Lakeville, CT – Bill Valet capitalized on home turf, winning his second race of 2011 in the first of two F1600 Formula F Championship Series races at Lime Rock in his Swift/Ford. Valet takes the points lead (without calculating drops) from Tim Kautz, who failed to finish with mechanical issues. Meanwhile, Art Foster came home second and Colin Thompson drove from dead last to third, even leading a few laps in the late stages of the race.

The margin of victory was three tenths of a second in race seven of the 10 race 2011 F1600 inaugural season.

Valet, a New York-native, won on home turf in front of a big race day crowd at Lime Rock Park.

“That start was definitely interesting, I totally blew it,” said Valet, who is just a few points behind Kautz with points drops calculated. “The throttle was sticking during the race but I was able to use the caution to my advantage. It was a good race with Colin and Art at the end, fun and clean.”

Art Foster followed, also under Ford power, for his best result of 2011.

Foster added: “The track wasn’t in the best condition this morning. There were a few places the car was understeering, that Colin and Bill had better cars, which is what made the race so even.”

Colin Thompson was the story of the race, however, starting dead last after electrical problems and vaulting into the lead in the closing stages. Thompson easily notches the CellMark Paper Hard Charger honors for the race in his Swift/Honda.

“I passed eight cars in turn one on the start,” commented Thompson. “Then I got clear of the backmarkers and just went through one car at a time. The caution was perfect since it bunched up the field. Then I was able to stick with the guys that ended up on the podium”

Forrest Hull finished fourth ahead of Caitlin Johnston in the Van Diemen/Honda.

Early in the race pole-sitter Jim Goughary and Ryan Leach, in the Spectrum/Honda battled for the lead, exchanging the point lap after lap. The two made contact in turn one, with Leach retiring in the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry. Goughary went off later in the race, making contact with the wall in his Piper/Honda.

Round seven of the 2011 season, the second and last race at Lime Rock, follows at 4:45 p.m. local time, stay tuned to F1600Series.com for updates.

Race Results: