BARBER: Road America report

• "J.E. Fantelli" <76026.3511@CompuServe.COM>
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Mon Aug 19 22:48:12 EDT 1996

'I WIN,' SCHIE SAID

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 18) - Thomas Schie of Norway stormed to victory
in the Barber Dodge Pro Series race at Road America, and he couldn't
have picked a better time for his first-ever win. He not only closed
the gap to points leader Fredrik Larsson, the win came in front 50
representatives of Chrysler Norway, flown in just to see their boy run
for the first time in the flesh. Schie didn't disappoint; from the
outside front row, Schie grabbed the lead from polesitter Tony Renna
at the start as a flurry of cars behind them fell off the road--then
got back on--then held off Rino Mastronardi and Derek Hill to the end.
Schie gained 10 points on his on-the-road roommate Larsson and is now
29 tallies behind with three races to go. For his part, Larsson's
eighth-place grid position was his worst of the year, but by the race's
waning moments he demonstrated why he is the championship leader. He
climbed methodically through the field to the point where he was dicing
with Hill for the last podium position. Larsson in fact had third place,
but only for two corners, as Hill retook him under braking. Tim Moser
was spectacular, and was clearly the fastest driver on the day--"If I
was up front, nobody would have caught me."--but he fell off the road
twice in the first two laps. As far back as 16th, Moser got back to
fifth at the end, passing three cars in three consecutive corners on the
next to last lap. Andres Gomez went from 12th to sixth, Chris Menninga
faded from third to seventh, while Geoff Boss (Most Progressive Driver),
Jeff Bucknum and memo Gidley rounded out the top
10.
     Renna's pole was his second of the year, but he appeared to be in
the wrong gear at the start. Then his decision to flatten his wings for
straightaway speed backfired as he was in the clutches of those with
better cornering setups and Renn slipped backwards through the field.
Renna was holding station in seventh when he went to pass Gomez under
braking in Five, but went in way too hot and slid off into the escape
road. He kept it lit and finished 11th. "Fantask, I win," Schie said
afterwards. "With all those fighting behind me, I could drive my own
race. I made not even one tiny mistake, and I win. This is good." Sure
was.

-END-

Rick Roso


SCCA Pro Racing, Barber Dodge Pro Series race results, round 9 (Aug.
18), Road America, 4.00-mile, 14-turn road course.

Round 9:
Fin.	St.  Driver, town or country, laps completed, reason out (if any), prize
1.	(2)  Thomas Schie, Norway, 95.400 mph, 14 laps, $10,000
2.	(5)  Rino Mastronardi, Italy, 14, $6,000
3.	(9)  Derek Hill, Santa Monica, Calif., 14, $4,000
4.	(8)  Fredrik Larsson, Sweden 14, $2,500
5.	(4)  Tim Moser, Ventura Calif., 14, $1,800
6.	(12) Andres Felipe Gomez, Colombia, 14, $1,500
7.	(3)  Chris Menninga, Pella, Iowa, 14, $1,800
8.	(17) Geoff Boss, Narragansett, R.I., 14, $1,700
9.	(7)  Jeff Bucknum, Simi Valley, Calif., 14, $1,000
10.	(10) Memo Gidley, San Rafael, Calif, 14, $1,000
11.	(1)  Tony Renna, Deland, Fla., 14, $800
12.	(6)  Rocky Moran, Jr., Coto de Caza, Calif., 14, $700
13.	(14) Seiji Ara, Japan, 14, $600
14.	(13) Jason Engel, Madison, Wis., 14, $500
15.	(19) Brisn Pelke, Lansing, Ill., 14, $500
16.	(11) Jeff Willoughby, E. Lansing, Mich., 14, $500
17.	(15) Steven Rikert, Rhinebeck, N.Y., 14, $500
18.	(16) Brian McCarthy, Dayton, Ohio, 14, $500
19.  	 (23) Carlos Bonetti, Brasil, 14, $500
20.	(22) Joe Vantreese, Batavia, Ill., 14, $500
21.	(24) Stephen Sardelli, Jamestown, R.I., 14, $500
22.	(25) Steve Pelke, Lansing, Ill., 14, $500
23.	(26) Steve Lorenzen, Tahoe City, Calif., 14, accident, $500
24.	(27) Scott Mayer, Franklin, Wis., 14, $500
25.	(28) Cary Capparelli, Chicago, Ill., 14, $500
26.	(21) Jarrett Boon, Chandler, Ariz., 7, accident, $500
27.	(18) John McCaig, Canada, 7, accident, $500
28.	(20) Nick OSullivan, Boulder, Colo., 2, radiator, $500


Time of race: 31 minutes, 47.939 seconds
Winning speed: 105.700 mph
Distance: 14 laps, 56.0 miles
Margin of Victory: 2.464 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: Tim Moser, lap 14, 2:14.971 (R)
Most Progressive Driver: Geoff Boss, 17th to 8th
Lap leaders: Thomas Schie, 1 - 14

Points following round 9 of 12:
1. Fredrik Larsson		133	$59,500
2. Thomas Schie		102	$30,200
3. Rino Mastronardi		 97	$25,600
4. Tim Moser		 92	$26,000
5. Derek Hill		 85	$23,600
6. Tony Renna		 79	$19,500
7. Geoff Boss		 69	$23,700
8. Jeff Bucknum		 49	$9,700
9. Memo Gidley		 49	$9,300
10.Bryan Selby		 38	$7,800

Next race: Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, Calif., Sept. 7