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| March 08, 2010 News |
| Pacific F2000: Podlesni Leads Flag-to-Flag in Round Two |
 | Defending series champion Robert Podlesni scored his first win of 2010 via a flag-to-flag effort at Auto Club Speedway
(Photo: Jerry Andersen - JerryAndersen-world.com) |
Sunday (March 7) dawned cool and cloudy, and the rain held off until after the race, enabling Robert Podlesni to claim victory in Round Two of the Sierra Tire Pacific F2000 Championship presented by Hankook Tires at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana as part of VARA’s Route 66 Classic Formula Festival.
Podlesni, in the No. 84 Terminal Velocity Processing/Alpinestars/DFR Van Diemen, again started from the pole position, which he used to full advantage to take the lead at the start. He led every lap, as well as recording the race’s fastest lap on route to victory. Just as was the case in Saturday’s event, Scott Rarick in No. 34 PR1 Motorsports Van Diemen was Podlesni’s chief pursuer, as the two gradually pulled away from the rest of the field to finish nearly 24 second ahead of third place. Rarick trailed Podlesni to the flag by merely 1.912 seconds. Though Rarick pressed him on several occasions, Podlesni was able to respond and maintain enough of a gap to hold the PR1 Motorsports racer at bay. Rarick started alongside Podlesni on the front-row of the grid, and his second place finish earned him the Expert Class win, his second in two events.
Behind the leading duo, another battle was raging for the final podium position between Ira Fierberg, who started third and Bob Negron having moved up from his fifth starting position. This duel was by far the best battle of the race, as the cars ran nose-to-tail for the entire race and third position was in doubt until the checkered flag waved. Fierberg in the No. 27 Barry I Goldstein, CPA/Sparco/DFR Van Diemen held third for the first three laps, until Negron in the No. 8 FengshuiMeBaby.com Van Diemen worked his way past. His advantage was slender, and Fierberg sat back waiting for the right opportunity to regain the third position, which finally presented itself three laps from the end, with Fierberg working his way past for the final podium spot, his first in the series. Though he missed the podium, Negron did take the Master’s Class honors for the second day in a row. Negron’s fourth place came at the expense of Saturday’s surprise winner David Cheng, who started fourth in the No. 26 Speedware Motorsports/ZeroLag Communications/PR1 Van Diemen ahead of Negron. In his haste to try to regain his position, Cheng ran a little wide in the turn 16-18 complex and collected one of the many cones used to define the circuit perimeter in his right front suspension, jamming his steering arm, causing a heavy impact with the wall taking off both right side corners of the car, ending his race then and there.
Running in a lonely fifth place for the first half of the race was Peter Hastrup in his No. 5 Western Building Materials/Nuttal, Brown & Coutts/DFR Van Diemen, until what was thought to be a throttle sensor went bad causing a loss of power that ruined his race. Hastrup struggled around, losing place after place until finally finishing in 10th place one lap down.
Bill Kincaid in the No. 46 Van Diemen was the first to take advantage of Hastrup’s misfortune, claiming fifth place on lap seven and held it to the finish, equaling his finish in round one on Saturday. It was a solid performance for Kincaid, an independent running without the benefit of a large budget or team. Les Phillips in his No. 89 Swiss Implants Mygale, starting 12th due to another throttle sensor problem in qualifying, picked off driver after driver to finish in sixth place at the finish, with it earning the Hard Charger award. Miles Maroney, in his second car race after an early exit in Saturday’s race was determined to improve on his previous result. Driving the No. 22 Maroney Company/PR1 Van Diemen after qualifying seventh, he spun on the opening lap, dropped to the tail of the field and spent the remainder of the race playing catch up. His charge up through the field demonstrated his skill in these cars despite his limited experience, moving back up to seventh place at the flag. Peter Thomas in the No. 7 Refrigeration Control Co./Hytech Exhaust/Church Automotive Testing/DFR Van Diemen, who had “Great fun” in the rain on Saturday finished eighth, ahead of Michael Murphy in No. 18 Mygale, non-starter on Saturday, in ninth. Peter West was credited with 11th, having stopped one lap short of half distance.
It was a highly competitive start to the Sierra Tire Pacific F2000 Championship presented by Hankook Tires, which moves to Willow Springs International Raceway for Rounds Three and Four on April 10-11, as part of the VARA High Desert Challenge.
Pacific F2000 Championship
Round #2 - Race Results
March 7, 2010
Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, California
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Fast Time | Diff. | Chassis| 1 | Robert Podlesni | Dave Freitas Racing | 1:39.426 | -- | Van Diemen RF08 | | 2 | Scott Rarick | PR1 Motorsports | 1:39.475 | +1.912 | Van Diemen RF05 | | 3 | Ira Fierberg | Dave Freitas Racing | 1:40.521 | +23.900 | Van Diemen RF05 | | 4 | Bob Negron | Negron Racing | 1:40.635 | +24.629 | Van Diemen RF02Z | | 5 | Bill Kincaid | Bill Kincaid | 1:41.672 | +43.779 | Van Diemen RF03 | | 6 | Les Phillips | Les Phillips | 1:43.280 | +1:02.367 | Mygale SJ04 | | 7 | Miles Maroney | PR1 Motorsports | 1:42.148 | +1:02.527 | Van Diemen RF05 | | 8 | Peter Thomas | Dave Freitas Racing | 1:42.740 | +1:02.562 | Van Diemen | | 9 | Michael Murphy | Michael Murphy | 1:44.724 | +1:21.979 | Mygale SJ04 | | 10 | Peter Hastrup | Dave Freitas Racing | 1:42.806 | 1 lap | Van Diemen RF02Z | | 11 | Peter West | Dave Freitas Racing | 1:43.745 | 7 laps | Van Diemen | | 12 | David Cheng | PR1 Motorsports | -- | 13 laps | Van Diemen RF05 | |
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