Fierberg dominant in Auto Club Speedway sweep

Ira Fierberg untouchable

Fierberg Returns to Claim Victory and Ford Fortunate in Round 7
Fontana, Calif. – The Pacific F2000/Formula F Super Series Championship Presented by Corsa Car Care returned to the 2.880 mile infield road course at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The event was run as part of the Cal Club Region of the SCCA Double Rational weekend, a weekend that was to pay tribute to longtime SCCA, Cal Club member and series supporter Andy Porterfield who had passed away earlier this year at the age of 81.

After a morning warm-up, held under overcast skies, the sun burned through as qualifying began at 11:50 am and the field, which again included five Formula F cars, took to the track. A trio of drivers from Dave Freitas Racing, Bobby Kelley, #21, A & B Equipment, Van Diemen, Camden Geise, #6 Van Diemen and Ira Fierberg, #27, Pinnacle Performance, Sparco USA, LDF, Van Diemen, returning to the seat after last racing in rounds 1 and 2, were heading the timesheets. When the checkered flag fell to end the session it was Fierberg, a winner here last year, who claimed the pole position with a time of 1m 41.622s. He edged Kelley and Geise by 0.493s and 0.798s respectively showing little rust after the long layoff.

Les Phillips, #2 Swiss Implants, Porterfield Brakes Van Diemen claimed fourth starting position ahead of Camren Kaminsky, #34, PR1 Motorsports Van Diemen, Peter West, #99, Frank Monise Motors, TJ Martel Foundation, DFR Van Diemen and newcomer Harin DeSilva in the #62, Limousine Connection, DFR Van Diemen.

The Formula F group was just as hotly contested and in the end it was Ed Erlandson in the #8, Artwork by Eli, Porter Racing, Loyning, Goodyear, Swift DB6/Ford seizing the top spot over Conner Ford in the #77 JF Excavating & Grading, Western Nevada Supply, Sparco USA, PR1 Motorsports, Mygale/Honda. Ethan Shippert was next in his immaculate #55, Lucky Strike, Ivey Engines, Shippert Racing Van Diemen/Ford. Shippert was followed by Neil Roberts in his #12 Keenan Honda, Think Fast Engineering, ThinkFastBook.com, Swift DB6/Honda and Sage Marie, again driving the #17 Honda Performance Development Piper/Honda.

The green flag waved and the field headed by Fierberg and Kelley charged around the banking for the first time leading to turn 3, notorious for first lap havoc, and it was Fierberg who emerged with the lead as the field made it through without incident. By the end of lap one it was Fierberg with a slight advantage over Kelley followed by Kaminsky, who had passed both Geise and Phillips, West and DeSilva. This group was closely followed by the Formula F group led by Ford, Erlandson, Roberts and Marie. Shippert was a non-starter being unable to repair damage suffered in the earlier Rational event when a cone broke a tie rod and bent the lower front wishbone.

Fierberg maintained his edge over Kelley and the gap began to expand with each successive lap until three laps from the end, with a sixteen second lead; he eased back to ensure his finish and conserve his tires for Sunday eventually finishing 13.850 seconds ahead of Kelley. With the victory, he also claimed the trophy for the Expert Class (drivers 35-50) win and set the fastest race lap. It was a dominant victory for Fierberg and added to his list of successes at this track.

Camden Geise was steady in third having re-passed Kaminsky on lap 2 and finished third 29.168 seconds behind unable to match the pace of Fierberg and Kelley. Third place for Geise gave Dave Freitas Racing a rare sweep of the podium.

Behind Geise it was Les Phillips finishing just off the podium in fourth place, which was good enough to take the Master Class (drivers 51 and up) trophy. Phillips was result was sweetened by the fact that he drove the last three laps without fourth gear. He was followed by DeSilva and Kaminsky.

Conner Ford led the FF group but that lead was far from comfortable as he was chased by Erlandson, who has provided Ford with his stiffest competition thus far. The battle between the two is not only Ford versus Honda but Goodyear versus Hoosier as tire choice is open in this group.

Erlandson saw his opportunity at the 180 degree turn 5 and seized the lead from Ford. It was a lead he would hold until just before the checkered flag, coming out of turn 18, the car sputtered, out of fuel within sight of victory and Ford drove through to take the win. It was a sad twist of fate for Erlandson who had driven a fine race and looked set for his second victory of the season. Erlandson did post the fastest race lap to take some of the sting away.

Third place went to Neil Roberts for his second podium in three races since a sixteen year absence from the cockpit. Roberts was followed to the line by Sage Marie.

F2000 Qualifying: 1. Ira Fierberg (Van Diemen), 1m41.622s; 2. Bobby Kelley (Van Diemen), 1m42.115s; 3. Camden Geise, (Van Diemen), 1m42.360; 4. Les Phillips (Van Diemen), 1m42.843s; 5. Camren Kaminsky (Van Diemen), 1m42.881s; 6. Peter West (Van Diemen), 1m43.561s; 7. Harin DeSilva (Van Diemen), 1m45.094s. (All use Zetec/Quicksilver engines unless otherwise noted.)
F2000 Round 7 (16 laps): 1. Fierberg; 2. Kelley +13.850; 3. Geise, +29.168s; 4. Phillips, +41.881s; 5. West, +52.674; 6. DeDilva, +1m07.217s.; 7. Kaminsky, +1 lap.

FF Qualifying: 1. Ed Erlandson (Swift/Ford), 1m46.383s; 2. Conner Ford (Mygale/Honda), 1m46.910s; 3. Ethan Shippert (Van Diemen/Ford), 1m47.577s; 4. Neil Roberts (Swift/Honda), 1m48.601s; 5. Sage Marie (Piper/Honda), 1m50.914s.

FF Round 7 (16 laps): 1. Ford; 2. Erlandson; 3. Roberts; 4. Marie.

Margin of victory: .13.850s.
Winner’s average speed: 89.789 mph.
Fastest race lap: Fierberg, 1m41.202s, 102.449 mph.
Expert class winner (35-50): F2000; Fierberg.
Sierra Tire Masters class winner (over 50): F2000; Phillips.
Wine Country Motorsports Hard Charger Award: None.

Fierberg

Fierberg Sweeps Weekend with Victory and Shippert Claims FF Win in Round 8

The 2.880 mile infield road course at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California was the site of round eight of the Pacific F2000/Formula F Super Series Championship Presented by Corsa Car Care. The event was run as part of the Cal Club Region of the SCCA Double Rational weekend.

Just as on Saturday it was the trio of drivers from Dave Freitas Racing, Bobby Kelley, #21, A & B Equipment, Van Diemen, Camden Geise, #6 Van Diemen and Ira Fierberg, #27, Pinnacle Performance, Sparco USA, LDF, Van Diemen, were heading the timesheets as qualifying got underway. Fierberg, winner of Saturday’s race claimed the pole position with a time of 1m 41.824s. He was nearly one second ahead of Kelley and Geise indicating he was not through with his weekend dominance.

Les Phillips, #2 Swiss Implants, Porterfield Brakes Van Diemen, with his gearbox repaired, was again fourth starting position ahead of Camren Kaminsky, #34, PR1 Motorsports Van Diemen, Peter West, #99, Frank Monise Motors, TJ Martel Foundation, DFR Van Diemen and Chris Hundley back in his familiar #62, Limousine Connection, DFR Van Diemen. West was moved to the back of the grid because the wrong tires had been inadvertently fitted to his car, a violation of the tire rule.

The Formula F group pole was up for grabs as the times kept coming down and it was not until lap 13 near the end of the session that the pole position went to Conner Ford in the #77 JF Excavating & Grading, Western Nevada Supply, Sparco USA, PR1 Motorsports, Mygale/Honda by a mere 0.098 of a second over Ed Erlandson in the #8, Artwork by Eli, Porter Racing, Loyning, Goodyear, Swift DB6/Ford. Ethan Shippert, with repairs to the suspension complete, was next in his #55, Lucky Strike, Ivey Engines, Shippert Racing Van Diemen/Ford. Shippert was followed by Neil Roberts in his #12 Keenan Honda, Think Fast Engineering, ThinkFastBook.com, Swift DB6/Honda and Sage Marie, again driving the #17 Honda Performance Development Piper/Honda.

The 1:45pm race was started under clear skies and breezy conditions as a perfectly aligned field took the green flag and it was Kelley, having had a broken ring gear in qualifying replaced, who seized the lead from Fierberg who lost an additional position to Phillips as the field come off the oval and entered the infield section for the first time. Kelley led the first lap with a big gap over Phillips, up from fourth, Fierberg, Kaminsky, West, Hundley and Geise. This group was followed by the Formula F group again led by Ford, Erlandson, Shippert, Roberts and Marie.

Kelley was extending his lead over Phillips and Fierberg, not wanting to lose any more time to the leader, passed Phillips in the turns 15 through 18 complex just before entering the oval and began his pursuit of Kelley. Fierberg chased Kelley for several laps before finally getting by on lap 9 of the 16 lap event.

“I knew I had a dominant car and plenty of time, so I put my head down and focused", Fierberg commented. “It was one of my best races", he continued, and with the victory, he again claimed the Expert Class (drivers 35-50) win, and the fastest race to sweep the weekends top prizes.

Les Phillips after being passed by Fierberg had some additional pace in the car today and maintained his third place to the checkered flag for a podium finish and the Master Class (drivers 51 and up) win.
Peter West took over the fourth spot on lap two and managed to hold on to it as Kaminsky and Geise battled behind him building a gap that didn’t quite last to the finish. Both Kaminsky and Geise held fifth for several laps exchanging positions until it was settled in Kaminsky’s favor on lap13. Not content with fifth Kaminsky set after West and got by on the last lap to take fourth from West by less than two tenths of a second. For West his fifth place earned him the Wine country Motorsports Hard Charger award, coming from the back of the grid.

Geise finally settled for sixth place and was followed by Hundley.

Conner Ford again led the FF group and was closely followed by Erlandson and Shippert, making it three different car/engine/tire combinations in the top three positions, with Ford (Mygale/Honda/ Hoosier), Erlandson (Swift/Ford/Goodyear) and Shippert (Van Diemen/Ford/Hoosier). These three were followed by Roberts (Swift/Honda/Hoosier) and Marie (Piper/Honda/Hoosier).

On lap three Shippert moved past Erlandson for second place and take the lead from Ford on the next lap as he sought to keep himself at the front of the field. As Shippert gradually built a lead, Ford and Erlandson ran nose to tail until on lap 8, Erlandson took second place away from Ford, but sadly this was to last only one lap as Erlandson spun in front of Ford on lap 9 at turn 10 and drop to the back of the field. The spin also delayed Ford and created enough of a gap for Shippert to have some breathing room as he continued to lead to the end to capture victory with Ford in pursuit to a second place finish.

Erlandson continued on moving to fourth on lap 10 by passing Marie and taking the final podium spot on lap 15 by passing Roberts.
Fourth place went to Neil Roberts who was followed to the line by Sage Marie.

The series now takes a two and a half month break until the next event a Buttonwillow Raceway on September 8th and 9th, a race rescheduled from the original Portland International Raceway date in July.

F2000 Qualifying: 1. Ira Fierberg (Van Diemen), 1m41.824s; 2. Bobby Kelley (Van Diemen), 1m42.778s; 3. Camden Geise, (Van Diemen), 1m43.018; 4. Les Phillips (Van Diemen), 1m43.105s; 5. Camren Kaminsky (Van Diemen), 1m43.845s; 6. Peter West (Van Diemen), 1m43.902s; 7. Chris Hundley (Van Diemen), 1m45.044s. (All use Zetec/Quicksilver engines unless otherwise noted.)
F2000 Round 8 (16 laps): 1. Fierberg; 2. Kelley +7.730; 3. Phillips, +45.357s; 4. Kaminsky, +51.636s; 5. West, +51.813; 6. Geise, +59.584s.; 7. Hundley, +1m13.612s.

FF Qualifying: 1. Conner Ford (Mygale/Honda), 1m46.949s; 2. Ed Erlandson (Swift/Ford), 1m47.047s; 3. Ethan Shippert (Van Diemen/Ford), 1m47.233s; 4. Neil Roberts (Swift/Honda), 1m49.651s; 5. Sage Marie (Piper/Honda), 1m49.986s.

FF Round 8 (16 laps): 1. Shippert; 2. Ford; 3. Erlandson; 4. Roberts; 5. Marie.

Margin of victory: .7.730s.
Winner’s average speed: 90.063 mph.
Fastest race lap: Fierberg, 1m42.029s, 101.618 mph.
Expert class winner (35-50): F2000; Fierberg.
Sierra Tire Masters class winner (over 50): F2000; Phillips.
Wine Country Motorsports Hard Charger Award: West.