Sonoma Runoffs

The SCCA Runoffs brings the nation’s best amateur racers together for a weeklong contest to determine the national champion in 28 classes. This year marked the 55th Runoffs, and nearly 500 drivers converged on Sonoma Raceway to chase a championship. The Formula F class had a strong field of 22 entries, including several past national champions.

After being picked by SportsCar magazine as the favorite to win the Runoffs in Formula F, Nicky Hays decided to skip the Runoffs to focus on preparing for his future 2019 opportunities. But the seat of the 2014 Piper DL7 did not stay empty for long. Bob Perona had originally planned to tow his Piper DF3 from Indianapolis to Sonoma, but instead took the opportunity to step in to our BHR Piper DL7. After battling in the lead pack, and finishing 5th in the 2017 Runoffs at Indy, Bob was looking to improve on that finish in 2018.

Brad Hayes was also looking to improve on his results from 2017 in Indy. Last year, he checked off a bucket list item, by racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the final result of 16th position was a bit disappointing. For 2018, Brad was looking for a top 10 finish.

As always, BHR’s Runoffs efforts were made possible by the excellent support from Fast Forward. And for the Runoffs, the BHR drivers would join Fast Forward teammates Doug Learned Jr and Manual Leonardo. All four cars were expertly prepped by the Learned’s, sporting some new bits that had been developed over the course of the season and pre-Runoffs testing. Most notably, all four cars now sported new rear undertrays, which in testing proved to provide a bit of downforce and grip in the high speed sections of Sonoma Raceway, in particular turns 6 and 10.

TESTING

While official Runoffs testing ran from Saturday through Monday, the team decided to only run the Monday test sessions. We had previously tested at Sonoma a couple of times during the weeks leading up to the Runoffs. So the Monday test was just a chance to confirm a few final setup changes and insure all cars were ready for qualifying. We had a total of three sessions on Monday, and by the final session results were promising. Bob Perona ended the day 2nd while Brad Hayes was 5th. Not all FF drivers were running on Monday, so we knew that competition would heat up when Qualifying started on Tuesday.

QUALIFYING

Three qualifying sessions were spread from Tuesday through Thursday. The entire FF field was chasing Jonathon Kotyk in every session. He was a step ahead in every session. Wednesday’s session would prove fastest for most drivers. Bob set his best time in the Wednesday session at 1:42.359, and that would put Bob 3rd on the grid for the race. Brad went a tick faster each session, and his Thursday time of 1:44.550 would put him in 9th starting position for the race.

A DAY OFF

With qualifying wrapping up on Thursday, and the Formula F race scheduled for Saturday, we had a day off on Friday. Local Formula F racer Dave Jalen organized a class luncheon at a nearby winery. It was a great opportunity for the racers, wives, and crews to get away from the track. While I’m not a huge wine connoisseur, I sure did enjoy that beef brisket. Big thanks go out to Dave for organizing! After lunch, it was back to the track to put the final touches on the cars for Saturday’s race.

RACE DAY

Saturday October 20 was race day for the Formula F class. Bob Perona was feeling confident that he could turn his 3rd starting position in to a podium finish. As the green flag dropped Bob would hold 3rd position and pressure second place Chuck Horn for the first several laps. Bob’s race took a turn for the worse on lap 6 when Tim Kautz dove to the inside in turn 11. Contact between the two cars sent Bob towards the outside wall. Bob was able to keep the car off the wall. But he would lose several positions dropping back to 7th. Over the next several laps, Bob would fight his way back up to finish in 4th position.

Brad Hayes would also have a solid start, holding 9th position on the start. On lap 7, Brad would catch a lapped F500 car in the esses and would then lose a position to Joe Hopkins heading to turn 11. Brad followed Joe for several laps until catching a fading Skip Streets who was struggling with a shifting issue in his car. Brad and Joe would clear Skip on lap 17. From then on Brad and Joe were nose to tail to the finish. Be sure to watch the in car video, it was great clean racing. Brad tried to pass Joe in turns 7 and 11 but could never pull it off. The two would take the checkered flag separated by less than two tenths of a second with Joe holding on for 8th, and Brad finishing in 9th.

Overall it was another awesome week at the racetrack. Bob Perona was a great addition to the team, with his coaching expertise guiding everyone to elevate their driving, and his feedback helping get the most from the cars. Doug Learned and Doug Learned Jr gave us fantastic cars, and Fast Forward teammate Manual Leonardo successfully competed in his first Runoffs.