close-mid-ohio-race-won-by-davies
Lexington, OH – Australian Shae Davies drove to victory in another multi-car 18-lap battle at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to close the doubleheader weekend and round eight of the 2012 F1600 Formula F Championship Series season. The race, similar to Saturday’s shootout, saw the top five cars break away from the field and jockey for position for the entire race, with Davies coming out on top for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing ahead of Garett Grist and Matias Koykka.
Davies, 22 years old, took his third win in just four F1600 races, running a partial season in the No. 9 Spectrum/Honda for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
“That was a fun race, the car’s balance was really good. We found a sweet spot in qualifying, taking the pole, and that set us up for the race,” Davies said. “It was a long race and I wanted to pace myself. The caution helped us cool the tires. I had a good battle with Matias and when I saw him fighting with Garett in the mirror with two laps to go I was able to open up a bit of a gap.”
The Australian is expected back for the season finale at Watkins Glen, but was unsure about coming to Summit Point in August due to budget constraints. Davies heads back to Australia on Monday for a race next weekend in the Australian Formula F series.
Grist meanwhile, notched second for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/ Agajanian, in his first podium appearance since VIR in the Mygale/Honda.
Grist had a rough weekend at New Jersey, missing a race, and donating his gearbox to teammate and points leader Brandon Newey.
“It has been a while since we were on the podium,” said Grist. “We didn’t have the speed down the back stretch so I had to make it up in the corners.”
With just four races to go, Koykka again cuts into Newey’s points lead with a third place effort, slimming the lead down to just a handful of points, leaving the Championship wide open as the two are virtually tied going into Summit Point, August 24-26.
Saturday’s race left Koykka’s Honda motor in dire shape after the aspiring Finnish driver sprayed water on the track the last two laps, overheating his Spectrum chassis, and leaving the team switching engines overnight.
“That was similar to yesterday’s race,” Koykka said. “With two laps to go I made a bit of a mistake that let Garett by. The season is long so whoever comes back with the most consistent finishes will win the title.”
Championship points leader Brandon Newey finished fourth, also driving for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/ Agajanian, while 2011 Championship runner-up Tim Kautz rounded out the top five in the No. 88 Piper/Honda.
Saturday’s winner, Colin Thompson, was in the top five fight before going off with just a handful of laps to go. Thompson scored his first win at Mid-Ohio, overtaking three cars in one move, with two laps to go on Saturday in the No. 5 Swift DB6/Honda.
Thompson, however, peddled the car back to sixth, resetting the race lap record in the process and scoring the fast lap bonus points en route.
Behind Thompson, Lewis Cooper III finished seventh in his Polestar Motor Racing entry, with Jesse Lazare, Jeremy Grenier and Joe Colasacco rounding out the top ten.
CellMark Paper Hard Charger honors went to Mike Kolthoff, who advanced five positions to finish 16th.
The 12-round F1600 Formula F Championship Series season continues at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, August 24-26, with rounds nine and ten, along with F2000 and Atlantic Series.
Race Results
Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Gap Avg. Speed Best Tm Best Spd 1 9 Shae Davies 18 29:07.052 - - 83.752 1:28.208 92.155 2 97 Garett Grist 18 29:09.276 +2.224 +2.224 83.645 1:28.239 92.123 3 10 Matias Koykka 18 29:09.473 +2.421 +0.197 83.636 1:28.038 92.333 4 98 Brandon Newey 18 29:10.342 +3.290 +0.869 83.594 1:28.146 92.220 5 88 Tim Kautz 18 29:15.556 +8.504 +5.214 83.346 1:28.638 91.708 6 5 Colin Thompson 18 29:15.729 +8.677 +0.173 83.338 1:27.220 93.199 7 0 Lewis Cooper III 18 29:16.481 +9.429 +0.752 83.302 1:28.407 91.947 8 6 Jesse Lazare 18 29:19.012 +11.960 +2.531 83.182 1:28.772 91.569 9 12 Jeremy Grenier 18 29:19.307 +12.255 +0.295 83.168 1:28.710 91.633 10 3 Joe Colasacco 18 29:25.313 +18.261 +6.006 82.885 1:29.252 91.077 11 21 Art Foster 18 29:29.489 +22.437 +4.176 82.690 1:29.477 90.848 12 07 Steve Bamford 18 29:29.729 +22.677 +0.240 82.678 1:29.165 91.166 13 72 Steve Oseth 18 29:31.321 +24.269 +1.592 82.604 1:28.708 91.635 14 17 Roberto Lorena 18 29:36.421 +29.369 +5.100 82.367 1:29.251 91.078 15 2 Mike Scanlan 18 30:01.527 +54.475 +25.106 81.219 1:31.815 88.535 16 77 Mike Kolthoff 18 30:01.877 +54.825 +0.350 81.203 1:32.141 88.221 17 18 Dan Pyanowski 18 30:12.782 +1:05.730 +10.905 80.715 1:32.816 87.580 18 73 Ralph Zuponcic 17 29:20.048 1 Lap 1 Lap 78.515 1:35.129 85.450 19 7 Jim Goughary 10 17:43.654 8 Laps 7 Laps 76.423 1:30.845 89.480 DNF 68 Steve Jenks 7 12:59.581 11 Laps 3 Laps 72.990 1:31.959 88.396 DNF 13 Greg Rice 7 17:08.548 +4:08.967 +4:08.967 55.322 1:33.097 87.315 DNF 11 Doug Stout 6 11:44.727 12 Laps 1 Lap 69.208 1:32.636 87.750 DNF 86 Kevin Brumbaugh 5 10:41.699 13 Laps 1 Lap 63.338 1:35.616 85.015