kautz-recovers-for-watkins-glen-win

Kautz, in the Braeburn Thermostats car, set fastest lap after fastest lap while moving through the field and had luck go his way.

“There are easier ways to win a race,” said Kautz, in post-race technical inspection. “I got inpatient on the opening lap and went off in the bus stop. The car was just awesome though and I was able to make up time. Valet’s car was loose and he had a handful, if it was like yesterday I wouldn’t have been able to get close.”

Kautz also bounced back from a heavy crash during Thursday testing and finished second in Saturday's race.

Bill Valet came back from a qualifying crash this morning that saw him almost miss the race. The #83 crew rushed to repair his Swift/Ford in time for the race start.

Valet started from fifth and dove to the inside on the start, moving into second place and then inheriting the lead on the opening lap. A battle for the lead emerged midway through the race with Colin Thompson. As Valet held off the 17-year-old in the Swift/Honda, Kautz was picking off cars and six seconds back.

But things changed as Valet spun and continued, and Thompson spun to avoid him. Thompson continued but was way back in the pack while Valet came back on track just in front of Kautz, who was able to take advantage for the win.

“The door was wide open at the start down the front straight and I took advantage of it,” said Valet. “I feel bad for Colin; it’s also amazing we made the start following the crash in qualifying. I misjudged turn one and a slower car and did a lot of damage.”

John Robinson was third ahead of Jim Goughary and Forrest Hull.

Colin Thompson survived to finish sixth with Art Foster, Caitlin Johnston, Mike Scanlan and Todd Bardwell completing the top ten.

Thompson, who has veteran driver Phil Lombardi coaching him this weekend, had a rough start to the weekend that saw a wheel failure on his #5 Swift/Honda.

Further checks were made and the team found all its wheels to have cracks. Fix attempts did not pan out and the team was able to borrow wheels from another competitor. Thompson scored a break-through podium with a third place effort on Saturday.

The 2011 F1600 Formula F Championship Series continues at Mid-Ohio, with rounds five and six, June 30-July 2.

Race Results:

Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Gap Avg. Speed Best Tm Best Spd 1 88 Tim Kautz 12 24:13.808 - - 100.140 1:58.490 102.388 2 83 Bill Valet 12 24:14.313 +0.505 +0.505 100.105 1:59.251 101.735 3 19 John Robinson 12 24:16.217 +2.409 +1.904 99.974 1:59.090 101.873 4 7 Jim Goughary 12 24:16.265 +2.457 +0.048 99.971 1:59.158 101.814 5 71 Forrest Hull 12 24:24.557 +10.749 +8.292 99.405 1:59.563 101.470 6 5 Colin Thompson 12 24:24.656 +10.848 +0.099 99.398 1:59.231 101.752 7 24 Art Foster 12 24:24.918 +11.110 +0.262 99.380 2:00.010 101.092 8 68 Caitlin Johnston 12 24:34.194 +20.386 +9.276 98.755 2:00.835 100.401 9 2 Mike Scanlan 12 24:35.870 +22.062 +1.676 98.643 2:01.164 100.129 10 35 Todd Bardwell 12 24:56.730 +42.922 +20.860 97.268 2:02.442 99.084 11 14 Ross Devoe 12 24:59.150 +45.342 +2.420 97.111 2:02.605 98.952 12 63 John Groom 12 25:01.746 +47.938 +2.596 96.943 2:03.397 98.317 13 01 Shannon McIntosh 12 25:02.125 +48.317 +0.379 96.919 2:02.008 99.436 14 4 Bob Detrick 12 25:06.921 +53.113 +4.796 96.610 2:02.630 98.932 15 18 Dan Pyanowski 12 25:09.242 +55.434 +2.321 96.462 2:02.993 98.640 16 91 Doug Hobby 12 25:15.905 +1:02.097 +6.663 96.038 2:03.912 97.908 17 21 John Butkovitch 12 25:16.217 +1:02.409 +0.312 96.018 2:03.778 98.014 18 11 Doug Stout 12 25:29.992 +1:16.184 +13.775 95.153 2:03.157 98.508 19 99 Sean Maisey 12 25:37.974 +1:24.166 +7.982 94.660 2:05.604 96.589 20 36 Steve Roux 12 25:38.196 +1:24.388 +0.222 94.646 2:05.527 96.649 21 33 Len Amato 12 25:51.357 +1:37.549 +13.161 93.843 2:04.705 97.286 22 73 Ralph Zuponcic 11 24:27.715 1 Lap 1 Lap 90.925 2:10.840 92.724 23 74 David James 11 25:46.937 +1:19.222 +1:19.222 86.269 2:16.057 89.169 24 10 Ryan Leach 6 12:41.781 6 Laps 5 Laps 95.555 2:00.509 100.673