Kraus/Bovenberg Team Sweep Rounds 5 and 6 at Sonoma
Sonoma, CA – The team of Kraus and Bovenberg enjoyed a terrific weekend winning both races from pole position in the Ettore Squeegees/Roger Kraus Racing/Blacktrax Honda Civic at the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) on September 22-23, 2012. Finishing second on both days was the AutoPartsWarehouse.com/K-PAX Volvo C30 of Robert Thorne. Finishing third on Saturday was Andy Chittum in the BTM/Niello Mini/RM Peterson Construction Mini Cooper S. Finishing third on Sunday was the Roger Kraus Racing/Rota Wheels Honda Prelude of Chris Lock.
In the GT class, VJ Mirzayan’s Achilles Motorsports/Rotora Brakes BMW M3 took the win on Saturday with Ken Kurtz in the Yokohama/Weld Racing/Baer Brakes/TPIS Pontiac Trans Am taking the win on Sunday.
Saturday
The Bovenberg/Kraus Ettore Squeegees/Roger Kraus Racing/Blacktrax Honda Civic was the car to beat as he laid down a 1.58.161 lap which bested the second place time of Thorne by half a second. Another second back was Chittum who was happy to start third. The Civic was pulling away about a second per lap and managed to finish about 15 seconds ahead of the Volvo at the finish. Chittum’s Mini was right in the fight with the Volvo and finished a second apart.
In the GT race, the BMW M3 of Mirzayan did not have an easy job as the BMW and the Pontiac were involved in a huge battle to the finish line. At the end, Mirzayan managed to finish about five seconds ahead of the Pontiac thanks to the super twisty track configuration of Sonoma. Mirzayan later said that, “if we were racing at another track with a longer straight, I would not have been able to win.” Finishing third was Geoff Sykes in the European Motor Works BMW M3.
Sunday
Sunday’s race was highlighted by a poor start by the Kraus/Bovenberg Honda. By Turn 2, the Honda was barely in the top ten position and looked like it was going to be a difficult day. Meanwhile the Volvo of Thorne managed to steal the first place position and was being chased by the Mini of Chittum. The Honda would not give up and was pushing hard and by the end of the lap had managed to claw itself to fifth place. On lap four Kraus was in third place and only four seconds ahead was the Mini of Chittum. Finally on lap 5, Kraus made his move and moved into second place and started to chase down the Volvo of Thorne. The gap kept closing by about a second per lap and by lap 10, Kraus was only .247 seconds behind. On lap 13, under braking at Turn 7 the Honda managed to sneak under the Volvo and took the lead. Once in front, the Honda managed to keep the lead and finished about 3 seconds ahead of Thorne at the finish line. Chris Lock drove a fantastic race in another Honda and finished third.
In the GT class, the Saturday winner Mirzayan had a suspension issue and the team elected to not start the race for safety concerns. Ken Kurtz started the race in the back of the field after missing qualifying due to a mechanical problem. Starting on pole was the BMW of San Francisco BMW M3 of Henry Schmitt. Schmitt did not get a great opening lap and found himself in second place after lap one behind the European Motor Works/Motul/Yokohama/Meyle BMW M3 of John Handal. Geoff Sykes was in third place also in a BMW. Kurtz knew that he had a fast car and quickly worked his way up through the field. By lap 3 he was in 21st position. By lap 5 he was in 16th position overall and had managed to pass the BMW of Sykes. Schmitt managed to do very well and finished in third place.
The teams now look forward to the next round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on October 20-21, 2012.
Special Awards
