Story and Images by Matthew Overton
March 7th, 2022 – Lots of rF2 racing this past week at CMS, with all three leagues in action.
23 drivers took to the track at Sebring in the second round of the MNRL 1991 Group C championship. In qualifying, it was PURIST Ben Boorman that set the pace at 1:48.131 in his Peugeot 905 to claim pole for the race. Jason Whited paced the PRO class with a 1:48.736 in his Nissan R90CK while while Tom Aiken topped the AM field with a 1:51.723 in a Jaguar XJR-14. After an intense race with both day and night racing, Ben Boorman emerged as the overall and PURIST winner, over a minute ahead of his closest rival. That driver was PRO Frank McCurdy in another Peugeot, just ahead of Brian Hall in his Jaguar with Whited picking up 3rd in class, a lap back. The AM field was topped by John Maher in a Porsche 962 by a photo finish over the Jaguar of Lanny Hall with Barry DiMarzo picking up the final AM podium position (his first!) in a Mazda 787B.
With two rounds complete, it is Ben Boorman ahead of George Angelidis in PURIST, Jason Whited ahead of Jon Uyan in PRO and Lanny Hall with a small lead over Coen Garling in the AM class. Lots of action throughout the field as the drivers come to grips with this great mod!
Round 5 in the NARS SC2018X series was a stop at Atlanta for the third of four scheduled oval races. AM driver Jair Oliviera took his second pole of the series at an oval, edging out top PRO qualifier Brian Hall. The remaining grid was peppered with AM and PRO drivers throughout, meaning that it was elbows out from the drop of the green flag. By then end of a yellow-flag dominated 100 laps, it was clear that the AM field had carried the day, with 3 of the top 4 finishing positions (Oliviera taking the win with Ross Smith and Joe Szot taking 3rd and 4th overall) and the entire AM starting field seeing the checkered flag. Hall took second place in the race and the class win over a depleted PRO field, with Norm Graf and Eduardo Beninca completing the podium in class.
Now into the second half of the series, Eduardo Beninca is well clear on top of the PRO standings however Norm Graf, Brian Hall, Jason Whited, JT Tami and Zander Tallman are all in the hunt for the remaining podium positions. On the AM side, Brendan McVeigh remains atop the standings, but being pursued hard by Tony Boynton, Paul Ibbotson, Jair Oliviera and Ross Smith.
The last race of the week was a return to Sebring and the 1991 Group C cars for the VWSC, with 36 drivers lined up for the second race of the series. PURIST driver Ahmed Abdalla set the pace for the field with a blistering 1:46.500 in his Sauber with PRO Marouane il Idrissi a 1/10th behind in his Nissan R90CK. John Maher’s Porsche 962C topped the AM field with a 1:51.801.
From the drop of the green flag, what was only 72 minutes turned into a bit of an endurance event for many drivers, evidenced by the 8 DNF results, almost half that number being made up of PURIST contenders for a class and/or race win. The PRO field showed no such difficulty in the bumpy conditions of Sebring, locking up 7 of the top 10 finishing positions. Marouane il Idrissi claimed the overall and PRO class win, with PRO Jason Whited in his Nissan 21 seconds behind being hotly pursued by Brian Hall in his Jaguar XJR-14. Ross Smith in a Peugeot 905 locked up the PURIST win, with James Andrew in a Jag and George Angelidis in a Mazda 787B completing the class podium. In the AM field, it was Eric Moinet in a Porsche 962C that took the class win (his first!) in 17th place overall, followed by John Maher and Tom Aiken in a Porsche and Jag respectively.
Next week, Sebring remains the circuit of choice as NARS and the VWSC will be heading to the famous 12 hour circuit with the Hypercars and GTs, while MNRL takes a break.