2011 Great American ISF All Star 2.4 Hour Endurance Race

 

 

 

The 2011 edition of the Great American ISF All Star 2.4 Hour Endurance Race will be known for an incredible track, mechanical breakdowns, and new teams. In the end it was the established team of John Wiedemann and Mike Lack that took home the honors.

The 2011 2.4 hour race began with a shock and awe attack at the sheer size of the replica of the Suzuka layout at Oconomowoc Raceway.
The surprises continued when it comes to the teams. Three time defending co-champion Mark Walzak and former champion Mike Fitzlaff were late scratches from the event, leaving teams to scramble for drivers. Walczak’s championship winning teammate John Shea was paired up with his longtime Ferrari teammate Everet Kamikawa. Dean Strom teamed up with ISF rookie Mike Block. Matt Hayek made his first 2.4 hour appearance and made it even more of an event by driving with his son Alex who was making his ISF debut.

One the teams were sorted the start of the race was a familiar site of the ISF with Shea streaking away to a quick two lap lead over the field. Once the other drivers got to grips with the massive Suzuka layout the gaps stabilized. At the end of the first 18 minute stint it was Shea over Wiedemann, Strom, and the elder Hayek.

The start of the second heat turned out to be great for two teams as Kamikawa and Lack took over for Shea and Wiedemann respectively. Both drivers were fast and steady throughout and the gap was still two laps. Mike Block had taken over for Strom and soon got a lesson in how different these cars were to drive than the GT cars he is used to. The speed and braking caught him off guard and several deslots had them far back in third place. Nipping at their heals was Alex Hayek. Making his competitive debut in the high horsepower cars he had trouble adjusting and soon there was no doubt about who was in fourth place.

The third stint saw Kamikawa stay in the car for another go. Wiedemann rotated with Lack while Strom and Matt Hayek returned to their cars. Again Kamikawa and Wiedemann streaked away spending most of the first half of the 18 minute segment running side by side. Just after halfway Wiedemann’s car didn’t slow in the “spoon turn” and his car went flying off the track. In the time it took for him to return to the track and get the car sorted Kamikawa increased the lead to five laps. He maintained that gap until the last three minutes when several consecutive offs at the chicane approaching the main straight cut his lead to one lap at the end. Strom meanwhile seemed to find his footing and made up some ground on second place after they had discovered a loose wheel hub. His teammate helped by threatening to kick him down the stairs of the teams hauler if he went off. Hayek drove steady and increased his speed to close the gap to third place.

The fourth segment was to be the one that changed the course of the race. Shea lead at the start but that would be short lived. His car began slowing at a progressive rate. It wasn’t long before Lack took the lead and was never in trouble of being bested. Mike Block was charging to try and make up some time on what would now be a second place finish. After starting the round 55 laps down to the leaders he cut the gap to 42. Alex Hayek was back in his car and was smooth for most of the round to close the gap to second place as well.

Lack stretched the lead by several laps in the 5^th segment. Kamikawa was at the wheel of a steady but slowly dying car with lap times often one second or more behind the other cars. Strom had a reasonably steady run to not lose ground to the 4^th place car of Alex and actually took over second place from Kamikawa who didn’t have the car to put up a fight. 

With Lack and Wiedemann running away from the field, Shea stayed in the stricken car for the 6^th segment. The times got slower and slower and the gap between second and third place got larger and larger. Mike Block was still charging and cut the gap to 22 laps to Lack. Matt and Alex Hayek split the segment and stabilized the gap to Block but gained ground on Shea in third. All teams gained massive ground on Shea when he pulled into the pits and the team stripped down the entire car. Going back out Shea was turning laps as fast as the beginning of the race. Block still racing hard to cut the gap to Lack started to spin in the esses losing valuable time. So much time in fact that Shea was able to recapture second place overall by one lap.

The 7^th segment began with a problem car but it wasn’t that of Shea, it was the car of Lack that began to handle shabbily. Several times in the hairpin and the chicane, Lack spun as he tried to accelerate out of the turn. The car seemed slower so he tried to compensate by getting on the gas earlier which resulted in the spins. With it obvious that the lead car was in trouble, Strom handed off driving duties to Block in the hopes that his home track knowledge would allow them to close the gap to put pressure on Wiedemann and Lack. Block cranked out fast laps repassing Shea for second and got back to within 31 laps of the leader. Shea’s car fell off again and he finished the heat 58 laps off the lead with the Hayek team closing the gap to third place from 99 laps to 62.

The final 18 minute segment of the 2.4 hour race had some drama and Wiedemann took the wheel of the now ailing car and tried to drive within the car to maintain the gap. Block drove all out for the first half and his strategy seems to be working when the gap shrank to 22 laps. Kamikawa was in his car but not getting any better results than Shea but was able to save a third place finish. Matt Hayek started but handed driving duties to Alex so he could have the honor of finishing the race.

In the end Lack and Wiedemann won with 1,090 laps. Strom and Block had 1062. Kamikawa and Shea had 1009 and Matt and Alex Hayek finished with 937. The event and the track was a success. Block invited the drivers to a future race and officials are considering moving an ISF regular season event to Suzuka in 2012.