Wiedemann Wins F1 Doubleheader

WIEDEMANN WINS TWICE
John Now Called "Jota Doublay" 
Takes 3rd Straight F1 Win 

John Wiedemann is proving his F1 championship last year is no fluke and is well on the way to 
winning his second straight championship.

The ISF was thrown a curve bigger than that of the rock mountain turn at Raven Raceway and still managed to thrill a packed house of fans who stayed to cheer on John Wiedemann to victory in what turned out to be an F1 doubleheader race.

The F1 cars were supposed to share the bill with the LMP division, however the LMP cars were too wide for the narrow twisty bits of Raven Raceway Park. Faced with a potential angry crowd who paid to see two divisions race and tearing up all the LMP cars in the field, the organizers made the decision to make it a twin F1 feature.
The crowd roared it's approval and cheered as they saw history when John Wiedemann became the first driver in ISF history to win three F1 races in-a-row since Mike Fitzlaff in 2011 and Larry Rotter in 2006-2007.

The first feature had JW, now nicknamed "Jota Dublay," on pole position having qualified 3 tenths of second faster than Mike Fitzlaff. The two would battle with only a lap separating them at the halfway point. Having started the race on the faster option tire, the pair was 14 laps in front of Dan Margetta and Mark Walczak. When the teams stopped at halfway to change tires there was a problem on Mark's car and an axle was bent. Venting his frustration to ISF officials who said he would have to fix the car under green flag conditions, the Red Bull driver decided to pack it in for the race. Margetta never the handling on the car in the second half and wasn't a factor. Fitzlaff kept the duel close between he and Wiedemann until some late race penalties dropped him to 10 laps behind leaving the way clear for Wiedemann's win.

The second feature saw Fitzlaff start on pole, this time besting Wiedemann by 13 hundredths of a second in qualifying.
From the lights Larry Rotter took the lead and lead most of the first half as JW had handling problems as did Fitzlaff and their early penalties dropped them off the pace. Instead it was Rotter leading "Dealing Dean" Strom. The Canadian Strongman kept Rotter close until the pit stop. From then on the race flipped. Rotter and Strom losing the plot in terms of handling, Fitzlaff floundering and Wiedemann making a strong comeback on the option tires (editors note: these races featured the lower profile PVT02 tires and some drivers thought they made their cars slower because of chassis drag on the track). JW would eventually catch Rotter with about three minutes to go as Rotter received a 20 second stop-and-go penalty.
Rotter tried but decided to consolidate his position for second with Strom third and Fitzlaff fourth. 

Until the next event...it's not bad being in the pits.

Steve "the wrench" Ratchett

INTERNATIONAL SPORTSCAR FEDERATION
Official Finish, Event # 2013-02
Brookfield GP Race 1
January 10, 2013
Raven Raceway

F1 Grand Prix Category -- 16 Minute Final
Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1  John Wiedemann Jaguar
2 Mike Fitzlaff Jordan-Peugeot
3 Dan Margetta Red Bull
4 Mark Walczak Red Bull
5 Larry Rotter McLaren Mercedes
6 Everet Kamikawa Super Kamikawa 
7 Dean Strom Tora Roso

Fastest Qualifier -- Wiedemann 3.998 seconds
B Main -- Fitzlaff

Brookfield GP Race 2
January 10, 2013
Raven Raceway

F1 Grand Prix Category -- 16 Minute Final
Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1 John Wiedemann Jaguar
2 Larry Rotter McLaren Mercedes
3 Dean Strom Tora Roso
4 Mike Fitzlaff Jordan-Peugeot
5 Mark Walczak Red Bull
6 Dan Margetta Red Bull
7 Everet Kamikawa Super Kamikawa 

Fastest Qualifier -- Fitzlaff 4.123 seconds
B Main -- Strom

Wiedemann Wins Wallaby Tail 2013

JOHN WIEDEMANN GETS TAIL
Wallaby Tail Trophy First for "W"

Ev Kamikawa Wins First Career LMP Race

John Wiedemann took the win in the first ISF F1 race to use Mega G chassis and won
the coveted trophy. It was also another night of firsts as Everet Kamikawa won his
first career LMP race, which also happened to also be the first race of the new era
of Mega G race cars in the ISF.

While it was the smallest field in the history of the invitational, it by no means lacked competition.

The F1 event saw the Mega G race cars handle themselves quite well as the drivers agreed that they were fast and agile in the corners, but you needed to think when you drove them because there was no margin for error if you went over the edge. Drive the car too hard and you were in the wall. The rear wings and supports also shown that they needed some support if they are to withstand the grueling ISF season.

Kamikawa led the first few laps of the F1 race using the faster option tire in the slower of his two lanes. Wiedemann used the faster tires in his fastest lane. That extra grip and speed allowed him to overtake Kamikawa early on and was never seriously challenged after that. Kamikawa withstood a challenge for second by Mike Lack and then Mike Fitzlaff to hold on for second with Fitzlaff finishing third and Lack fourth and Mark Walczak fifth.

The LMP was a similar affair only with Kamikawa using Wiedemann's strategy from the first race to take his first career LMP victory. Mark Walczak gave serious chase but would come up short. Fitzlaff crashed out and Lack and Wiedemann experienced handling problems to never seriously challenge the leaders. The LMP division will be the second division throughout 2013 after spending many seasons as a support series.  

The next event is the tight and twisty turns of Raven Raceway and the Brookfield Grand Prix.

Until then...it's not bad being in the pits.

Steve "the wrench" Ratchett

INTERNATIONAL SPORTSCAR FEDERATION
Official Finish, Event # 2013-01
18th Annual Rapids Invitational
December 28, 2012
Rapids International Raceway

F1 Grand Prix Category -- 16 Minute Final
Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1  John Wiedemann Jaguar
2 Everet Kamikawa Super Kamikawa
3 Mike Fitzlaff Jordan-Peugeot
4 Mike Lack Jaguar
5 Mark Walczak Red Bull

Fastest Qualifier -- Fitzlaff 4.463 seconds
B Main -- Kamikawa

LMP Prototype Category -- 16 Minute Final
Fin. Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1 Everet Kamikawa Audi R15
2 Mark Walczak Peugot
3 Mike Lack Audi R15
4 Mike Fitzlaff
5 John Wiedemann Jaguar 53 Off

Fastest Qualifier -- Lack 4.714 seconds
B Main -- Kamikawa

2013 TCL Grand Prix Video

The 2013 Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix at Rapids International Raceway: 
Good stuff. Thanks Indyslotcar!
Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett