Kamikawa Disposes Of Monkey At Raven Racewayby John Wiedemann
4/2/2009
Brookfield, WI - Arguably one of the most technical circuits on the ISF schedule, Raven Raceway, hosted the third event of the 2009 season. Taking to the track for the Brookfield Grand Prix were the F1 and LMP divisions. The streak of track owners winning a feature at their venue came to an end as Larry Rotter was shut out of the A mains, a disappointment to the race fans that had gathered at the Freezee Ice Cream stand to cheer on the hometown favorite.
Strategy with tire selection proved to be important as most teams used the grippy slick tires on the outside lanes and settled for the option tires on the inside lanes. Starting off with the slick tires, the Ferrari teams of Everet Kamikawa and John Shea tried to build as big of a cushion over top qualifier Mark Walczak and Mike Fitzlaff. By the time the tire changes were concluded, about one minute after the halfway point, Kamikawa had a one lap lead over John Shea. At this point, Walczak and Fitzlaff were hard on the throttle to make up lost ground on Kamikawa. The distance between the leader and the chasers, also known as the gap, became important and shorter as the time in the race ticked away. Kamikawa was able to get everything he could out of the option tires and held off hard charging Walczak and Fitzlaff by two laps at the end. Shea faded to fourth as his lane and the option tires did not prove to be a favorable combination. The win proved to be more than a trip to victory lane as he was heard to say, "I finally got that monkey off my back" with his first open wheel win at the track. PETA should not be worried, Rookie Corey Galbraith was seen leaving the track with "the monkey" in his care.
The combination of LMP cars on a technical track proved not to be a problem for Mike Fitzlaff. The fast timer in qualifying, Fitzlaff showed that he is the class of the field and the one to beat in the LMP division so far in 2009. The quick and nimble silver Nissan cut through the field and left little to doubt every time that he took to the track. Fitzlaff took the lead early in the feature race and never looked back as he stretched out his lead with every lap. John Shea followed in second with Dan Margetta in third. Handling issues with the LMP Ferrari plagued Everet Kamikawa, but he fought through them to score a solid fourth place on the night.
The series travels east and south for next weeks' race at South Shore for the St. Francis Grand Prix. Both divisions that raced tonight, F1 and LMP, will be on tap on the roadcourse portion of the multi-use facility.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTSCAR FEDERATION
Official Finish, Event # 2009-03-106
Brookfield Grand Prix
April 2, 2009
Raven Raceway
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F1 Grand Prix Category -- 16 Minute Final
Fin. Str.
Pos. Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1 5 Everet Kamikawa Ferrari 136 Running
2 1 Mark Walczak Red Bull-Renault 134 Running
3 3 Mike Fitzlaff Jordan-Peugeot 134 Running
4 7 John Shea Ferrari 126 Running
5 2 Larry Rotter McLaren-Mercedes 104 Running
6 6 Dan Margetta Red Bull-Renault 106 Running
7 8 Mike Lack Jaguar 104 Off
8 4 John Wiedemann Jaguar 100 Running
9 9 Corey Galbraith Arrows-Cosworth 91 Running
Fastest Qualifier -- Walczak; 4.201 seconds.
A Main -- 1. Kamikawa; 2. Walczak; 3. Fitzlaff; 4. Shea. (Fastest Lap -- Shea; 4.431 seconds)
B Main -- 1. Kamikawa; 2. Fitzlaff; 3. Shea; 4. Rotter. (Fastest Lap -- Shea; 4.440 seconds)
Fast Heat -- 1. Not Contested.
Reg. Heat -- 1. Kamikawa; 2. Margetta; 3. Wiedemann. (Fastest Lap -- Margetta; 4.249 seconds)
Slow Heat -- 1. Shea; 2. Lack; 3. Galbraith. (Fastest Lap -- Shea; 4.533 seconds)
Qualifying -- 1. Walczak, 4.201; 2. Rotter, 4.242; 3. Fitzlaff, 4.283; 4. Wiedemann, 4.348; 5. Kamikawa, 4.382; 6. Margetta, 4.396; 7. Shea, 4.556; 8. Lack, 4.638; 9. Galbraith, 4.710.
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LMP Category -- 12 Minute Final
Fin. Str.
Pos. Pos. Driver Car Laps Status
1 1 Mike Fitzlaff Nissan 138 Running
2 5 John Shea Porsche RS Spyder 128 Running
3 2 Dan Margetta Acura ARX-01 112 Off
4 3 Everet Kamikawa Ferrari 333SP 85 Off
5 7 Mark Walczak Acura ARX-01 6 Off
6 8 Larry Rotter Toyota 104 Running
7 9 John Wiedemann Jaguar 97 Running
8 4 Corey Galbraith Dodge 92 Running
9 6 Mike Lack Jaguar 89 Off
Fastest Qualifier -- Fitzlaff; 4.536 seconds.
A Main -- 1. Fitzlaff; 2. Shea; 3. Margetta; 4. Kamikawa. (Fastest Lap -- Kamikawa; 4.484 seconds)
B Main -- 1. Margetta; 2. Shea; 3. Kamikawa; 4. Walczak. (Fastest Lap -- Not Recorded)
Fast Heat -- 1. Fitzlaff; 2. Margetta; 3. Kamikawa. (Fastest Lap -- Kamikawa; 4.648 seconds)
Reg. Heat -- 1. Shea; 2. Galbraith; 3. Lack. (Fastest Lap -- Shea; 4.779 seconds)
Slow Heat -- 1. Walczak; 2. Rotter; 3. Wiedemann. (Fastest Lap -- Walczak; 4.890 seconds)
Qualifying -- 1. Fitzlaff, 4.536; 2. Margetta, 4.557; 3. Kamikawa, 4.649; 4. Galbraith, 4.695; 5. Shea, 4.783; 6. Lack, 4.809; 7. Walczak, 4.813; 8. Rotter, 4.842; 9. Wiedemann, 5.075.
