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.