Sonoma Raceway-July 2013 (Race 7 & 8)
Race 7
Fremont Ca/Green Bay Wisconsin - Jose Gerado took victories in both Race 6 and 7 at Sonoma Raceway, California in the US Formula 1000 Championship West presented by Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, George Dean Racing Engines, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Hyperco, LS Motorsports, Geartronics, and Neo Sport Camera.
With the field of F1000 competitors already fairly decimated by crashes and mechanical issues suffered at earlier races the entries at Sonoma were lighter than expected as those competitors worked to get their cars back into race condition. As it was four of the top drivers in the series managed to muster up their teams and make the trek to Sonoma for the Fourth of July weekend event.
With Championship leader Lucian Pancea, COTA winner Jose Gerardo, Laguna Seca winner Jake Latham, and Road America winner JR Osborne in attendance the optimism for a real duel amongst the top series runners was running high despite the low turnout.
The weekend got off to a bad start however when both Osborne and Pancea suffered oil fires during the first practice session which seriously damaged both competitors cars with Osborne done for the weekend. Pancea was able to get a loaner car from Denis Cosin who was sitting out the weekend but not before after driving all night back and forth to Oregon to retrieve it.
Jake Latham was another to experience difficulties during the practice session with a failed oil dry sump causing an oil leak that left him stranded on the exit of turn one. The replacement to a wet oil sump took the remainder of the day and essentially put him out of the both the first qualifying and race.
With the F1000 paddock looking like a disaster zone it was left up to Jose Gerado to take the green flag in the SCCA national race as the solo F1000 entrant. He made the most of it taking both the overall race win as well as the FB class win leading the field of national competitors throughout the event.
On the Sunday with both Pancea and Latham back in action the racing really heated up from the drop of the green flag. Latham starting in third forced his way pass Pancea for second before managing to wrestle the lead away from Gerado in a side by side duel coming out of turn seven. His spirited drive was short lived as once again the car faltered, coming to a stop at exactly the same place on the exit of turn one as it had the day before.
This left Gerardo with a comfortable lead over Pancea who was limping home in second with a misfiring engine, grateful to be able to pick up the second place points he needed to keep himself in the running for both the West and overall championship.
With his double race weekend victory Gerardo takes the lead in the US F1000 Championship West with 156 points with Lucian Pancea dropping to second with 135 points
US Formula 1000 Championship West
Race 7, Sonoma Raceway July 6, 2013
Race Results
- Jose Gerardo
DNS Lucian Pancea - oil fire
DNS Jake Latham -oil leak/dry sump failure
DNS JR Osborne - oil fire
| Prize Fund for Race 7 |
| 1st Place |
Glenn Cooper |
4 Hoosier Tires,
1 pair Hyperco Springs
$100 Jongbloed Certificate
$750 Gertronics Certificate |
| 2nd Place |
No Winner |
2 Hoosier Tires,
$50 Hyperco Certificate
$500 Geartronics Certificate |
| 3rd Place |
No Winner |
1 Hoosier Tire,
$25 Hyperco Certificate
$75 Jongbloed Certificate |
| 5th Place |
No Winner |
$50 Jongbloed Certificate |
| Pole |
Jose Gerardo |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #1 |
Lucian Pancea |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #2 |
Jose Gerardo |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Sunoco Hard Charger Award |
Jose Gerardo |
$150.00 Cash |
Race 8
1. Jose Gerardo
2. Lucian Pancea
3. Jake Latham
DNS JR Osborne - oil fire
| Prize Fund for Race 8 |
| 1st Place |
Jose Gerardo |
4 Hoosier Tires,
1 pair Hyperco Springs
$100 Jongbloed Certificate
$750 Gertronics Certificate |
| 2nd Place |
Lucian Pancea |
2 Hoosier Tires,
$50 Hyperco Certificate
$500 Geartronics Certificate |
| 3rd Place |
Jake Latham |
1 Hoosier Tire,
$25 Hyperco Certificate
$75 Jongbloed Certificate |
| 5th Place |
No Winner |
$50 Jongbloed Certificate |
| Pole |
Jose Gerardo |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #1 |
Jake Latham |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #2 |
Jose Gerardo |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Sunoco Hard Charger Award |
Jose Gerardo |
$150.00 Cash |
|
