Background

June 29. After almost a month off, the Trans Am series rejoined at Mid-Ohio for the fourth round of twelve. The Tommy Bahama Corvette of Butch Leitzinger was at the pole position with a time of 1:24:390 or 96.324 miles per hour. He was followed by Panoz Pilot Boris Said, the series leader, and the AmeriSuites Jaguar of Mike Lewis. Paul Gentilozzi, as the defending Series Champion, could only manage a sixth place in qualifying but he has always done well at Mid-Ohio and won here in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

In the last round, two teams tried to go the distance on 24 gallons of fuel and the Jaguar of Michael Lewis was successful taking fifth place. Stu Hayner's Corvette was not as fortunate, as he retired with a severe engine derangement while leading just shy of the win. Lewis quipped that the frame rails held more fuel than even he had imaged.

The shoot out between Jaguar, Panoz and Corvette made for some interesting viewing while we wait to see the results of the R3b's make-over at the British Grand Prix in less than a fortnight.

Photo Credit John Thawley©2002

The Race

The series organizers granted some spoiler placement and splitter alterations that gave the Panoz and Corvette more downforce, and thus more speed. Just as the drivers where about to mount up, Paul Gentilozzi lamented the recent rule changes made to "balance" the field. As one of his favorite courses with 10 front row starts, Paul's comment was " I don't mind racing the other guys, I just can't race with the guys with the typewriters making the rules!" Believing that they were behind at the last two races, the team has been working on strategy and the car to find more speed on and off the Track.

In past races, Boris Said had been stopping at about 22-25 miles into the event. This time, the Corvette of Butch Leitzinger pitted with Boris Said's Panoz. The Panoz' pit stop seemed to go slower and Said rejoined in fourth behind Leitzinger on lap 13. After leading, Gentilozzi stopped for 9.6-seconds on the next lap and emerged behind Leitzinger. Staying out the extra lap gained a point in the championship, which could always have an impact later in the season.

A late race, full course caution put all the cars together with 4 laps left as they raced to the finish. An intense but gentlemanly last lap fight between the top four covered a mere second and one half as Leitzinger, Gentilozzi, Said and Miller probed each for an opening with tires about ten laps past their use-by date. Butch Leitzinger, contender for rookie of the year, brought his Corvette in first place just ahead of Paul Gentilozzi's Jaguar, stopping Gentilozzi's Mid-Ohio winning streak.

Gentilozzi earned his first podium result since winning the season opener at Long Beach, and moved into second place in the championship in the process. He also extended Trans- Am career records with his 177th start, 57th top-three finish, 89th top-five finish and 118th top-10 result.

Five Jaguars finished in the top ten, collecting 31 points, which is a great outcome for the manufacturer's title. RocketSports Racing alone collected 25 points. Paul Fix overcame a clutch problem to finish in the top ten. Michael Lewis made a great start in the AmeriSiutes car but faded with an undisclosed problem.

The Driver's title remained close with Paul Gentilozzi only 19 points behind Boris Said after one third of the season gone. Johnny Miller dropped to third, only four points adrift of Gentilozzi.
 

Finish Order	Driver	Manufacturer
1	Butch Leitzinger	Corvette
2	Paul Gentilozzi	Jaguar
3	Boris Said	Panoz
4	Johnny Miller	Jaguar
5	Stu Hayner	Corvette
6	Tony Ave	Panoz
7	Michael Lewis	Jaguar
8	Tomy Drissi	Jaguar
9	Paul Fix	Jaguar
10	Jack Willes	Corvette

 

Driver	Point Standing
Boris Said	120 (total)
Paul Gentilozzi	-19
Johnny Miller	-23
Tony Ave	-44
Michael Lewis	-47

The next race will be held at the Cleveland Lakefront Airport on July 13 and will be shown on CBS at 5 p.m. EDT tape delayed.

Posted 6/29/02

About the author: W. Robert Phelps, III is an Aviation Consultant and Corporate Pilot. He is also a staff writer for Jaguar Magazine (Australia), and has nearly 30 years of experience as a Jaguar owner. He is a Virginia native, who now resides in Florida.

This article was supplied with the very kind permission of The Jaguar Magazine, which is available in the U.S. and Canada at bookstores or by subscription at www.jaguarmagazine.com , Copyright © 2002 W. Robert Phelps, III

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