Saturday:

Don arrives at the track Saturday morning to find the Bildon camp already set up. Bill had arrived Friday afternoon, and reserved a prime paddock spot (the term 'prime paddock spot' is a fairly ridiculous grouping of words at Nelson!)

Once on track, we proceeded to hang back to get some clear track for qualifying. After working together for a few laps, it was clear that the #50 car was again fast (as had proven the case at Pocono). Results from the session put Don's #50 Golf in 2nd place in ITB on the grid. Local hot shoe Alan Ferragonio's BMW was in 1st place on the grid. Bill's #55 Golf was 4th with Csaba Bujdoso's Golf in between the Bildon cars.

Unfortunately for Bildon, the weather had cleared a bit for the race, and Alan was happy, as his BMW prefers dry weather. In fact, Alan has been known to say "I'll put it on the trailer…" if it rains! At the start, Bill finds that the misfire from Pocono has reappeared. As the field pulls away he settles into race mode knowing this will be a mid pack points run. Don tries to stay away from non-ITB cars, after all this is a long season! A race long battle with an ITS RX7 proves the Bildon GTI is faster on all sections but the back straight. Don decided to let him by, and to stay out of the way of an ITA 240SX. The 240SX nearly goes off track as it passes Don at one point, and is then repassed. As predicted, Alan won, with the Bildon cars taking the next two positions (Don in 2nd, Bill in 3rd).

Sunday:

The team had found its place for the weekend, and Don's GTI again qualified 2nd to Alan's BMW, with Bill in 3rd. Bill's car was working well now that the faulty ignition module had been changed.

After lunch the team readied for the longer Sunday 18-lap race. A pre-race meeting was held to discuss strategy when the cars where close together. We wanted no confusion between the team cars while racing. With a dry track, Alan would be quick… but in the first few laps much can happen due to traffic. At the first turn, traffic is tight and Don manages to find a hole to go inside of Alan's BMW into 1st place in ITB. Bill selected the rarely used 2nd gear for his start as the field was slower than usual. This proved to be an unfortunate decision as when the green flag flew 3rd gear was no where to be found. Bill selected 4th and fell back a number of spots. Bill eventually came up to speed and passed 3 cars in the first 3 turns.

Entering the Carousel, Bill goes down the inside of the 3rd place Golf who is taking a wide line on the entry. Csaba does not see Bill on his right and comes down across the front of the #55 car. Even with Bill on the brakes the #9 car tags Bill's left front bumper and then comes back across the track hitting the right front of the #55 Bildon GTI. Csaba spins off track but Bill's car seems to be ok (besides losing ground again) so he presses on. Don spends a few laps chasing down the lead BMW but realizes he can not match the pace and backs off a bit on the last few laps. Don takes 2nd in ITB for the second day in a row, with Bill coming home 3rd yet again.

After a bit of bench racing, pats on the back, and congratulations to Alan, the team packs up and heads home. 2 races down and the team is doing well. Both cars need a bit of front-end bodywork before the next event. Bill had a bit of Don's Pocono luck this weekend. Hopefully the first two races have got all the fender benders for the year out of the way. See you again at Pocono in June!

Pictures of this event can be found here:

Official Race Results Group 3
ITS, ITA, ITB
  
Finger Lakes Region                            Westward III
02-RS-63-P                                     Nelson Ledges
May 25, 2002                                   2.000  Miles
                                               27 Starters  26 Finishers
                                               Margin of victory:  0.055 Sec.
  
  OA  CP Class Car Region Driver           ID #   Car Desc.       Sponsor                   Best Lap   Speed   Laps
   1   1 ITS     2 NeOh   Allen Franzolino 104755 66 Mazda RX7                              1:18.252   92.010   10
   2   1 ITA    71 NeOh   Jon Marhefka     282960 89 Honda                                  1:18.461   91.765   10
   3   2 ITS     1 NeOh   William Roediger 119820 Acura           Roediger Construction     1:18.903   91.251   10
   4   3 ITS    13 NeOh   C. P. Kane       N/A    94 Honda                                  1:19.230   90.874   10
   5   4 ITS     3 NeOh   Brian Joules     257543 '87 Mazda RX7   Westside Skates           1:20.023   89.974   10
   6   5 ITS    28 NeOh   Greg Schnell     228732 84 Nissan 300ZX                           1:20.303   89.660   10
   7   6 ITS    38 FLR    Jay Hughes       N/A    72 Nissan                                 1:19.688   90.352   10
   8   7 ITS    33 NeOh   William Moore    240488 75 Datsun 280Z                            1:19.433   90.642   10
   9   8 ITS    53 FLR    Peter Kummer     85369  91 Nissan SER                             1:21.257   88.607   10
  10   2 ITA     8 NeOh   David Mills      252019 Honda Prelude                             1:20.947   88.947   10
  11   1 ITB    14 StCt   Allan Ferragonio 276512 BMW 318i        C&G Performance           1:21.102   88.777   10
  12   3 ITA    56 NeOh   Richard Mayeres  N/A    90 Honda                                  1:21.885   87.928   10
  13   4 ITA    31 OVR    Rich Grunenwald  92557  Mazda RX7                                 1:22.314   87.469   10
  14   9 ITS    57 NOW    Zach Arnold      303980 95 Nissan 240SX                           1:21.474   88.371   10
  15   2 ITB    50 CNY    Don Thompson     103006 91 VW GTI        Bildon Motorsport        1:22.726   87.034   10
  16   3 ITB    55 StCt   Bill Sulouff     N/A    91 VW            Bildon Motorsport        1:22.798   86.958   10
  17   5 ITA    85 FLR    George F. Morris 11481  VW GTI                                    1:23.786   85.933   10
  18   4 ITB     9 MahV   Csaba Bujdoso    259514 86 VW GTI                                 1:23.346   86.386   10
  19   5 ITB    94 MahV   Cindy Wing       290146 73 BMW 2002                               1:24.743   84.962   10
  20   6 ITB    24 MahV   James D. Morgan  N/A    82 Ford                                   1:24.846   84.859   10
  21   7 ITB    98 FLR    John Walsh       174885 85 VW Golf                                1:25.482   84.228   10
  22   8 ITB    23 NeOh   Tim Biglin       281884 VW Rabbit GTI   Benham Competition Group  1:25.270   84.437   10
  23   9 ITB    74 WNY    Tyrone Noles     26783  80 Ford Mustang                           1:25.529   84.181   10
  24  10 ITS    93 MahV   Ray Boniface     210266 87 BMW 325                                1:19.010   91.127    9 NR
  25  10 ITB    77 CNY    Edward Tucker    N/A    77 BMW                                    1:27.123   82.641    9
  26  11 ITB    18 NeOh   William Trainer  173650 83 VW                                     1:26.850   82.901    9
DNF      ITA    12 StCt   Bill Coward      309571 86 Toyota MR2   0                         5:08.846   23.312    2 NR
DNS      ITS    88 FLR    David Ciufo      148770 72 Datsun 240Z
DNS      ITA    95 FLR    Rich Smith       228896 90 Honda Civic
DNS      ITB    99 0      James Christian  184541 VW
DNS      ITB   107 WNY    David W. Frieder 218412 87 Ford Mustang
  
                                          Class and Race Summary
Over all Leaders:  2 Lap 1 - 10
  
Class Car Laps   Total time  Speed    Margin  Race dist.   Car     Best Lap     Speed             Carl F. Dresie
ITS     2  10     13:17.032  90.335    4.882     20.0  










Official Race Results Group 3  
ITS, ITA, ITB
  
Finger Lakes Region                            Westward III
02-RS-64-P                                     Nelson Ledges
May 26, 2002                                   2.000  Miles
                                               25 Starters  24 Finishers
                                               Margin of victory:  3.243 Sec.
  
  OA  CP Class Car Region Driver             ID #   Car Desc.       Sponsor                   Best Lap   Speed   Laps
   1   1 ITA    71 NeOh   Jon Marhefka       282960 89 Honda                                  1:17.663   92.708   18
   2   1 ITS     2 NeOh   Allen Franzolino   104755 66 Mazda RX7                              1:17.490   92.915   18
   3   2 ITS    33 NeOh   William Moore      240488 75 Datsun 280Z                            1:19.292   90.803   18
   4   3 ITS    28 NeOh   Greg Schnell       228732 84 Nissan 300ZX                           1:19.262   90.837   18
   5   4 ITS     3 NeOh   Brian Joules       257543 '87 Mazda RX7   Westside Skates           1:20.002   89.997   18
   6   2 ITA     8 NeOh   David Mills        252019 Honda Prelude                             1:20.059   89.933   18
   7   1 ITB    14 StCt   Allan Ferragonio   276512 BMW 318i        C&G Performance           1:20.584   89.347   18
   8   5 ITS    53 FLR    Peter Kummer       85369  91 Nissan SER                             1:21.188   88.683   18
   9   6 ITS    57 NOW    Zach Arnold        303980 95 Nissan 240SX                           1:20.566   89.367   18
  10   3 ITA    56 NeOh   Richard Mayeres    N/A    90 Honda                                  1:21.193   88.677   18
  11   4 ITA    31 OVR    Rich Grunenwald    92557  Mazda RX7                                 1:21.443   88.405   18
  12   2 ITB    50 CNY    Don Thompson       103006 91 VW GTI        Bildon Motorsport        1:21.613   88.221   18
  13   5 ITA    11 StCt   Gregory Stasiowski 281818 93 Mazda Miata  Sevenspeed / GSRacing     1:21.462   88.384   18
  14   3 ITB    55 StCt   Bill Sulouff       N/A    91 VW            Bildon Motorsport        1:22.240   87.548   17
  15   7 ITS     1 NeOh   William Roediger   119820 Acura           Roediger Construction     1:18.965   91.179   17
  16   8 ITS    88 FLR    David Ciufo        148770 72 Datsun 240Z                            1:22.468   87.306   17
  17   6 ITA    85 FLR    George F. Morris   11481  VW GTI                                    1:22.914   86.836   17
  18   4 ITB    24 MahV   James D. Morgan    N/A    82 Ford                                   1:24.510   85.197   17
  19   5 ITB    94 MahV   Cindy Wing         290146 73 BMW 2002                               1:24.677   85.028   17
  20   6 ITB    23 NeOh   Tim Biglin         281884 VW Rabbit GTI   Benham Competition Group  1:24.423   85.284   17
  21   7 ITB    77 CNY    Edward Tucker      N/A    77 BMW                                    1:24.964   84.741   17
  22   8 ITB    74 WNY    Tyrone Noles       26783  80 Ford Mustang                           1:25.974   83.746   17
  23   9 ITB    18 NeOh   William Trainer    173650 83 VW                                     1:26.073   83.649   17
  24   7 ITA    12 StCt   Bill Coward        309571 86 Toyota MR2   0                         1:28.177   81.653   12
DNF      ITB     9 MahV   Csaba Bujdoso      259514 86 VW GTI                                 3:11.255             1 NR
DNS      ITS    38 FLR    Jay Hughes         N/A    72 Nissan
DNS      ITS    13 NeOh   C. P. Kane         N/A    94 Honda
DNS      0      42 0      R. Mazza           0      0
DNS      ITS    93 MahV   Ray Boniface       210266 87 BMW 325
DNS      ITA    95 FLR    Rich Smith         228896 90 Honda Civic
DNS      ITB    98 FLR    John Walsh         174885 85 VW Golf
DNS      ITB    99 0      James Christian    184541 VW
DNS      ITB   107 WNY    David W. Frieder   218412 87 Ford Mustang
  
                                          Class and Race Summary
Over all Leaders:  2 Lap 1 - 8 /  71 Lap 9 - 18
  
Class Car Laps   Total time  Speed    Margin  Race dist.   Car     Best Lap     Speed             Carl F. Dresie
ITA    71  18     23:41.267  91.186   45.578     36.0       71     1:17.663     92.708 Lap 5      Chief of Timing & Scoring
ITS     2  18     23:44.481  90.980   24.623     36.0        2     1:17.490     92.915 Lap 5      Posted at: 2:35
ITB    14  18     24:32.371  88.021   17.327     36.0       14     1:20.584     89.347 Lap 9