Day two of the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America program at Road America saw 35 drivers take to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural terrain circuit for practice, qualifying, and the first wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend. In a straightforward qualifying session that was followed by a drama-filled race, more intense action is expected over the weekend as the season approaches the midway point.
“What a day,” said Tom Drewer. “Not all the pole position winners from this morning were not able to maintain their positions in the race, providing for five different names at the top of the time charts over the three classes during Friday’s action. Incidents and issues for a few drivers in race one have shaken the grid for race two, so we are expecting more action throughout this beautiful weekend here at Road America.”
It was Steve Jenks (Group-A Racing) that led the way in the Platinum class qualifying as he pushed his Radical SR10 to the top of the charts and earned the inside front row starting spot by more than half a second. Louis Schriber (RYNO Racing) was the best of the rest in second with Jon Field (ONE Motorsports), Indy Al Miller (ONE Motorsports), and Jim Booth (WISKO Racing) rounding out the top five.
In the Pro 1500 ranks, Nick Persing (Radical Northwest) claimed the fastest lap in qualifying ahead of Radical Brand Ambassador Aurora Straus (ONE Motorsports) and Mike Anzaldi (RYNO Racing). It was Gregg Gorski (ONE Motorsports) who put his name fourth on the time charts with the Canadian Robert Soroka (RySpec Racing) in fifth. Robert Cipriani (Team Stradale) climbed to the top of the heap in Pro 1340 by 0.170s over Mike D’Ambrose (Team Stradale), and Ben Blander (Team Stradale). Gavin Sanders (Radical Canada) put four Pro 1340 drivers within 0.4s of the pole position with Seth Bacon (Crown Racing) rounding out the top five.
The drama started in turn one of the opening lap. Out in the melee were Platinum drivers Louis Schriber, and Charles Finelli (Fat Boy Racing) while a few laps later Jim Booth, Indy Al Miller, and Scott Wagner (ESSES Racing) were forced to retire. In front, Steve Jenks fended off Jon Field, however shortly after the restart, the former American Le Mans Series Champion relegated Jenks to second and drove to a 10-second victory in the 16-lap affair.
On his debut in SR10 machinery, Kevin Poitras (Radical Canada) earned his first Platinum class podium. Alain Derzie (ONE Motorsports) kept out of harm’s way to grab the fourth position with Jason Greenwood (G-Tech Motorsports) in fifth.
With lap times setting the grid for race two, several quick drivers will need to charge through the field if they want a chance at victory in Race 2.
Nick Persing (WISKO Racing) was the lone pole position winner that was able to hang on at the front of the field and win his respective class. Keeping the epic battle of Danny Dyszelski and Aurora Straus (ONE Motorsports) behind him in the final laps, Persing drove to the win and tightened the championship points with Dyszelski. Aiding that cause was Straus, who was able to get the best of Dyszelski to stand on the second top of the podium.
After a strong start to the race, which saw him take the lead from Persing for a few laps following the restart, Soroka (RySpec Racing) slipped back to salvage fourth, while Gregg Gorski (ONE Motorsports) finished fifth.
It was a fight to the finish in Pro 1340 as Gavin Sanders and Robert Cipriani duked it out for more than half of the race. Mixed in with some of the slower Pro 1500 drivers, Sanders and Cipriani battled lap after lap with Sanders getting the edge in the end and scoring the win. Cipriani stood on the podium in second after putting up a valiant effort with D’Ambrose in third. With the battle raging on in front of them, Ben Blander (Team Stradale) was hoping for some action that would elevate him to a podium result but was forced to settle for the fourth position with Ken Savage (G-Tech Motorsports) in fifth.