Tag: HSR

A packed paddock of cars and competitors comprising nearly 300 entries representing an endless variety of road racing and sports cars from the last 70 years have arrived at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for this weekend’s 46th Historic Sportscar Racing Mitty, April 26-28.

A high-speed rite of spring and HSR’s oldest event, the 46th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta truly offers something for everyone with an incredible variety of vintage and historic sports cars, stock cars and open-wheel racing machines. More than 40 of these entries have turned out in support of this year’s featured marque — The Cars of Japan — that will be in the spotlight throughout HSR’s first blockbuster event of the year. The on-track highlight is Saturday’s Cars of Japan Feature Race that is just one of this weekend’s showcase races on the full and fast paced 46th Mitty race schedule.

The Cars of Japan celebration marks the third straight year HSR has showcased at the Mitty a geographical genre of cars rather than a specific make or model as the Featured Marque. Last year’s HSR Mitty featured 75 Years of NASCAR as part of the sanctioning body’s year-long Diamond Jubilee celebration and attracted a huge entry of all-American historic stock cars. In 2022, the globally popular Sports 2000 category, which was introduced in the UK in 1976, took center stage as the Featured Marque.

The NASCAR and S2000 Mittys were both very popular, and this weekend’s 46th edition is on track to exceed the stout competitor turnout and large spectator attendance of both events. It will mark the second straight event of HSR’s young season that is strongly trending upward following March’s season opening HSR Spring Fling at Sebring International Raceway that attracted a record number of competitor entries since its introduction in 2019.

The HSR Mitty weekend also features the second race of the inaugural HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA that debuted with a thriller at the Sebring Spring Fling. Saturday’s two-hour race at 6 p.m. EDT will be highlighted by a rematch between the Sebring-winning No. 37 One Motorsports Ligier JS P3 and co-drivers Jon Field and Kenton Koch and Alex Koreiba and James French in the No. 25 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS P3. Koch pulled off the winning pass heading into the white flag lap to take a narrow 1.682 seconds victory over French at Sebring, but several new and returning contenders are expected to be in the fight for the win at the HSR Mitty.

Another can’t miss Feature Race event is the Third Annual “Gene Felton Memorial Challenge” for HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars. Honoring the late driving star Gene Felton – the 2019 HSR Mitty Grand Marshal – the Memorial Challenge features a pair of races for HSR Historic Stock Cars with the winner determined by total points from both events. In addition to receiving a special race winner’s trophy, a plaque bearing the winning driver’s name is placed on The Lanier Technical College Gene Felton Trophy. Former NASCAR star “Front Row” Joe Nemechek and NEMCO Motorsports are the two-time reigning Gene Felton Memorial Challenge winners and look to keep their undefeated streak going this weekend.

Based on victory lane hardware from Felton’s vast collection, the permanent trophy commemorates the driver’s long association with the Lanier Technical College, where he helped interns in the Motorsports Vehicle Training program get hands-on racing experience. Donations in Felton’s honor can be made at https://www.laniertechfoundation.org.

The 46th HSR Mitty on-track schedule offers non-stop action with eight feature races and back-to-back WeatherTech sprint races while an ample lineup of off-track activity and attractions are also part of this one-of-a-kind automotive extravaganza. Club corrals fill the Michelin Raceway infield, camping is available at every level and vendors offer amazing finds. A limited number of parade and touring lap sessions are also scheduled, offering a rare chance to drive your own car on the legendary Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit.

Other weekend Feature Races include a pair of B.R.M. Endurance Challenge one-hour races Saturday and Sunday, twin Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprints Friday and Saturday and Sunday’s Global GT race for modern GT cars retired from active competition.

Sports cars of all types and from all generations anchor the 46th HSR Mitty’s growing entry list, but few will bring as much thunder and excitement to the race as sone of the truly legendary Prototypes in The Cars of Japan Feature Race.

Carrying on a family tradition of racing started by his late father Toby Bean, Patrick Bean returns to the HSR Mitty in one of the mighty 1988 No. 83 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbos, which dominated the top class in the IMSA Camel GT series in the late 1980s and 1990. A highlight of the Nissan GTP program was 1988’s eight-race win streak that began right here at Road Atlanta when Geoff Brabham drove a brand-new ZX-T to victory. The team would go on to win one more race for an impressive run of nine victories in the year’s 14 rounds and Brabham clinching the 1988 GTP Drivers Championship.

Another rolling piece of international motorsports history will be a 1989 Mazda 767B-002 that will be driven this weekend by former Mazda Motorsports factory driver Jonathan Bomarito. The vibrant green and orange machine is just one of the jaw-dropping thoroughbreds that is now part of the Mazda Motorsports Heritage Collection, a rolling and racing showcase of some of the most impressive cars in Mazda’s accomplished motorsports history.

In addition to the 767B, the Heritage Collection also brought to the HSR Mitty its IMSA GTO four-rotor 1991 Mazda RX-7-001 that will be driven by Mazda’s Tom Long.

Kenton Koch pulled off the winning pass heading into the white flag lap and went on to take a narrow 1.682s margin of victory over James French to win Saturday’s inaugural HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA two-hour race in the No. 37 One Motorsports Ligier JS P3 with co-driver Jon Field. French, who co-drove with Alex Koreiba, secured runner-up honors in the No. 25 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS P3 while John Reisman and Eric Curran finished third in the No. 74 Hudson Historics Ligier JS P3.

The debut race of the new HSR and IMSA series for LMP3 machines was a competitive and at times thrilling race from the drop of the green flag. After starting driver Field impressed by leading every lap of his race-opening stint, Koch took over the One Motorsports No. 37 for the final 75 minutes.

The top on-track driving by both the veteran Field and contemporary sports car racing front runner Koch was backed up by great race and pit strategy by One Motorsports. With teams required to make three pit stops during the race, One made the call to check two of them off in near succession on laps 20 and 22.

The back-to-back visits to the pits dropped the No. 37 up to 30 seconds behind leader French, but the Wolf team’s third and final stop put the No. 25 back on track just in front of a fast-closing Koch.

Setting the fastest lap of the race of 1:59.014 on lap 36, Koch steadily charged to the front throughout his stint, setting the stage for a nose-to-tail battle with French when pit stops for both competitors were completed with less than 15 minutes to go.

Koch made the winning pass on the penultimate lap when a slight bobble by French going into Turn 15 opened the door to the lead. French in turn kept the pressure on Koch as they took the white flag moments later but never got close enough to attempt retaking the lead in the closing minutes.

Reisman and two-time IMSA WeatherTech Prototype champion Curran, who made a return to racing after a multi-year hiatus, stayed in touch with the leaders throughout the race and joined the top-two finishers as the only three competitors to complete 52 laps in the race’s two hours.

Prototype Challenge Am-class honors went to Tobias Lutke and Travis Hill in the No. 22 TWOth Autosport Ligier JS P3. The win came in just Lutke’s second and biggest race to date after previously competing in the TWOth P3 last November in the HSR Daytona Historics at Daytona International Speedway.

Next up for the IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA is a another two-hour feature race at the 46th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, April 26 – 28.

While French came up just short in his battle for the Prototype Challenge win, he did score a victory in the first hour of Saturday’s race in another thriller. The LMP3 Prototype Challenge main event shared the track with HSR Group 6 competitors that ran their own race in the first 60 minutes of the overall two-hour event. French pulled double duty, also driving the 2010 No. 7 Panoz DP02 with Ralph La Macchia in the Group 6 contest. As the starter waved both the green flag for the LMP3 race and the checkered for the Group 6 teams one hour in, French pulled off a winning pass in the final turn of the race for the victory.

Veteran prototype driver Field earned the unique honor of now having led the opening laps of an inaugural series race twice in his long and accomplished career, although both feats are nearly 25 years apart. In the inaugural Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am) race at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2000, Field took the green flag in fourth place at the race start but passed several top competitors – such as James Weaver and Ralf Kelleners – to lead the first laps in Grand-Am racing history. Not surprisingly, the Ford-Lola B98/10 Field drove in that race carried his same and trademark No. 37 that is also on Saturday night’s winning LMP3.

Jon Field, No. 37 One Motorsports Ligier JS P3: “These are just really good prototype cars, and just watching Kenton and James French at the end there was phenomenal for me, even as a spectator at that point. I really was happy with my drive at the beginning of the race. I was able to keep them behind me, and it was just great. It was fun. I have been running Radicals, but I am happy to be back in bigger Prototypes.”

Kenton Koch, No. 37 One Motorsports Ligier JS P3: “It’s a good concept. We have all of these P3 cars lying around, and we should be doing something with them. So why not bring them here and race against some good guys. There’s a lot of good guys out here right now. Being able to have the chance to work with and co-drive with Jon Field is a real honor. He has such a history. It was a good battle we had going with James. He got off the corners really good. We were better in the second half of the straightaway, and he was better in the first half. The only way I was able to get by him was to get into his mirrors a little bit. He made a couple of little mistakes, which gave me some clean air on the front of the nose of the car. Then I could get the exit I needed because in these ‘areo’ cars if you get close to someone you can’t get an exit. I got him off the apex one time and that was all I needed to get by him for the lead down into Turn 15.”

James French, No. 25 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS P3: “It was an inaugural event, and you never know exactly what to expect, but for me it’s just a real privilege to be able to race with these guys. I have been working with the Wolf guys for a couple of years as a driver coach, a friend and just hanging out. My co-driver Alex and I have been friends for a while, and we have been doing lots of sim-racing together. To actually have the chance to put everything together and have a good series like this to showcase these P3s and how reliable, quick and fun they are to drive is a great experience. It was a great event. I have been racing with Kenton for a long time. It’s awesome to have a good battle with him. We always have good battles. He pushes me hard, and I like to think I push him hard. Great to see him out there, we tried to put on a show for everybody and keep it competitive. We came up just a bit short, but we will try again next time.”

John Reisman, No. 74 Hudson Historics Ligier JS P3: “I think it is a great concept for all of the LMP3 cars, a great series and it is always so much fun racing with HSR. It’s great they are now with IMSA, and we are looking forward to the series growing. It was my first race in a P3, it’s different, but I have a really good coach in Eric to help me through it.”

Eric Curran, Driver – No. 74 Hudson Historics Ligier JS P3: “This is a lot fun. It is great to be back at Sebring. It’s been, I think, five years since I was here and the last time, we won the 12 Hours of Sebring in the Whelen car. It’s so cool to be back here. I kind of stepped away from racing for a couple of years, but my good friend John was like ‘hey, let’s get one of these LMP3 cars and go do some IMSA HSR racing.’ It’s so much fun, we have become great friends, and he does an unbelievable job behind the wheel for not being a pro. It’s great stuff. Hudson Historics and all of those guys on the team just do a phenomenal job. It’s fun to be here at Sebring, fun to finish on the podium, but we want to move up a couple steps in the next few races. We will be here all season and we are looking forward to it.”

Tobias Lutke, No. 22 TWOth Autosport Ligier JS P3: “Prototype racing is the best, this track is so amazing, and we would like to share the fun. We want more competitors out here, and it is just great, great racing, especially on a nice evening in Florida. That’s never a bad idea! I drove at the beginning and raced into the sunset. Turn 7 was directly into the sun, which was an entirely new experience, but that’s OK. This is a lot of car! These things are just really good fun.”

Chris Ward, HSR President: “We couldn’t be happier with the highly competitive inaugural HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA race Saturday night at Sebring International Raceway with a two-hour event nothing short of entertaining throughout and an absolute thriller at the end. We can’t thank One Motorsports, Wolf Motorsports, Hudson Historics and TWOth Autosport for their early commitment to our newest series and for collectively setting a competitive cornerstone on which this championship will be built. Their performance Saturday night is a clear endorsement that Prototype Challenge will only grow, and we have already heard from numerous additional competitors, both at Sebring and away from the track, who look forward to joining the action. On to The Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and the work to bolster the series with even more cars and competitors starts now.”

Porsche pilots Todd Treffert, Thomas Gruber and Leh Keen combined to secure the overall and class victories in a pair of Historic Sportscar Racing  feature races Friday at Sebring International Raceway that officially opened the 2024 HSR racing season.

Perennial HSR Sebring race winner Treffert secured a flag-to-flag victory in the first HSR Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprint of the season in his Speedconcepts 1974 No. 14 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop. Treffert took both the overall and Porsche class victories to continue dominance on the legendary 3.74-mile Sebring airport circuit.

Friday’s other overall winner was the TAG 2016 No. 991 Porsche 991 GT3 that team owner/driver Gruber shared with 2011 Rolex GT Champion Keen to take the overall and GT Modern (GTM) wins in the weekend’s first of two B.R.M. Endurance Challenge races.

Treffert shared the overall Sasco Sports podium with International-class winner Larry Ligas, who finished second overall in the Predator Performance 1961 No. 61 Jaguar XKE. Third overall went to Porsche-class runner-up David Agretelis 1978 No. 192 Porsche 911 SC to give the 901 Shop a top-two sweep in the Porsche division.

The Sasco American-class win went to Carlus Gann who crossed the finish line fourth overall in the Vintage Race Car Restorations 1970 No. 9 Ford Mustang Boss 302.

Gann topped an all-Ford podium in the American Sasco class that included runner-up Steve Cullman in his 1970 No. 74 Ford Mustang Boss 302 and Jeff McKee in third in his 1964 No. 51 Ford Falcon. Both Cullman’s and McKee’s Fords, which finished fifth and sixth overall, respectively, are prepared by Olthoff Racing.

Damon DeSantis raced to seventh overall in the Heritage Motorsports 1974 No. 82 Porsche 911 RSR to claim the third and final Sasco Porsche podium spot while the International class top three was completed by longtime Ferrari competitor Tom Shelton in his 1975 No. 84 Ferrari 308/GTB in second and Rob Albino in third in his Hudson Historics 1999 No. 99 BMW Z3.

Friday’s final class winner was B.R.M. Historic-class victor Jim Cope in his1986 No. 50 Swift DB2. Cope led a top-three sweep in the class for Wolf Motorsports-prepared Sports 2000s. Joel Quadracci finished third in his 1985 No. 17 Swift DB2 while Benjamin Myers claimed third in his 2001 No. 29 Carbir CS2.

Gruber and Keen were joined in the B.R.M. overall and GTM top three by a pair of father-and-son teams. John Reisman and his father Paul Reisman finished second in their 2018 No. 78 Porsche 991.2 Cup car from Hudson Historics and third was claimed by Ryan Harrold and his father John Harrold in their KMW Motorsports-prepared Team Mean 2007 No. 101 Porsche 997.2 Cup car.

Spring Fling action continues through Sunday at Sebring with Saturday’s featured race going off in the early evening with the inaugural two-hour race for the debuting HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA.

The weekend’s second B.R.M. Endurance race rolls off first thing Sunday morning at 8 a.m. EDT – remember the overnight “spring-ahead” time change – and features older cars in the Vintage and GT Classic (GTC) categories. The classic cars competing in this B.R.M. race include a pair of early 1960s Lotus 23b models, a Morgan 4/4 from the same era and full contingent of 1970s Porsche RSR, IROC and 914 entries that will battle with a 1969 Camaro and more contemporary BMWs that are still over two decades old.

For detailed information on the HSR Spring Fling, including the competition schedule, entry lists and practice, qualifying and race results, visit www.HSRRace.com. Please note that this year’s Spring Fling is a non-spectator event due to the extensive pre-race facility preparations and load-in schedule Sebring International Raceway requires to prepare for the 12 Hours of Sebring, which starts Wednesday, March 13.

Taking its rightful place alongside the “HSR Classics” races at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway, the inaugural Historic Sportscar Racing  Classic 6 Hours of The Glen debuts this weekend on the Grand Prix circuit at Watkins Glen International, June 9 -11. A vintage and historic tribute race to Watkins Glen’s longstanding and premier endurance race, which has run as the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen for the past 20 years, the Classic 6 Hours at The Glen completes the HSR Classics triple crown.

The HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour presented by IMSA debuted at DIS in 2014 and two years later the HSR Classic 12 Hours of Sebring, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, followed on the legendary Sebring airport road course. The addition of the HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen now creates the perfect trifecta of HSR tribute races saluting America’s three oldest major sports car endurance races.

The featured on-track component of the HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen tribute race that takes place Saturday and Sunday. It begins with a symbolic six hours of non-stop competition Saturday before all three competing Run Groups contest a final round of races Sunday afternoon to bring the Classic 6 to a close.

The HSR Classic 6 Hours features three different Run Groups that are each home to specific generations of sports cars, some from more than 50 years ago and others retired from contemporary competition as recently as five years ago. Each Run Group takes to the 3.377-miles Watkins Glen three different times for a trio of nearly one-hour long races for each division over the course of Saturday and Sunday. The competitors covering the most combined distance in each Run Group will be crowned inaugural 2023 HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen champions and be awarded custom designed watches carrying the race’s logo from B.R.M. Chronographes.

HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen Run Groups:

Run Group A – Early Era: Pre-1978 – The oldest and perhaps most memory-stirring division, Group A features legendary and early FIA-era Prototypes and GT machines that raced in IMSA, Trans-Am and the Six Hours of The Glen when it was part of FIA international world championship competition in the late 1960s and ’70s. The group has attracted race cars such as the Lola T160, T165 and T70 Coupe and several Chevron B21/23, B26, B31 and B36 models. Entered production-based GT cars of the era include 1970’s BMW CSLs, a 1973 Ford Escort RS1600, a Porsche 914/6 GT and the always formidable contingent of late 1960s and ’70s era Porsche 911 S, RSR and IROC entries. British small-bore fans have a pair of the late 1960s TVR Vixens to follow while another entry to watch is the always quick GMT Racing 1962 No. 1 Lola 23b of Travis Engen. The Lotus is the oldest car competing in the inaugural HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen.

Run Group B – Historic Era: 1978 – 1993: The prime of the original GTP and Group C years is at the heart of this division along with the wide-body GTX, GTS, GTO and GTU machines that were a hallmark of the original IMSA Camel GT and later series. Former HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour winner Malcolm Ross brings his ex-Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) 1991 No. 2 Jaguar XJR-16 to The Glen as an early Group B favorite for the victory. Two-time HSR Classic Daytona winner Steve Cohen also seeks another “HRS Classics” win in the inaugural HSR Glen 6 Hours in his flame-throwing Sundry Racing 1995 No. 5 Oldsmobile Aurora GTS. A mass of Porsche 911 and 993 entries add to the mix as do some smaller but quick production based machines that raced in Speed Word Challenge, IMSA Firestone Firehawk and even the Canadian Rothmans Porsche Turbo Cup series. Several competitors in these classes could deliver some surprises and sneak onto the Group B podium in the Classic 6 Hours.

Run Group C – Modern Era: 1994 – 2018: Historic but familiar, Group C is home to a diverse and competitive mix of everything from mighty LMP1 and GTLM cars battling with mid-generation Daytona Prototypes, Oreca FLM-09 “PC” machines and early-production LMP3 prototypes. The battle royale for overall Group C honors will likely come down to the similar 2005 and 2004 Audi R8 LMP entries of Engen and Larry Connor and the 2009 Zytek GZ09SC/LMP1 of Keith Frieser. The Matador Motorsports 2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Pierce Marshall leads the most diverse lineup of GT cars in the Classic 6, with Run Group C also featuring Ferrari F458s, a Lamborghini Super Trofeo and class-leading line up of Porsche 991 GT3 Cup and 981 Cayman GT4 Clubsports.

The Classic 6 Hours race weekend also features the HSR Watkins Glen Historics that are points-paying races for HSR’s various season-long championships. In addition to a doubleheader lineup of HSR WeatherTech Sprints for all Run Groups, the Glen Historics feature race lineup includes the HSR Stoner Car Care Global GT and Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprints on Friday afternoon and twin B.R.M. Endurance Challenge one-hour races Sunday morning.

Detailed event information for the HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen, including weekend schedules and entry lists, is available at www.HSRRace.com.

Spectator tickets for the HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen are available exclusively at the Watkins Glen International website at https://www.theglen.com/.