Erick Shirley was driving a 500 Mondial in his first Historics event.
Fuchs, Giddings, Stroll, Top Ferrari Shell Historics
By David Seibert
Photos by Bruce B. Miller
Facebook/MySpace: bruce@forza.cc – wtiger
(ELKHART LAKE, WI, June 30, 2009) Family vacations, other conflicts, and mechanical problems made for a small field at the Ferrari Shell Historics at Road America track last weekend, but the racing more than made up for the small grids.
In qualifying for the Disc Brake Group’s Saturday race Lawrence Stroll, driving the ex-Roger Penske/Sunoco 512 M and Jim Fuchs, in a 1979 512 BB/LM, swapped fast laps for the entire session. Stroll ultimately turned the fastest lap and took pole position with a lap of 2:20.920. Fuchs was second fastest, .6 back from Stroll, and shared the front row for the start.
Lawrence Stroll’s immaculate Penske 512 M. Mark Donohue would have been impressed at the speed of the Stroll Ferrari.
Stroll led into Turn One at the start, but for the first few laps Fuchs’ red BB/LM remained tied to the Sunoco-blue Ferrari in front. Stroll was turning laps 2/10s under his pole qualifying time, but Fuchs had dropped his time by almost a second, and was staying with Stroll on the four mile-long track.
The Le Mans BB lived up to its name and battled Stroll for first until fuel pressure problems caused it to drop back. Repaired, the Fuchs BB/LM won Sunday’s event.
The BB/LM had been built for the long straights at LeMans and Daytona, and Road America suited the car well. The battle was finally interrupted by fuel pressure problems on Fuchs’ car, and with the pressure off, Stroll drove to an easy win.
Fuchs’ was still a class winner, over Chuck Wegner in an ex-NART 512 BB/LM. Jon Shirley in a 250 GTO won the 250 Berlinetta class over Nick Colonna’s 250 SWB/Comp, and Steve Dudley was a class winner in his 308 GT/Michelotto.
Dudley in his 308GT/Michelotto, a car that most of the spectators can relate to if only in the form of the 308GTB.
Stroll had commitments which prevented him from racing on Sunday, but Fuchs and Chuck Wegner produced an exciting race at the front of the Disc Group race. The starting grid had been set by Saturday’s results, so in Stroll’s absence Fuchs had pole, with Wegner alongside. Wegner used an outside line to take the lead into Turn One, and led the first lap, but Fuchs reclaimed the position on the second lap, and Wegner could never catch up. Fuchs was 12 seconds ahead at the end. Shirley and Dudley repeated their Saturday class wins.
Giddings has proven almost unbeatable in his 250F, driving in the drum brake class.
The Drum Brake Group races belonged to Peter Giddings – again. Giddings won his first championship in the Shell Historic Challenge in 2000, in the first year the grids were split into Drum and Disc groups. He’s won the overwhelming majority of his races in the series since, and in 2009 Road America just continued that tradition.
Giddings qualified his Maserati 250 F, a Grand Prix car once raced by Stirling Moss, on pole for the Saturday race, but an observer could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been transported back to 1957; sharing the front row with Giddings was a second, almost identical Maserati 250 F.
Close on Giddings’ tail has been the lightweight Maserati 250F owned by Jeff O’Neill.
Jeff O’Neill qualified this car, one of the later lightweight 250 Fs mostly raced in period by Harry Schell. Chuck Wegner, now in his Maserati 200 SI, and Peter Greenfield (Alfa Romeo 8C/35) shared the second row after defending champion Jon Shirley’s Maserati 300 S was unable to qualify, with brake problems.
A Ferrari 212 Inter, rebodied as a Spyder, keeps Mark Lindman busy. Lindman took a class win over newby Shirley.
Giddings led from the start, shadowed for a few laps by O’Neill, but Giddings began to pull away, to a lead of over 30 seconds at the checkered flag. Wegner defeated Nick Colonna, also in a Maserati 200 SI, for a class win, and Mark Lindman, driving a Ferrari 212 Inter Spyder beat Erick Shirley for a class win; Shirley was driving a 500 Mondial in his first race in the Shell Historics. Greenwood was a class winner as well, in the 1935 Alfa.
Chuck Wegner took a class win in this Maserati 200SI.
Those results set the grid for Sunday, so Giddings and O’Neill again shared the front row, and the results were the same: Giddings led into the first turn, and O’Neill was never able to challenge. Wegner, Lindman, and Greenfield duplicated their class wins from the previous day.
Generally, one of the bravest souls in historic racing. Peter Greenfield competes with the pre-war Alfa 8C35 Grand Prix car, in rain or shine, often defeating the post war cars.
The Shell Historic Challenge is organized by Ferrari North America, and sanctioned by Grand-Am. Ferrari North America, Inc. is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and is the exclusive North, Central and South American importer of Ferrari vehicles including the 599 GTB Fiorano V-12 sports coupe, F430 Berlinetta, F430 Spider convertible sports car, 430 Scuderia, California Gran Tourer and 612 Scaglietti (luxury performance 2+2). Additional support for the series comes from Shell fuel and lubricants, and from Panerai watches.
The series is open to authentic Ferrari and Maserati competition cars built before 1980, and pre-war Alfa Romeos of the type raced by the Scuderia Ferrari. Further information on the Shell Historics can be found at www.ferrarichallenge.com.
The next race for the Shell Historics will be at Le Circuit at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada, on July 24-26.
Below more photos from the event.
Erick Shirley’s 500 Mondial
Stephen Dudley in the 308GT M.
Jon Shirley, Maserati 300S.
If that didn’t work, Shirley was able to have a nice weeked anyway, driving his GTO.
Shirley in the GTO.
Nick Colonna’s 250 SWB/Comp.
Another view of the 250F of Jeff O’Neill.
Chuck Wegner’s 512 BB/LM.