FORTY FIVE TEAMS SURVIVE NASA 25 HOURS of THUNDERHILL When it was all done Team Lost 'N Spaced took the overall win
completing 665 laps over the three-mile, fifteen turn course in the allotted time. The four driver team was headed by Masuo Robinson of Redwood City and included Neil Jackson, Pete Smith and Rich Walton. They drove a sturdy 1974 Porsche 911 to the top spot.
Second overall and second in the
ES class with 663 laps completed was the team of SSF Imported Auto
Parts with drivers
Marc Kirberg, Mike Courtney, Scott Lee, Ali Arsham, and Hans Kopecky taking turns in a 1995 BMW M3 Lightweight.
Third overall and third in the ES class with 659 laps completed was
'Team Alphabet' in a Subaru STI. Sponsored by Team ART, ESX, TCD, Car
and Driver, and JustRacing.com, the team's drivers included Car and
Driver's Csaba Csere, Auston Harris, Dale Dievwright, Dave McEntee, Gary
Sheehan, Scott Bradley, and Marco Romani.
Team Honda Civic Si took the win in the E1 class. The star-studded team, with American Honda backing, completed 645 laps. Team drivers included Kim Wolfkill, Lee Niffenegger, Marie Sage, John Sherk, Rich Hays, Matt Staal and Car and Driver journalist Tony Swan. Swan will do a feature article on the brand new Honda Civic Si and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in the March issue of Car and Driver Magazine. The Honda Civic Si is scheduled to be sold in America in 2006. Team PDQ with owner-driver Mike Quan and co-drivers Roger Foo, Tom Lepper, Andrie Hartano, Mike Davirro, and Peter Fowler ran 644 laps to win in the E2 class. They drove a 1992 Honda Civic hatchback. Team Sampson Racing Radios took first in the EO class with a 609 lap effort. The Los Angeles based team of Shawn Sampson, Kenn Francis, Chuck Koos and Charles Buzzetti drove a 1986 Mazda RX7. Seventy-five laps behind the leader, Team German Sport / Mel & Sons Muffler / Workpad.com used a 1984 VW Rabbit GTI to top all entries in the E3 class. Drivers included Carlos Suarez, Dan Pina, David Bongiovanni and Don Bailey. Team Players won the ESR class with drivers Claudia Potamkin, David Teitel, Joe Turner and Lawrence Winnerman. They finished 102 laps in their Toyota powered Spec Racer bettering all other entrants in their class in doing so. The event began with a full military salute from the US Air force sponsor represented by Lt. Col. Hale. A fly-by featuring two F-15 fighter jets highlighted the building drama. A number of American and international driving stars participated in the event adding even more to its stature. SCCA World Challenge drivers Randy Pobst, Roger Foo, Taz Harvey, Ken Dobson, Marc Kirberg, Mike Courtney and Johannes Vanoverbeek were among the celebrities. Famous journalists Kim Wolfkill and Andy Bornhop of Road and Track magazine, J. G. Pasterjak of Grassroots Motorsports magazine and Csaba Csere, the head man at Car and Driver Magazine, all drove in the event with the intent to document their experiences in their publications. Famous driver Derek Hill, son of Formula One champion Phil Hill, along with Bobby Bondurant son of racer and driving school impresario Bob Bondurant were in the field as was Charles Espenlaub of Grand Am fame and fourteen year-old sensation Auston Harris of Formula TR fame. Local racer David Vodden competed on two teams earning third in the EO class in a Taz Harvey Tracy Honda World Challenge Civic and fourth in a Tracy Mazda Miata in E2. Vodden teamed with drivers Taz Harvey, John Norris, Mark Mitchell, Ronnie and Rudy Vajdak to complete 1170 laps in the two machines. Honda factory involvement in the race was highlighted by the presence of the Honda Fit, the best selling automobile in Japan. With the support of Spoon Sports and Opak Racing, the team finished 2nd in class E3 and was able to complete the entire race on 100 gallons of gas for an average fuel consumption of 20 mpg, more than 50% better than the winning E3 car. The small, fuel-efficient car is expected to reach America in 2007. Honda also had the new Honda Accura RL in competition in preparation for release in America in 2006.
The 2005 running of the ninth annual National Auto Sport Association endurance race at Thunderhill was the third covering the history making twenty-five hour duration. The first six endurance races at the road course ran for twelve hours. Le Mans, Daytona, Bathhurst, and the Nurburgring present twenty-four hour endurance races. NASA founder and CEO Jerry Kunzman has made Thunderhill Park the home of his most prestigious road racing event because of the unique and special partnership his organization enjoys with the raceway, the community of Willows and all of Glenn County. The 2006 edition of the event will be held on December 2nd. Photos by HeadonPhotos.net |
Willows, CA (December 4, 2005) - Forty-five of the fifty-eight race
teams that started
the 2005 NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill on Saturday, December 3rd were on
track when the checkered flag was
thrown at noon on December 4th. The ninth running of the world's longest closed-course motorsports competition was treated with picture perfect weather as drivers and teams from all over the world gathered at the raceway just west of Willows, CA. Most teams began their quest for victory on
Thursday, beginning the battle to see who would be successful in each of
the six classes eligible for this grueling test of skill and mechanical
durability.
Over the twenty-five hours of competition drivers involved in on-course
incidents included Johannes Vanoverbeek who flipped off the track in
Redding, CA car owner Joe Wong's Porsche.
The incident happened on Saturday night on the straightaway leading to the former Sears Point bridge. The Seattle Enduro entry fielded by Leis Johnson flipped violently in a Friday practice session but returned to race for the full twenty-five hours finishing eighth overall. Spencer Sharp, driving a