valet and Robinson for second as Kautz stretched his lead, setting fast lap.
That exciting battle lasted most of the race before Thompson went off, and the 17-year-old aspiring rookie was unable to get his Swift/Honda going again.
Robinson, who finished second both today and on Saturday, added: “It was a good race, another podium. Thompson spun in front of us exiting Oak Tree and I had to go off to avoid him.”
Lewis Cooper and Brian Graham, both running the Ford powerplant, rounded out the top five.
The top finishing Honda-powered driver was Caitlin Johnston in sixth.
“My Honda-powered F1600 was just awesome today. It was pretty good battling it out with a couple of the guys,” Johnston commented.
“But then Colin spun and we came around the Oak Tree turn and he was literally sitting dead in the middle of the track. My first pro weekend in the F1600 Series with two top tens - we can’t complain about that.”
On Saturday, Jim Goughary took the first win in Series history in a Piper/Honda. Goughary could only manage seventh in the second race of the weekend.
Ryan Leach, for Cape Motorsports, finished eighth ahead of Sean Maisey and Sam Beasley, in positions nine and ten.
The F1600 Formula F Championship Series 10-race, five-event 2011 season continues at Watkins Glen International with a doubleheader, June 3-5.
Race Results:
| Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total Tm | Diff | Gap | Best Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Tim Kautz | 10 | 20:24.650 | - | - | 2:01.293 |
| 2 | 19 | John Robinson | 10 | 20:31.953 | +7.303 | +7.303 | 2:01.628 |
| 3 | 83 | Bill Valet | 10 | 20:32.636 | +7.986 | +0.683 | 2:01.827 |
| 4 | 0 | Lewis Cooper III | 10 | 20:34.956 | +10.306 | +2.320 | 2:02.101 |
| 5 | 6 | Brian Graham | 10 | 20:41.495 | +16.845 | +6.539 | 2:03.124 |
| 6 | 68 | Caitlin Johnston | 10 | 20:42.752 | +18.102 | +1.257 | 2:02.868 |
| 7 | 7 | Jim Goughary | 10 | 20:48.580 | +23.930 | +5.828 | 2:03.353 |
| 8 | 01 | Ryan Leach | 10 | 20:59.936 | +35.286 | +11.356 | 2:04.653 |
| 9 | 99 | Sean Maisey | 10 | 21:08.256 | +43.606 | +8.320 | 2:05.143 |
| 10 | 9 | Sam Beasley | 10 | 21:09.680 | +45.030 | +1.424 | 2:01.495 |
| 11 | 13 | Jason Generotti | 10 | 21:14.349 | +49.699 | +4.669 | 2:05.428 |
| 12 | 3 | Ric Baribeault | 10 | 21:25.456 | +1:00.806 | +0.018 | 2:05.271 |
| 13 | 2 | Mike Scanlan | 10 | 21:25.438 | +1:00.788 | +11.089 | 2:04.971 |
| 14 | 21 | John Butkovitch | 10 | 21:27.341 | +1:02.691 | +1.885 | 2:05.505 |
| 15 | 60 | Dwight Rider | 10 | 21:37.699 | +1:13.049 | +10.358 | 2:06.983 |
| 16 | 33 | Len Amato | 10 | 21:39.723 | +1:15.073 | +2.024 | 2:06.393 |
| 17 | 36 | Steve Roux | 10 | 21:48.093 | +1:23.443 | +8.370 | 2:08.380 |
| 18 | 41 | Bill Maisey | 10 | 21:50.103 | +1:25.453 | +2.010 | 2:07.801 |
| 19 | 11 | Doug Stout | 10 | 21:50.624 | +1:25.974 | +0.521 | 2:07.644 |
| 20 | 76 | Jim Lee | 10 | 21:50.948 | +1:26.298 | +0.324 | 2:06.139 |
| 21 | 18 | Dan Pyanowski | 10 | 21:52.343 | +1:27.693 | +1.395 | 2:06.406 |
| 22 | 86 | Kevin Brumbaugh | 10 | 22:04.032 | +1:39.382 | +11.689 | 2:08.383 |
| 23 | 07 | Steve Bamford | 9 | 21:40.784 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 2:09.111 |
| 24 | 5 | Colin Thompson | 8 | 16:23.718 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap | 2:01.310 |
| 25 | 53 | Russ McBride | 6 | 20:54.621 | 4 Laps | 2 Laps | 2:08.360 |
| 26 | 31 | Brian Copperthite | 3 | 6:40.914 | 7 Laps | 3 Laps | 2:08.088 |
| 27 | 23 | Art Foster | 0 | 0.807 | 10 Laps | 3 Laps | -.--- |
| 28 | 72 | Steve Oseth | 0 | -.--- | - | - | -.--- |
| DNS | 8 | Jacob Carpenter | 0 | -.--- | - | - | -.--- |
