West Coast D3 Racing
TSR32, Retro F1 and Retro Can-Am races, July 14, 2007
Buena Park, CA

Warmack, Steube, de Lespinay share the wins.
The motor war heats up, soon to be a thing of the past.
By "Gene Husting", photos by "Al Hall"... (Seriously, pictures courtesy Larry Shepard, Keith Tanaka)
 

Pre Race Activity

The news of the soon-to-be-available Falcon VII were the talk of the morning, that is until the newly-formed team of John Cukras and Pete Zimmerman showed up with their new cars, sporting another new FK motor that has been available for a while from Nomad Racing in the San Diego area. Others also used this new motor that proved to be very fast. A total of 50 entries were registered, distributed in 3 classes, the Can-Am having as usual the largest field with 28 entrants, despite some notable names missing the show.

Nomad Racing's owner Jim Cunningham drove all the way from San Diego to compete. Best showing so far with a car that improves at every outing. Jim also brought some fast motors with him, and those set fastest qualifying times and also won the main event.

Team Rolling Hills Keith Tanaka and Roger Uusitalo, Keith in conversation with former model glider world-record holder and former Team Checkpoint member Lee Hines.

Little Kyle Matthes bears virtually no trace of his horrible accident from only a few months ago, a true miracle. Both Kyle and his dad Doug did quite well in the races, but were short of horsepower. No doubt that the new D3 spec motor will soon fix that problem.

D3 benevolent dictator Paul Sterrett in serious discussion with Philippe de Lespinay. The subject of their  conversation will remain secret to confuse everyone as usual. meanwhile in the background, Mike Steube is testing, testing, testing.

Pete Zimmerman is having Mike Steube help him with a minor technical issue. For his return to racing after so many years, Pete really enjoyed himself and did quite well. Expect him and John Cukras to be right on top before too long, challenging the Usual Suspects.

Mike Chavez has rapidly progressed from home-racer bystander to super-competitive racer. Here he prepares his Can-Am car and did well with it. Mike was in contention for the win in the TSR class but was a bit impatient, costing him too much time waiting for the re-slot in the difficult Crash & Burn format.

TSR 1/32 Scale GTP/GT1/ Race

Ten entrants for this one with controlled TSR motors. Mike Chavez used his new Porsche GT1 to quickly take a strong lead over Mike Steube in the first heat. Behind this fast pair, de Lespinay was one lap down, with Paul Sterrett another. The Rolling Hills team of Keith Tanaka and Roger Uusitalo had a tough time keeping up as well as the Javier family. With de Lespinay out on stand by, Mike Brannian, driving the only injected-body car in the race, drove smooth and fast and was shooting for a possible overall lead, turning 22 laps on Red, then 24 on Green. Meanwhile Steube put himself 8 laps ahead of Chavez, Keith Tanaka taking over second place. Brannian ran into trouble when he over enthused and lost time and laps. That took him effectively out of contention. Then the unthinkable happened: Paul Sterrett blew a gear! Back into the pits and losing an entire heat. He would come back for more. Mike Chavez lost his lead to Mike Steube for good, but Mike got taken out by an errand car and lost 3 laps to the now-charging de Lespinay. Mike Chavez lost all opportunities to make the podium when he lost control of his car a few too many times, allowing Mike Steube to recoup and finish in a hard-earned second spot, as well as being passed by Paul Sterrett now the fastest car on track. Meanwhile, de Lespinay drove a no-fault race in cruise mode with a less than stellar motor but a chassis that would not quit, winning by a single lap after turning indifferent lap times, and Paul Sterrett drove brilliantly to end on the podium despite his misfortune, setting fastest lap in the process. Mike Brannian had the second fastest lap only 1/100" slower! Sure was fun to drive the little cars on the big track!
 

TSR Concours winners: Mark Chavez nice Porsche GT1 (2nd place), the winning Courage C60 of Philippe de Lespinay and the 3rd-place Courage of Paul Sterrett.

TSR racers ready to roll: L to R: Mike Brannian, the Dokk, Evan Javier, a happy-go-lucky Paul Sterrett, a discretely smiling Mike Steube, John Javier, Mike Chavez and Roger Uusitalo.

And... they are off!

Some of the racers intensely focusing on their driving. The slightest mistake may translate in laps lost, never to be regained. Roger Uusitalo, Jesse and John Javier, Keith Tanaka, Paul Sterrett, Mike Chavez and Mike Steube are at it. Mike Brannian is on stand-by marshaling, awaiting his turn.

* Fastest lap

** Injected-body car (115-gram weight)

The Usual Suspects. Does not seem to matter too much what they drive...

Retro-F1/Indy Race

Concours winners, with Larry Shephard's MATRA MS10 V12 winning, the Dokk's Ferrari (really a Cooper-Maserati, never mind!) in 2nd and Paul Sterrett's Lotus 56 in 3rd place.

Twelve of the thirteen F1/Indy entries at tech. Most passed...

Thirteen racers for this one on the Hillclimb track, with controlled TSR motors. New entrants John Cukras and Pete Zimmerman were getting their feet wet after many years of HO racing and gardening. John led the first laps until Mike Steube and Paul Sterrett made their move and quickly extended a lead that Mike would never lose. Behind them, de Lespinay was doing the best he could with an unbroken new motor after his rocket motor eventually slowed down. Guess what? After a slow first heat in which he lost a lap on Steube, the new motor suddenly popped its plug and rocketed. Another winner! How much luck can a guy have, no doubt, he MUST be cheating! Not so fast and lots of encounters with errand cars later, Mike had a 5-lap lead over de Lespinay, barely able to hold Paul Sterrett at bay by less than a lap. Behind those three Usual Suspects, Terry de los Santos was best of the rest but a full 20 laps behind Steube. Keith Tanaka drove a very good race in 5th place, with old man rookie Cukras in 7th for his first F1 race in what, 38 years?

Craig Williamson was able to hold Roger Uusitalo by a single lap, with Oscar Morales and Lee Hines in a fight to the death, Oscar edging the charging Hines by 3 mere laps. John Javier drove his best race yet, steadily making laps ahead of Larry Shephard's MATRA on a Saturday afternoon drive in the park. Larry's car won Concours too!

L to R: Sterrett, Steube, Shepard, Akiyama (what is with their controllers???), De los Santos, the great John "The Jet" Cukras, Hines and  Morales.

* Fastest lap
 

Musical chairs with Rick "Sandbag" Salvino's fingers for decoration...

Retro Can-Am Race

So the time came to see who is really fast in this, the king of D3 classes.  And there was a surprise of sorts...

Qualifying
 

The surprise was no surprise to the ones in the know as both Team SCHOR's John "The Jet" Cukras and Pete Zimmerman had been doing their homework. Armed with some very fast Nomad-distributed motors and chassis that would not quit, they set a new mark for D3 Can-Am, bettering most of the regulars. Cukras set a new qualifying record of 4.32", bettering Steube's mark of 4.33" established with the prototype of the new D3-spec motor only 2 months ago. Bryan Warmack, also using a Nomad-distributed motor, was in second with Pete in third spot also using this motor.

Mike Steube was "first in class" using a standard Falcon V motor. De Lespinay was also using a motor supplied by Nomad  but it got so hot that the solder holding the pinion melted and the motor died in the last lap of qualifying, forcing Philippe to install a Falcon V for the race. Ryan Miller was also fast and edged Brannian, Tanaka and Doug Matthes, Team SCHOR's John Wakamatsu completing the first 10 spots.

The second tier was led by Yoshio Akiyama ahead of Rick "Sandbag" Salvino and Adam Kirchhoffer.

Part of the 28-strong Can-Am field going through tech inspection.

More of the same... the # 27 Ferrari 512 on front of the yellow Lola won 2nd place in the Concours.

Yes, you are not dreaming, it's Pete Zimmerman's Ferrari at right, bearing the famous logo! The Mike Chavez bright-orange Ferrari with the AlpineStars logo next to it.

More of the field with the silver and blue Abarth of Concours winner Bryan Warmack.

* Fastest lap New qualifying record
 

Retro Can-Am "C" Race

The Gibsonmobile on Orange, ready to begin its torpedo mission.

L to R: Shepard, Chavez, Wampler, Cruz, Gibs, Bell, Sterrett and Walker. Observe that concentrated stare on Gibson's face. This kiddo means bizness!

The usual hoot with Sterrett driving Mike Aguirre's car to break-in its new motor. Sterrett was not counted as racing, so Mike Chavez was on top, 2 laps over Steve Walker himself barely ahead by feet over Jeff "Team Zombie" Bell. Albert Cruz drove a very fine race to 4th, setting fastest lap in the process. Mark Wampler and Gibson Coutley fought for Crashfest-King honors (Wampler barely won), while Larry Shepard had his usual fun Saturday-afternoon drive.

* Fastest lap

** Qualified for the "B" race. Self-disqualified for driving Mike Aguirre's car who had to leave.
 

Mike Chavez is rapidly moving up the ranks after only a couple of races. Watch out for this fellow, he rocks! Steve Walker and Jeff Bell enjoy the glow.

Da winnahs! The Chavez car has a lot in common with current thinking in 1/32 scale home-racing machinery.

Retro Can-Am "B" Race

"B" race lineup.

Major geezers preparing for battle, L to R: Akiyama, Hines, Williamson, Kirchhoffer, Sterrett, Cunningham, Morales and Matthes.

Things got hotter with Paul Sterrett making enough laps to secure 4th in the "A" race. Kyle Matthes had a good drive in second spot, with Lee Hines completing the podium. Jim Cunningham was a mere 2 laps out of it but easily distanced Oscar Morales who was practicing for missile launching with Adam Kirchhoffer. Craig Williamson and Yoshio Akiyama ran into problems, poor Yoshio having his motor explode. Oscar had his hare lap and collected the point but crashed too much to be a factor.

Beside the Usual Suspect, Kyle and Lee have good reasons to be happy.

The winning machinery with Sterrett's totally unconventional but oh-so-good car just in need of a decent motor, the very effective Samson-mobile of Kyle and the Steube rocket of Lee.

Retro Can-Am "A" Race

"A" lineup.

L to R: Nagamatsu, Miller, Matthes, Steube, Brannian, Tanaka, while Zimmerman, Warmack, Cukras and the Dokk are looking for his missing hair.

The main event had some serious customers lined up, and the fight was going to be huge. With two sit-out spots due to the Round-Robin system, Ryan Miller took command of the first heat with a fast 37 laps, with Mike Steube in tow. Brannian was but a lap down, with Zimmerman hot on his heels. Keith Tanaka and Doug Matthes were another lap down, each. Meanwhile, de Lespinay had his car crawling on the red lane, losing 4 laps on the leaders. Apparently the guide was bent and the car not picking current. By the time this was fixed, it was too late. The second heat saw Mike Steube taking the lead by 2 laps over Miller, with Brannian in 3rd. De Lespinay was now 5 laps in arrears with his contact troubles only partly resolved. But Bryan Warmack entered the scene and turned more laps than anyone on Red, a full 38 of them. That put him in the overall lead, and he never left it. In the 3rd heat, Philippe came back strongly, his car now in full song, gaining 3 back on Steube but losing one more to Warmack. Tanaka was shown in 3rd, Miller began crashing and slipped to 4th, 2 laps ahead of a recovering John Wakamatsu. Cukras entered the race but was 3 laps behind Warmack, still in contention for 2nd place. Mike Steube and Warmack were now fighting for the lead, de Lespinay 3 laps in arrears in 3rd, Miller still holding 4th in a battle with Tanaka. Zimmerman and Cukras were not fast enough to stay with the top dogs, turning 35 and 36 laps, 2 less than the pace. In the next heat, Warmack kept a shade above Steube with de Lespinay 3rd, losing another 2 laps. Tanaka was now 2 laps ahead of Miller, but Cukras called it quits when his motor did the same. Zimmerman was also in agony and discovered Handling Hell. Meanwhile, de Lespinay put the knife between his teeth, set fastest lap of the race and decided to drive his car, gaining all the lost ground but for 1/2 lap at the end. So it ended with Warmack winning ahead of de Lespinay, Mike Steube hapless  5 laps behind, Brannian another 11 behind Steube, and Tanaka another 8 behind Brannian. Matthes was 1 behind Tanaka, and John Wakamatsu first of the Team SCHOR, having passed Miller at the end. Zimmerman and Cukras closed the ranks.

No race record or race lap record were bettered, but it is just a matter of time as the new faster D3 spec motors are soon to arrive. This will hopefully equalize the chances for all as the motor disparity in the Can-Am class is getting greater than ever, especially compared to that of all other classes.

We better not add the ages of these three fellows, or it is going to get really depressing... Bryan is the Man. Steube did well to survive with less than adequate horsepower.

Bryan beats to his own drum, and his car was as usual very imaginative, and did it ever work! The two Steube cars of Mike and Philippe are nearly identical. Bryan's Abarth also won Concours just like in the old days...

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