newey-comes-back-to-win-in-wet-at-summit-point

Just minutes before the race, the skies opened in West Virginia, leaving teams scrambling to mount Hoosier rain tires and make car adjustments for a rain setup.

Newey looked solid early, before going off in turn 10 and losing the race lead and five positions in the opening stages of the race. However, as the all-green-flag 20-lap run developed, other leaders made mistakes too, and a fast pace put Newey in a position to capitalize.

“We had an off in turn 10 early in the race, but luckily I didn’t get stuck in the gravel,” said Newey. “The Mygale was running great and I was able to catch the leaders.”

Grenier’s No. 12 Citation/Honda controlled the mid-part of the race, and Grenier seemed sure for his first career victory before going off while trying to lap a slower car. However, Grenier did deliver a second place effort for Ski Motorsports, his best result of the 2012 F1600 season.

“I got down to turn five, trying to lap Sean Maisey and I don’t think he saw me,” said Grenier, describing his spin, losing the race lead. “I came back on and Shae Davies and I went side-by-side and he overcooked it while trying to get past me into turn one. I think we could have held off Brandon for the win, the Citation was good in the wet.”

Saturday’s winner Koykka went off the track in turn 10 in his Spectrum/Honda while leading. The Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing driver recovered to finish third, but lost the Championship lead he took back with a win on Saturday.

Newey now leads the points chase by just a handful of markers, setting up what is a Championship showdown for the final two rounds at Watkins Glen International in October.

“The car was great but it was my fault, I went off in turn 10 and just lost too much time. I had to continue to learn during the race with the changing track conditions, it was my first formula car race in the rain,” explained Koykka, from Finland.

Koykka’s Cape Motorsports teammate, Shae Davies, also looked sure for a podium run before an off-course excursion on a wet race track ended his day in turn one.

Newey’s Herta teammate, Garett Grist, finished fourth, carrying additional sponsorship from Alpinestars. Steve Oseth completed the top five in another Citation/Honda, but was at the front of the field early before going off.

CellMark Paper Hard Charger honors went to F1600 rookie Haruaki Tanaka, from Japan, and driving for Quantum Racing Services, for improving the most positions in the No. 7 Van Diemen/Honda.

The F1600 Formula F Championship Series concludes at Watkins Glen International, with rounds 11 and 12, October 12-14.

Race Results

Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Gap Avg. Speed Best Tm Best Spd 1 98 Brandon Newey 20 31:03.389 - - 77.279 1:31.091 79.042 2 12 Jeremy Grenier 20 31:12.685 +9.296 +9.296 76.895 1:30.990 79.130 3 10 Matias Koykka 20 31:29.156 +25.767 +16.471 76.225 1:30.586 79.482 4 97 Garett Grist 20 31:30.236 +26.847 +1.080 76.181 1:29.998 80.002 5 72 Steve Oseth 20 31:40.016 +36.627 +9.780 75.789 1:31.618 78.587 6 17 Roberto Lorena 20 31:43.885 +40.496 +3.869 75.635 1:32.031 78.235 7 21 Art Foster 20 31:51.313 +47.924 +7.428 75.341 1:30.772 79.320 8 7 Haruaki Tanaka 20 32:33.080 +1:29.691 +41.767 73.730 1:32.312 77.996 9 55 Ray Phillips 19 31:13.827 +0.027 +0.027 73.006 1:35.388 75.481 10 42 Joe Parsons 19 31:13.800 1 Lap 1 Lap 73.007 1:30.625 79.448 11 2 Mike Scanlan 19 31:32.813 +19.013 +18.986 72.273 1:34.656 76.065 12 44 Ed Callo 19 31:49.132 +35.332 +16.319 71.656 1:35.968 75.025 13 99 Sean Maisey 19 32:02.791 +48.991 +13.659 71.147 1:33.815 76.747 14 01 John McCusker 18 31:15.543 2 Laps 1 Lap 69.100 1:37.370 73.945 15 9 Shae Davies 12 18:56.698 8 Laps 6 Laps 76.010 1:32.582 77.769 DNF 50 John Nesbitt 9 15:42.928 11 Laps 3 Laps 68.722 1:40.791 71.435 DNF 43 Bill Maisey 0 4.661 20 Laps 9 Laps - -.--- - DNS 36 Steve Roux 0 -.--- - - - -.--- -