Goughary Makes it 2 for 3 with Watkins Win

 “What a race! It just goes to show you that you have to be there at the end. The car is really fast this weekend and Ski has been doing an awesome job,” said Goughary, who also nailed the Masters Class win, and his third overall F1600 victory. Goughary drives the No. 7 Van Diemen/Honda for Ski Motorsports. “We will make a few handling tweaks for tomorrow. The key here is to be in the top five with a couple laps to go.”

For Mitchell Jr., it was the second straight runner-up finish for the aspiring racer.

“The Excluisve Autosport Spectrum/Honda has been really good,” he said. “The team is split this weekend and with just a couple guys here, they have been given me a really great fast car. There was no white flag with the race ending early, and I also had some contact with one of the yellow (Pelfrey) cars.”

Rickards led a number of times, and is still looking for the top step of the podium in his debut F1600 season for Team Pelfrey in the Mygale/Honda.

“There was some contact at the start and the end” said Rickards, “we will have to watch some of the onboards later. Overall, it was a good race and we ran well – Pelfrey has put together a great car and we plan to be on the top step on the podium tomorrow.”

Rickards’ Pelfrey teammates Ayla Agren and Augie Lerch completed the top five while Art Foster checked in for a sixth place result.

Mikhail Goikhberg followed in seventh for his F1600 debut in the K-Hill No. 98, with Brandon Angel, Nikita Lastochkin and Reid Hazelton completing the top ten.

The race included a number of incidents involving high-profile drivers at the front – most notably race contenders Franklin Futrelle and Sam Chastain. Futrelle’s Spectrum retired to the paddock on the hook with considerable damage after leading the early part of the race, while Chastain pitted after going off while fighting for the lead.

Steve Bamford was another car at the front, running third in the early stages of the race, but also failing to finish with reported damage. Evan Mehan missed the start after mechanical problems in qualifying but the Chastain Motorsports team plans to have the No. 29 Mygale/Honda ready and waiting on Sunday.

Saturday’s morning qualifying session was the first opportunity for the field on a dry Watkins Glen following a wet and short Friday practice session, with the session ending early due to engine oil cleanup – leaving Jim Goughary on the pole, just off the track record.

F1600 continues its 14-race 2014 season with round four, scheduled for Sunday afternoon May 18 at Watkins Glen. Follow on www.F1600Series.com.

Race Results:

PosNo.NameLapsBest TmMake/ModelDiff 1 7 James Goughary/M 10 1:59.194 Van Diemen Honda - 2 93 Jack Mitchell 10 1:59.916 Spectrum 014 Honda +0.327 3 83 Garth Rickards 10 1:59.915 Mygale Honda +1.417 4 81 Ayla Agren 10 1:59.446 Mygale Honda +1.507 5 82 Augie Lerch 10 1:58.782 Mygale Honda +1.856 6 21 Arthur Foster/M 10 1:59.627 Spectrum 014 Honda +2.387 7 98 Mikhail Goikhberg 10 2:00.328 Mygale Honda +2.351 8 9 Brandon Angel 10 2:00.879 Spectrum Honda +2.779 9 80 NIkita Lastochkin 10 2:00.243 Mygale Sj Honda +3.147 10 23 Reid Hazelton 10 2:02.259 Van Diemen Honda +3.371 11 06 Austin McCusker 10 2:01.176 Van Deiman Honda +3.946 12 24 Will Harvey 10 2:02.492 Mygale Sj Honda +4.020 13 27 T. Sam Chastain 10 1:59.699 Mygale Sj13 Honda +4.297 14 10 Max Mallinen 10 2:03.591 Spectrum 014 Honda +10.069 15 88 Bill Valet 10 2:02.749 Swift DB6 Ford +12.814 16 13 Andrew Hobbs 10 2:01.982 Mygale Sj Honda +12.975 17 2 Mike Scanlan/M 10 2:04.933 Spectrum Honda +13.637 18 50 Keith Joslyn/M 10 2:03.480 Van Diemen Rf98kHonda +14.212 19 66 Bob Melvin/M 10 2:11.717 Van Diemen Ford +22.245 20 46 Douglas Voss/M 9 2:03.651 Spectrum 012B Honda 1 Lap DNF 07 Steve Bamford/M 5 1:59.567 Mygale Sj11 Honda 5 Laps DNF 97 Franklin Futrelle 5 2:00.092 Spectrum 014 Honda +0.765 DNF 36 Steve Roux 5 2:03.898 Wyvern Honda +27.768 DNS 29 Evan Mehan 0 -.--- Mygale Honda - DNS 18 Dan Pyanowski/M 0 -.--- Van Diemen Rf00Honda -