19 replies to this topic

[Mitch Reading]

The series doesn't seem to get a lot of discussion on here, but I enjoy following.  Looks like entries have grown from last year... http://www.mx-5cup.c....php?event=9225 which is good news.  Strong field includes some well known SM names... including Von Charbs.  He was p2 in recent practice I believe.

[Johnny D]

Saw the e-mail.

 

SEBRING, FL - Results from practice session one for Thursday’s SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires Round One race at Sebring Intl Raceway, with position, class, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

 

1, MX, (16), John Dean II, Sebring, Fla., MX-5, 2:31.372, 87.995.

2, MX, (41), Sebastian Landy, Great Falls, Va., MX-5, 2:31.568, 87.881.

3, MX, (12), Kenton Koch®, Glendora, Calif., MX-5, 2:31.744, 87.779.

4, MX, (15), Andrew Charbonneau, Delray Beach, Fla., MX-5, 2:32.085, 87.582.

5, MX, (28), Patrick Gallagher, Thornville, Ohio, MX-5, 2:32.149, 87.545.

6, MX, (19), Timothy Reger®, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 2:32.228, 87.500.

7, MX, (11), Ara Malkhassian, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 2:32.333, 87.440.

8, MX, (8), Nathanial Sparks, Spanish Fort, Ala., MX-5, 2:32.506, 87.340.

9, MX, (40), Ethan Low®, Clearwater, Fla., MX-5, 2:32.657, 87.254.

10, MX, (7), Dean Copeland, Bowie, Md., MX-5, 2:32.703, 87.228.

11, MX, (17), Lucas Catania®, Cazenovia, N.Y., MX-5, 2:32.707, 87.225.

12, MX, (35), Devin Jones®, Mooresville, N.C., MX-5, 2:32.854, 87.142.

13, MX, (49), Mike Cooper, Syossett, N.Y., MX-5, 2:32.950, 87.087.

14, MX, (6), Timothy Paul®, Mahopac, N.Y., MX-5, 2:33.021, 87.046.

15, MX, (29), Joey Bickers®, Moorpark, Calif., MX-5, 2:33.050, 87.030.

16, MX, (77), Dillon Machavern®, Charlotte, Vt., MX-5, 2:33.228, 86.929.

17, MX, (26), Tim Probert, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 2:33.451, 86.803.

18, MX, (3), Daniel Bender, Glencose, Ill., MX-5, 2:34.408, 86.265.

19, MX, (27), Charles Paquin, Ottawa, Ontario, MX-5, 2:34.884, 85.999.

20, MX, (10), Brent Mosing, Lafayette, La., MX-5, 2:35.289, 85.775.

21, MX, (2), Beth Chryst, Herndon, Va., MX-5, 2:35.923, 85.426.

22, MX, (18), Joseph Catania®, Cazenovia, N.Y., MX-5, 2:35.988, 85.391.

23, MX, (79), Spencer Patterson®, Pittsburgh, Pa., MX-5, 2:36.593, 85.061.

24, MX, (31), Jason Cherry®, Gambrills, Md., MX-5, 2:38.650, 83.958.

25, MX, (23), Christian Tetzlaff, Athens, Ga., MX-5, 2:38.751, 83.905.

26, MX, (30), Ernie Francis®, Miami, Fla., MX-5, 2:39.020, 83.763.

27, MX, (20), Chris Haldeman®, Princeton, Texas, MX-5, no time.

[svvs]

That is a pretty big entry list for that series.  Good for them!

 

Look at Von Charbs!

 

Kind of surprised Ernie Francis is so low....is he running with a team or did they build a car to run a privateer effort?

 

-Vick

[jedd fahnestock]

Nice run today by Sebastian Landy and Dean Copeland (although his trans grenaded while running up front), Some MARRS sm'ers kicking some ass!

[FTodaro]

Congrats to Charbs i understand he had vary little time in that ride before this weekend. Go get em Gold man.

 

I am surprised at the size of the field, glad to see it. If this keep up I may have to join the Novak wish list and build an MX5.

[Todd Tagget]

Good to see one our young guns Joey Bickers is looking good!

[Johnny D]

Race 1

http://www.mx-5cup.c...ults-1-_273.PDF

J~

[Ron Alan]

Looks like Bickers had fast lap of the race. Is he driving with CJ Wilson? I don't see another CJ car?

[LarryKing]

Frank, Don't forget Gallagher, a local Great Lakes driver, 2010 SCCA National Champ in F500, 2012 Formula Enterprise National Champ and MX-5 Shootout Champ, and all around nice kid. He and my nephew use to race against each other in quarter midgets. Congrats on a top 10 Patrick.

[Joe (dad) Jordan]

Looks like Bickers had fast lap of the race. Is he driving with CJ Wilson? I don't see another CJ car?

 

Yes Joey Bickers is with CJwilson, along with Gallagher and Devin Jones who ran Nascar trucks a bit last year.  

 

Kenton Koch is with Alara as is Charb's and Malkasian

 

Dean III, Nate Sparks, and Bender are with sick sideways

 

Landy and I am not sure who else are with Hoover/Amg

 

Chris Halderman and Tim Reger are running with XFactor

 

A ton of Spec Miata representation as usual!

[Terry Whitlock]

How about a shout out for Dillon Machavern one of the SEDIV and PANIC MOTORSPORTS young guns.  Dillon is running both the MX-5 Cup and and a BMW in the Continental Tire Challenge race.  Cup finishes of P-8 and P-12 in a rental ride.  Qualified P-5 for this afternoons Continental Tire race.  Way to go Dillon!

[Johnny D]

Hometown Hero Dean Takes Mazda MX-5 Cup Round Two at Sebring

 

SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2014) – John Dean, of Sebring, Fla., scored an emotional victory in front of family, friends and supporters in Round Two of the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires as part of the 62nd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. Kenton Koch, of Glendora, Calif., finished second, followed by Dean Copeland, of Bowie, Md.

 

Dean bounced back to take the 0.542-second win over Koch, following a second place finish in Thursday’s Round One which was decided by 0.053-second. The race was slowed to an average of 73.438 mph around the 17-turn, 2.74-mile permanent airport course due to a four-lap caution period brought out when Johan Schwartz and Zach Lee collided in Turn Three on lap six. Both drivers were okay following the incident.

 

This race marked Dean’s second win at the circuit in Mazda MX-5 Cup competition, however this win was comparatively more comfortable than his first win in 2012. Driving the No. 16 Projections Research/PPG MX-5, Dean exerted his control on the race from the beginning by completing the opening 12 laps in the lead. On lap 13, Copeland took over the top spot, but that was short lived as Dean recaptured the position for the remaining two laps. En route to the win, Dean also lowered the race-lap record to 2:29.059 (89.360 mph).

 

“It’s so much fun to be able to win in front of my friends and family,” Dean said. “Yesterday was a bit of a bummer. I really wanted to win, but that just made me push harder today. I went back to the drawing board, talked to the BFGoodrich guys a bit, and was able to find a setting that was able to make the tire work today.

 

“Dean [Copeland] had a fantastic race, today. He got up there and it’s always fun to race with him because he’s clean, but very aggressive. That added some additional character to the top three. In the end, it may have helped me out that he was toward the front.

 

“This is my second win here, in Mazda MX-5 Cup, but I’ve also been on the podium in all six races that the series has been here. That’s really cool and I was really hoping to do that. I’ve got a lot of supporters behind me and the team, and it feels really good to bring home trophies.”

 

Driving the No. 12 Mazda Motorsports Development MX-5, Koch was in a position to repeat his win from Thursday. For all but two laps, Koch was lurking in second waiting to pounce if the opportunity arose. However, passing the determined Dean, while holding back the charging Copeland, proved to be unfeasible.

 

“I was really hoping there wasn’t going to be a caution,” Koch said. “I was nipping at Dean’s heels for the first part of the race. It really came down to who was going to make the least number of mistakes. I would make one mistake, and it would drop me a tenth, then he would make a mistake, and I would gain a tenth.

 

“Once I got in a rhythm, I started to reel Dean in. When the caution came out, I was a little frustrated. I knew Copeland was right behind us and that we had been gapping him before that. Once he [Copeland] got back into the mix, it was a four-way battle for the lead, like yesterday. On the last lap, I was in third and was able to get by Copeland on the back straight and was able to move to P2.

 

“The series is extremely competitive, and it seems more that way this year than any other. With all the teams getting their stuff together, and Atlanta Motorsports Group coming back, it will be intense.”

 

Copeland notched his first podium finish of the young season, at the controls of the No. 7 Copeland Motorsports/Sync Speed Inc. MX-5. The finish came on the heels of a strong race, in Round One, that ended early due to a broken transmission.

 

“We had a horrible start,” Copeland said. “We got off in some slippery dew from this morning, in Turn One. Sebastian [Landy] and I got wide and slid a little. We lost the top two there, and spent the first half of the race trying to reel them in.

 

“Once the caution came out, it was on from there. We go out in the front with two laps left, and those guys just lined up on me. They got hooked up and I really didn’t have much for them. On the last lap we had some wheel spin out of Turn 16 and John [Dean] pulled away. It’s bittersweet. I thought we had a better car yesterday, when the transmission broke, but I’ll take it.”

 

Driving the No. 41 Excitations.com/Atlanta Motorsports Group MX-5, Sebastian Landy finished Friday’s race in the fourth position. The finish marks Landy’s second top-five result in as many races.

 

Finishing fifth was Andrew Charbonneau, who drove the No. 15 ALARA Racing MX-5. The finish was a marked improvement for the SCCA National Champion driver who qualified sixth. In Thursday’s race, Charbonneau also started sixth but was unable to hold the position resulting in a 13th-place finish.

 

Bryan Hixon, of San Antonio, Texas, took the class win in the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge, while driving his No. 63 Blackmore Partners/xBorder Foods & Wine SBMX-5. His win from the class pole puts him in the lead of the season-long championship point battle.

 

Ben Albano, of Greenwich, Conn., took second place in class, followed by Drake Kemper, of Toluca Lake, Calif., in the No. 99 Royal Rugby SBMX-5.

 

The SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires travels to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to contest Rounds Three and Four, May 2-4.

 

Stay up to date with the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires by going to www.mx-5cup.com. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @MazdaMX5Cup.

 

SEBRING, Fla. – Results from Friday's 15-lap, 55.5-mile SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires Round Two race, part of the 62nd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida at Sebring International Raceway, with finishing position, class, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, purse, laps and reason out (if any).

 

1. MX, (1), John Dean II, Sebring, Fla., MX-5, $3750, 15.

2. MX, (3), Kenton Koch®, Glendora, Calif., MX-5, $2750, 15, -.542.

3. MX, (5), Dean Copeland, Bowie, Md., MX-5, $2250, 15, -.638.

4. MX, (2), Sebastian Landy, Great Falls, Va., MX-5, $2000, 15, -.823.

5. MX, (6), Andrew Charbonneau, Delray Beach, Fla., MX-5, $1750, 15, -2.039.

6. MX, (7), Ara Malkhassian, Houston, Texas, MX-5, $1650, 15, -2.107.

7. MX, (14), Patrick Gallagher, Thornville, Ohio, MX-5, $1550, 15, -2.516.

8. MX, (10), Joey Bickers®, Moorpark, Calif., MX-5, $1450, 15, -2.977.

9. MX, (13), Lucas Catania®, Cazenovia, N.Y., MX-5, $1350, 15, -3.583.

10. MX, (12), Devin Jones®, Mooresville, N.C., MX-5, $1250, 15, -4.547.

11. MX, (8), Timothy Reger®, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 15, -7.517.

12. MX, (11), Dillon Machavern®, Charlotte, Vt., MX-5, 15, -8.233.

13. MX, (9), Daniel Bender, Glencoe, Ill., MX-5, 15, -8.798.

14. MX, (4), Nathanial Sparks, Spanish Fort, Ala., MX-5, 15, -9.004.

15. MX, (15), Tim Probert, Houston, Texas, MX-5, 15, -9.523.

16. MX, (19), Brent Mosing, Lafayette, La., MX-5, 15, -13.969.

17. MX, (21), Beth Chryst, Herndon, Va., MX-5, 15, -14.137.

18. MX, (16), Timothy Paul®, Mahopac, N.Y., MX-5, 15, -16.182.

19. MX, (22), Joseph Catania®, Cazenovia, N.Y., MX-5, 15, -19.351.

20. MX, (17), Ethan Low®, Clearwater, Fla., MX-5, 15, -22.588.

21. MX, (20), Christian Tetzlaff, Athens, Ga., MX-5, 15, -24.066.

22. MX, (24), Charles Paquin, Ottawa, Ontario, MX-5, 15, -28.340.

23. MX, (26), Jason Cherry®, Gambrills, Md., MX-5, 15, -40.129.

24. MX, (23), Spencer Patterson®, Pittsburgh, Pa., MX-5, 15, -1:20.607.

25. MX, (18), Chris Haldeman®, Princeton, Texas, MX-5, 6, Mech.

26. MX, (25), Ernie Francis®, Miami, Fla., MX-5, 15, -8.623, DQ.

 

1. SBMX, (27), Bryan Hixon, San Antonio, Texas, SB MX-5, 15.

2. SBMX, (31), Ben Albano, Greenwich, Conn., SB MX-5, 15, -2.914.

3. SBMX, (32), Drake Kemper, Toluca Lake, Calif., SB MX-5, 15, -5.228.

4. SBMX, (28), Robby Foley, Randolph, N.J., SB MX-5, 15, -6.272.

5. SBMX, (33), Sarah Montgomery, Lafayette, La., SB MX-5, 15, -14.744.

6. SBMX, (34), Felix Borodaty, Short Hills, N.J., SB MX-5, 15, -25.777.

7. SBMX, (35), Pat Daly, New York, N.Y., SB MX-5, 15, -34.373.

8. SBMX, (36), Chris Beaufait, Freeland, Wash., SB MX-5, 15, -42.618.

9. SBMX, (29), Johan Schwartz, Charlotte, N.C., SB MX-5, 5, Crash.

10. SBMX, (30), Zach Lee, San Antonio, Texas, SB MX-5, 5, Crash.

 

Time of race: 45 minutes, 20.634 seconds.

Average speed: 73.438 mph

Margin of victory: .542 Seconds

Lap leaders: Laps 1-12, #16 John Dean II; laps 13-13, #7 Dean Copeland; laps 14-15, #16 John Dean II

Fastest race lap: #16 John Dean II, 2:29.059 (89.360 mph)

Fastest qualifier: #16 John Dean II, 2:30.951 (88.240 mph)

[LarryKing]

Pretty cool deal. We should think about switching SM to the NC chassis.

[dstevens]

P 26 with a DQ.  Wonder what that was for.

 

SBMX?  Is that Spec MX5?

 

Here's a nugget from the home town folk from the local fish wrap...

 

 

Charbonneau's fast lap of 2:33.077 (87.015 mph) was made possible, in part, due to his his ten years of racing experience in many different types of cars, which has helped him adjust quickly to his No. 15 ALARA Racing/Michelob Light MX-5.

“This is my 10-year anniversary of when I started racing,” Charbonneau said. “I’ve won a lot of races, including a National Championship, and been able to race in a lot of different classes. I have always wanted to go pro racing, and this opportunity presented itself. So, I thought this was the perfect way to celebrate my anniversary. These guys at ALARA Racing have prepared a great car. I got really lucky by getting on the right team with a great group of guys to make sure I have good equipment.”

 

 

http://www.examiner....ours-of-sebring

[Tyler Dahl]

SB - skip barber

[Craig Berry]

Congrats to all the front runner. Looked like a great event. Solid weekend for Ara, and way to go Andrew!

[Johnny D]

 

P 26 with a DQ.  Wonder what that was for.

 

 

 

#30-Loss of 13 Positions & 17 Points due to infraction of PPR 3.8.15.1 (Brake Pad Supplier requirement)

 

http://www.mx-5cup.c...ults-1-_274.PDF

 

J~

[Bench Racer]

#30-Loss of 13 Positions & 17 Points due to infraction of PPR 3.8.15.1 (Brake Pad Supplier requirement)

 

 

J~

26 25 30 MX 26 Ernie Francis®/Miami/FL Breathless Performance Racing 15 -8.623 ** 2:29.923 88.845

 

Didn't they claim they were legal begals.    Oh, so sorry, that was with their Spec Miata. 

[zoomzoom22]

Francis also penalized in race 1 post race impound for illegal fuel.

Funny racing heads up in a series that doesn't play and 2 for 2 with infractions. Not exactly clear but may have also had an issue either in practice or post qualifying.

[Ron Alan]

Maybe Jr. can hire ALARA and divorce his current team...that kid is doomed at this rate!