2003 ISF Season Review

It Was Indeed A Mighty Struggle (for the most part)

The 2003 ISF Season in Review

By  G. O. Odyear

As the snow clouds gather on the coming horizons, and the action heats up on the short tracks of the American Racing Alliance and SlotCART racing seasons, the racing world steps back and looks on a group of the world’s best road racers and the season they had in the International Sportscar Federation. Jim Iverson took no prisoners on the way to his first F1 Division title. With the season opener four months away, how did the drivers fare against each other for this years run to the championships?

John Shea:

GTP Preseason Prediction: Champion

GTP Actual Finish: Champion

Last year John Shea won a hard pitched battle for the Grand Touring Prototype series crown. It wasn’t quite as hard this year.  The Toyota driver repeated as GTP champion and this writer sees no reason for him not to win a fourth. The car is quick on all circuits, and Shea has the veteran savvy that he doesn’t get rattled easily. He had a few mistakes like at Raven. It won’t be a cake walk, but he should add his fourth GTP title.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 4^th in points

GT Actual: 1 Win, 3^rd in points

Shea’s GT program has gotten off the ground! Ill handling Ferraris, slow Volvos, and outclassed Chevy Cameros have been the bane of his existence in this division. He now has a car in the Corvette to challenge for wins. Look for him to mount a serious  challenge for the GT title in 2004.

F1 Preseason Prediction: Champion

F1 Actual: 1 Win, 3^rd in points

Driving the lone Ferrari in last years championship he almost won both the drivers and manufactures titles by himself! The return of Kamikawa as a Ferrari driver helped take some of the pressure off Shea, however he was usurped to the title by his teammate after missing the set up at a couple of races. Shea won the SlotIRL title in 2003. Even money he will be the ISF F1 champion in 2004.

Chad Sorce:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 1 win, 4^th in points

GTP Actual Finish: 7^th in points

Sorce was the ISF’s original GTP champion. If he ran on a regular basis he could be again. Jaguar signed him for the full season. He competed in two races. The rest of the field misses his competitive spirit.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 wins, 5^th in points

GT Actual: 7^th in points

GT has never been Sorce’s forte. A switch to a Pontiac Fierro looked promising in one race. He can definitely win on all the other tracks as his racing record suggests.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 1 Win, 5th in points

F1 Actual: 10^th in points

What would the title fight have been like if Sorce was there for the entire championship?

Everet Kamikawa:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 0 wins, 5^th in points

GTP Actual Finish: 4^th in points

In the past, if his Mercedes stayed together for the first ten minutes and he could keep it on the track, Kamikawa almost always won. Any race longer than 10 minutes and he would crash and burn in spectacular fashion. Switching from Mercedes to Toyota didn’t improve that observation. It made it worse. There were no shortened races this year. In order for Kamikawa to win a race, it would have to be shortened to less than 2 minutes because usually by that point Kamikawa had crashed out or was close to it. Pathetic is the best word to sum up his  career in this division this year.

GT Preseason Prediction: Champion

GT Actual: Champion

You can let your breath out now.  Everet Kamikawa romped the field to take the Grand Touring title. It wasn’t as dominating as it was in the past, however it didn’t need to be with the shortened schedule. The F-40 is still the car to beat, although there were cracks in their domination this year.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 1 Win, 4^th in points

F1 Actual: Champion

Kamikawa returned to Ferrari from his exile to the Minardi F1 team to again partner Shea at Ferrari. He has said that he will try and pay back Shea by helping him to the F1 title since Shea helped him win two SlotCART championships. Kamikawa won the first race and the third race. With the short season Shea fell too far behind in points for Kamikawa to help him. Kamikawa’s team decided to go for it and he won the championship by one point over Larry Rotter. The most competitive division in the ISF will be even tougher next year.

Jessie Iverson:

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 6^th in points

GT Actual: 9^th in points

Jessie showed flashes of speed in GT qualifying but never got a handle on the car in the races. Due to schedule conflicts and illness, he raced more in the F1 division where he is more competitive.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 1 Heat Race win, 7^th in points

F1 Actual: 5^th in points

F1 is where the young driver started to come into his own. Driving for the Jordan team, the young Iverson had to deal with drivers 2-3 times his age, and was in a few semi-finals with a fifth place being his highest finish. After three years seasoning, it would not be far fetched for the lad to step up and win a heat race or pole position in 2004.

Miles Iverson:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 1 Pole, 1 Heat Win, 6^th in points

GTP Actual Finish: 1 Pole, 1 Heat Win, 6^th in points

Miles showed a lot of speed in this ISF division taking a pole at Monza. A couple of heat race wins allowed him to get into the final race a couple of times where he just missed a podium in fouth place. Don’t be surprised if he starts finding victory circle in some of the heat races, and if he remains calm, perhaps even a final in 2004.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 7^th in points

GT Actual: 8^th in points

Like his brother, scheduling conflicts kept the middle Iverson from showing his true potential in this division.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 6^th in points

F1 Actual: 6^th in points

Gaining a ride in a second McLaren, he drove fairly well, however this reporter thinks he would do better with his own car.

Jim Iverson:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 2 Wins, 2^nd in points

GTP Actual Finish: 2 Wins, 2^nd in points

“Bayside Jimmy” has brought a lot to the ISF racing community over the past several years. Finally his Porche GTP program is starting to deliver. Two wins allowed him to take the fight to Shea especially on the longer courses like Monza. Always a threat to take the win, he kept the handling bugs at bay that he could have won more races if it wasn’t for Shea being in the same league. Now that he knows how to win, look for him  to take more  checkers in 2004.

GT Preseason Prediction: 1 Win, 3^rd in points

GT Actual: 1 Win, 2^nd in points

GT has been a better class for Iverson with several second place finishes. If Kamikawa wasn’t in this division he’d easily have more wins and maybe even a championship. He became the answer to an ISF trivia question by breaking Kamikawa’s GT winning streak.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 2 Wins, 2^nd in points

F1 Actual: 4^th in points

He whipped the competition to win his first title last year. A switch from McLaren to Toyota took a little time getting used to, as the crew had to learn how to set up the car. He will win races in the Toyota in 2004.

Larry Rotter:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 1 Win, 3r^d in points

GTP Actual Finish: 3^rd in points

Outside factors interfered in his chase to the title, however he deserves all the props for persevering. A championship for Rotter  in GTP would be very popular among the fans and paddock . Two wins could bring him a title in 2004.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 2^nd in points

GT Actual: 4^th in points

Dominant GT Champion driving a Dodge Stealth, nothing since switching to Porche. Could a switch back to the Ram be in the cards? His ties to McLaren make that a slight possibility. He’ll find victory lane again in this division before too long. The Porche just doesn’t have the grunt against the factory backed Porche team of Jim Iverson.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 1 Win, 3^rd in points

F1 Actual: 1 Win, 2^nd in points

The former SlotCART champion is on a mission to win the F1 titles. He just missed out. If the season had been one race longer…  

Dan Margetta:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 7^th in points

GTP Actual Finish: 8^th in points

There is no doubt that Margetta is a good racer. His GTP program is unknown as he jumped rides quite often this year. He can win, but in what car, team, and division is unknown for now.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 8^th in points

GT Actual: 6^th in points

Scheduling conflicts robbed Margetta of most of his race starts. A well prepped Margetta could make him a winner in all the divisions.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 8^th in points

F1 Actual: 8^th in points

Will the Miller Lite car come back to the track? It is the car that gave Dan his greatest success.

Amy Butler:

GTP Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 8^th in points

GTP Actual Finish: 5^th in points

Amy surprised everyone how fast she was out of the box. Taking a heat race win in her first start. She also led Monza for the first third of the race. That 3^rd place was her highest finish in the division. No driver should put it past her to win a race in 2004.

GT Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 9^th in points

GT Actual: 5^th in points

The only driver to consistently race a Dodge Viper, Butler showed good speed and potential with a 4^th her highest finish.

F1 Preseason Prediction: 0 Wins, 9^th in points

F1 Actual: 11^th in points

Just finished with her rookie year in SlotCART, this should have been her best division. Fifth being her best finish as she ran into a higher level of competition than she was used to. Racing against the veterans should help her in her SlotCART pursuits.

Other notable finishers:

Mike Fitzlaff – 1 heat race win for one of the ARA’s favorite drivers. Rumor has him competing in a few more events in 2004.

Adam Fitzlaff – 1 heat race win for the ARA racer. Look out in 2004. He’ll be able to drive in the GTP division!

Austyn Francis – highest finish of 5th for the rookie in two starts.

Congratulations to all the drivers who ran in the series this year.

There are lots of unknowns for the upcoming season. Will there be more drivers? More tracks? New Rules? A new point system?

What the exact results will be no one knows, except that it promises to be another exciting year of ISF competition.

2003 ISF Season Preview

A Mighty Struggle: The 2003 ISF Season

G. O. Odyear (pen name for Steve Ratchett)

As the snow melts and the sun sets on the American Racing Alliance and SlotCART racing seasons, the racing world focuses it’s attention on a group of the world’s best road racers skidding and sliding their away around some of the world’s best road courses. Last year John Shea won a hard pitched battle for the Grand Touring Prototype series crown. Everet Kamikawa stomped a mud hole in the field to take the Grand Touring title. Jim Iverson took no prisoners on the way to his first F1 Division title. With the season opener less that one month away, how do the drivers stack up against each other for this years run to the championships?

John Shea:

The Toyota driver repeated as GTP champion and this writer sees no reason for him not to win a third. The car is quick on all circuits, and Shea has the veteran savvy that he doesn’t get rattled easily. It won’t be a cake walk, but he should add his third GTP title.

Shea’s GT program has never quite gotten off the ground. Ill handling Ferraris, slow Volvos, and outclassed Chevy Cameros have been the bane of his existence in this division. If he gets a good car look for him to challenge for the GT title with a win or two.

Shea is an accomplished single seat driver. Driving the lone Ferrari in last years championship he almost won both the drivers and manufactures titles by himself! The return of Kamikawa as a Ferrari driver should help Shea keep this title fight close, too close to call at this point in terms of who will be the champion.

Chad Sorce:

Chad was the ISF’s original GTP champion and could be again. He has said that Jaguar has signed him for the full season. After taking most of the last season off, this writer thinks that he will have his fleet of Jaguars competitive from the drop of the green flag.

GT has never been Chad’s forte. No car has been announced yet, however that doesn’t mean he isn’t a threat to win. The F1 division was overjoyed at the sight of the Red Bull car. Sorce won at Monza and he can definitely win on all the other tracks as his racing record suggests. He’ll keep everyone honest in this division and is always a gentleman racer.

Everet Kamikawa:

If his Mercedes stayed together for the first ten minutes and he could keep it on the track, Kamikawa almost always won. Any race longer than 10 minutes and he would crash and burn in spectacular fashion. Switching from Mercedes to Toyota is an interesting move since Kamikawa has never drove a Japanese car (except for Camry rental cars). If he manages to finish all the races he has an outside chance of winning the GTP title.

Kamikawa’s Ferrari F-40 is back for GT competition. Don’t hold your breath if he wins a third GT title with it.

Kamikawa returns to Ferrari from his exile to the Minardi F1 team to again partner Shea at Ferrari. He has said that he will try and pay back Shea by helping him to the F1 title since Shea helped him win two SlotCART championships. Shea might not need the help and might choose to save Kamikawa’s favor in the event the two ever return to the SlotCART series. That said, Kamikawa still wants the F1 title. I don’t think he’ll get it this year. He has started to show a tendency to get rattled quite easily as of late. Quite the contrary to his calm cool demeanor of his SlotCART championships. He probably needs to start drinking more to calm down.

Jessie Iverson:

Jessie showed flashes of speed in GT qualifying but never got a handle on the car in the races. F1 was a different story as the young driver had to deal with drivers 2-3 times his age. Iverson’s Jaguar was quick and almost took a pole position, and was in a few semi-finals and a couple final fours. After two years seasoning, it would not be far fetched for the lad to step up and win a heat race or pole position this year.

Miles Iverson:

Miles showed a lot of speed in his ISF debut in all the division and continued to do so throughout the season in a limited schedule. Unfortunately there were no wins to go with the speed, but like his brother, don’t be surprised if he starts finding victory circle in some of the heat races. Perhaps even a final.

Adam Fitzlaff:

The young shoe is cocky and quick which is usually a sign of a champion. He has won in the ARA and had some success in his limited ISF career. He could win some heats in GT and F1.

Mike Fitzlaff:

The elder Fitzlaff is a multiple ARA champion and a stock car racer at heart, however he is also brilliant in the SlotIRL and ISF events he runs. Traditionally he only runs the Rapids Invitational, however if he chose to run more events he would definitely win. He is held in the highest regard by the other drivers, who would love to see him compete in more events, but those drivers also respect his decision to rest during the ARA off season.  

Jim Iverson:

“Bayside Jimmy” has brought a lot to the ISF racing community over the past several years. Unfortunately his Porche GTP program hasn’t delivered as much to him as he has to it. Always a threat to take pole position and the win, handling bugs in the race usually keep him from taking the checkers.

GT has been a better class for Iverson with several second place finishes. If Kamikawa wasn’t in this division he’d easily have more wins and maybe even a championship or two.

F1 is where Iverson has really come on strong. He whipped the competition to win his first title last year. A possible switch from McLaren to Toyota might take a little time getting used to, however a couple of wins and a tight title fight with Shea can be expected. A second title is not out of the question.

Larry Rotter:

Much like Iverson having bad luck that Kamikawa is in the GT division, Rotter has Shea in the GTP division to deal with. He’d have several more wins to go along with his single tally if Shea’s Toyota wasn’t the class of the field. Another win for Rotter in GTP would be very popular among the fans and paddock. Two wins could bring him a title.

Dominant GT Champion driving a Dodge Stealth, nothing since switching to Porche. Could a switch back to the Ram be in the cards? His ties to McLaren make that a slight possibility. He’ll find victory lane again in this division before too long.

Rotter may be going at it alone in the McLaren this year as the loose cooperation between he and Iverson may be over with Iverson possibly moving to Toyota, however he has been seen in talks with Iverson so could a formal Toyota team be in the works. The former SlotCART champion is on a mission to win the SlotIRL and F1 titles. He could do just that.

Dan Margetta:

There is no doubt that Margetta is a good racer. His GTP program is unknown as he jumped rides quite often last year. GT and F1 saw the same thing. He can win, but in what car, team, and division is unknown for now.

Several drivers who also might be seen on the ISF tracks are:

Amy Butler:

Just finishing up her rookie year in SlotCART. That seasoning will help against the ISF veterans.

“Canadian Strongman” Dean Strom:

Another ARA champion who quite often runs afoul of the there’s only 24 hours-in-a-day rule.

Andy “Short Order” Cook:

ARA rookie who won several heats and his first feature in 2003.

Greg Braun:

Slotcar racing whiz. He hasn’t competed since the first ISF season due to a busy schedule. Supplies the league with parts and track. He’s looking to have a race at one of his tracks, however the ISF has a rule that a race host has to attend at least one event before hosting.

Ned Wicker:

Loves sportscar racing, is a great human being, and has an awesome track. Now if he would just attend a race…

There are lots of unknowns for this season. New drivers, cars, teams, and rules. What the exact results will be no one knows, except that it promises to be an exciting year of ISF competition.