The Formula 1200 Championship crossed into the second half of their season with the MCO Ted Powell Memorial Races at the beautiful Calabogie Motorsports Park. Coming into this weekend, the word to describe the seasons that Michael Iamundi (#35 Montana Auto Centre Van De Car) and Phil Wang (#73 Sterling MicroSystems Caracal C) were having would be constant. Wang was constantly hauling in large amounts of points, got that photo finish win at BARC and was sitting second in the championship within striking distance of Iamundi, who has been constantly winning races this season. With 9 races to go, how the championship fight unfolds will largely be determined in the forest arena of Calabogie.
Many new faces emerged for this, rounds 10-12 of the championship. After wrecking on Friday at the BARC weekend, AVR Motorsports co-owner/driver Sam Ashtiani arrived in the paddock ready to lay down a few great results and maybe go after a top-10/top-15 overall finish in the points. Also competing for the upstart AVR team this weekend was Carl Woychuk. Originally scheduled for the #24 BRD, Carl was forced into the #25 normally driven by Rookie of the Year challenger Kevin Deevey (out of his seat this weekend due to other commitments) due to a pair of blown motors on Friday. Other drivers starting their 2010 FTDA seasons at Calabogie were longtime Ottawa-based competitor Sam Mandia (#8 Exford), longtime OFFC-B competitor Dan Purdy (#36 Young Drivers of Canada/Vallis Motor Sport BRD), longtime vintage competitor (and real character) Doug Switzer (#41 TSR) and another longtime FV competitor Tony Thornton (#43 Viper).
Race 1 of the weekend may have had only 16 drivers, but it was a stout and competitive field to have made the line-up. The front row had Iamundi on pole and Sergio Pasian (#76 Vallis Motor Sport BRD) alongside. Row 2 had Wang and Aaron McCauley (#31 Vallis Motor Sport BRD). Row 3 had a very impressive qualifying result from AVR co-owner/driver Shane Viccary (#27 Gladiator) alongside 6th place overall Andre Bonaldo (#92 AB Racing BRD). Row 4 had Thornton and Woychuk, with Mandia and Ashtiani qualifying on Row 5. Row 6 had Frank O’Hanlon (#87 Mysterian M2) and Switzer. Row 7 had Noel Brigdio (#46 Lynx B) qualifying ahead of his teammate Steve Bamford (#13 Mysterian M2); the final row had David Aird (#56 Vallis Motor Sport BRD) and the non-qualified Dan Purdy. However, he wouldn’t stay 16th for long…
The run through the fast right hander and up the long straight towards turn 10 had the usual competitive attitude and closeness you see out of a typical Formula 1200 race. However, going through turns 10 and 11, Pasian and Wang both spun in front of the pack, creating havoc (but no retirements) amongst the remainder of the field. Also affected from the spins were McCauley and Ashtiani (he took a pretty rough ride at speed on the turn 11 grass). This affected the field by spotting Iamundi almost 20 car lengths, moved 5th-place starter Viccary up to 2nd and Purdy got all the way up to 4th. Pasian and Wang quickly got into recovery mode, and by lap 3 had moved all the way to the top-6, albeit some 10-15 seconds behind. As the lead chase group of Viccary, Bonaldo and Purdy continued to battle and being caught by Pasian and Wang, attrition rates were starting to affect the race. Ashtiani had a flat right rear tire that would later break, Thornton would spin and Aird would drive off and on. In the end, Iamundi would take another win. Viccary would take not only the team’s best ever finish, but his own as well with a 2nd place. Bonaldo would finish third, ahead of Purdy in his first race in a Vee from 16th on the grid and three drivers on recovery drives (Wang, Pasian and McCauley).
AVR Motorsports co-owners had different views of the grid for Race 2. Shane Viccary would have a clear sight into the first turn with only race one winner Michael Iamundi in fromnt of him, while teammate Sam Ashtiani would start from last after suspension problems in morning practice. A mad scramble through turn 1, as faster cars starting out back tried to move up and challenge early. Any hopes of a decent recovery drive for Sam Ashtiani was dashed when he and Sam Mandia made side-to-side contact through turn 16. Up front, Iamundi would once pull away and would win his 9th race of the season. Behind him, Pasian would use traffic to separate himself from the group and finish 2nd. Wang, McCauley and Purdy would round out the top-5. Viccary’s front row starting spot was looking like a top-5 finish, but a late spin knocked him down to 6th place.
If anyone felt they could be Iamundi after twenty minutes, they had to get a good start and attack early. That is exactly what Pasian and Wang attempted at the start of Race 3. It seemed from the off to have worked early on, as Iamundi spun through the quarry section and fell back to tenth place. This gave Pasian, Wang and McCauley a chance to break away from the field with Viccary trying for his second podium of the weekend. However, Iamundi was on a charge; made it to 7th by lap 3, 5th by lap 4th by Lap 6 and back to the lead by lap 8. Iamundi would take his third straight win (6th straight at Calabogie) and tenth of the season, but not before a late battle with Pasian, which did include two late lead changes.
After winning 10 of the season’s 12 races so far, Michael Iamundi leaves with 324 points in the overall standings, 72 ahead of Phil Wang (252). Sergio Pasian, after a pair of 2nd-place finishes, moved into 3rd in the points with 158, two points up on Aaron McCauley, with Andre Bonaldo 5th with 121. Shave Viccary made the biggest move in the top-10 in points; up from 10th to 6th. In the rookie of the year standings, Noel Brigido used three solid top-10 finishes to move to 13th overall in points and the lead in rookie points, 7 ahead of Frank O’Hanlon; Michael Adams, Kevin Deevey, and Steve Bamford round out the top-5 for Rookies.
Kyle Kosir has annouced that he will not be racing for the rest of his season. Vallis Motorsport have yet to announce who will fill in his seat.
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Originally Posted by OLDOIL
