JW WINS GT RETURN
KAMIKAWA WINS 3rd GTP RACE
Ev Kamikawa won his third GTP race in a row, something he has never done in his career, for his 29th win and the lead in the championship point standings. John Wiedemann took his 8th career GT win as that division made a special return to the ISF schedule.
Wiedemann won the GTP pole position. Lack and Kamikawa close behind as the field was close. Kamikawa won the first heat race as Lack's car fell behind with handling,allowing Scott Mente to advance to the semi final. Bill Black won the second heat with Pete Dorn also advancing. The semi-final saw Dorn make a valiant attempt to make the A Main but falling just short. The final had Kamikawa jumpo in front of Wiedemann as the two battled for half the race. Black too had his hands full as he overtook Mente for third. 2/3 through the race Wiedemann's car broke and he was forced to make a lengthy pit stop. Black passed him and into second with Kamikawa going on to his third race win of the season and in a row.
GT was a popular division for many years, however a reduced schedule forced it from being a main division several years ago as the series concentrated on GTP and F1. In this 20th season GT makes a limited return with some rule twists. The drivers can run any chassis that was run in the league past. Qualifying was normal fast lap, however instead of being gridded into heats where the winner advances, the drivers were grouped together and had to race their way into the final in a series of short heat races.
Scott Mente took pole position in his first GT start allowing him to automatically transfer to the A main race. The first race was the E heat with Dorn, Lack, Joe Heist, and Steve Riest. Heist won with Riest and Dorn advancing to take on Wiedemann in the D heat. Wiedemann won and advanced to the C heat with Bill Black. Wiedemann won again and brought Heist and Rist with him to the B heat with Kamikawa. Kamikawa won and he and Wiedemann and Heist advanced to the A main to take on Mente. Mente started well but was soon past by Kamikawa and Wiedemann who continued their GT battle. Several offs dropped Wiedemann behind Kamikawa for most of the race but was several times faster than Kamikawa. By the end of the race Wiedemann caught Kamikawa with seconds to go on the the clock and squeaked out a win. Mente was third and Heist was fourth.
GTP Category -- 12 Minute Final race
Pos. Driver Car
Heat Winners: Kamikawa, Black
Semi Final:Kamikawa
Pos. Driver Car
- Everet Kamikawa-Marlboro Shell Ferrari
- Bill Black-Sunoco Toyota
- John Wiedemann-Silk Cut Jaguar
- Scott Mente-Silkcut Jaguar
- Pete Dorn-Jagermeister Toyota GTP
- Mike Lack-Copenhagen Toyota
- Joe Heist-Radical Toyota
- Steve Rist-Skoal Bandit Toyota
Heat Winners: Kamikawa, Black
Semi Final:Kamikawa
GT Category -- 10 Minute Final Race
Pos. Driver Car
Heat Winners: Wiedemann, Heitzer, Kamikawa, Wiedemann
Semi Final: Kamikawa
Pos. Driver Car
- John Wiedemann-Devin Group Corvette
- Everet Kamikawa-Too Clean Laundry Ford GT
- Scott Mente-X2 Corvette
- Joe Heitzer-Blue Lamborghini
- Steve Rist-Blue Mazda
- Bill Black-Budweiser Celica
- Pete Dorn-Wrangler Buick
- Mike Lack-Ford GT40
Heat Winners: Wiedemann, Heitzer, Kamikawa, Wiedemann
Semi Final: Kamikawa
GTP Point Standings after 3 events and four races
