SVRA and Trans Am at COTA SpeedTour Day 3

A trackside report and photography by Mark Roden

Sunday 03 November, 2024

Day 3 started earlier than the previous one for me at the SVRA and Trans Am SpeedTour. Even starting earlier I did miss the enduro race.  However, I decided to take a tour of the paddock before things got rolling.  First stop after coming out of the tunnel was the secondary paddock, where the TransAm and TA2 cars were staged. 

Paddock at the COTA Speed Tour 2024

I took a light stroll through, and then hopped back on the cart and headed for the main paddock.  When I got there the Groups 4, 5, 8 and 12b were already staged for entry to the track.

 I took the opportunity to walk through the field. Switching my lens to a 24-105mm to get some close-up shots.  I found Steven Schultze in his #122 Volvo, ready to go. The Corvettes of George Wright and Jim Caudle, and the beautiful #52 Lotus of Dan Chapman were prepaired.  

COTA Speed Tour 2024 Garages

Taking my photos I then got out of the way.  There were cars down in some of the garages that I wanted to take a look at before hitting trackside. 

The first one that caught my eye was the Kar-Kraft MkIV Continuation of the original Ford GT-40 MkIV.  It was absolutely impressive to look at. Very clean and bright, with a presence that commands respect from even the most novice race fan. 

This was a project driven to perfection by Bob and Bill Riley. They took over all of the original Kar-Kraft assets including tooling and drawings. Some of which had Bob Riley’s name on them from his involvement in the original 1960’s program.

Other gems that I came across were the #21 2002 Swift of Clay DellaCava. A pair of 1965 Shelby Cobras; Vincent Dean’s #83, which is 1 of 3 that he owns (or has owned) since 2001 including a red ‘66, and A.C. D’Augustine’s #84A.

Time was getting short, so I left the paddock and got back on the inside rim road to prepare for the start of the TA2 race.  

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TA2 Feature Race.

TA2 Race Results:

 Carson Kvapil took the field to green in his first pole in TA2.  The action exploded immediately with Nathan Herne in the #15 Camaro taking an early lead off the start ahead of Merrill and Annunziata.  

Rafa Matos in the #60 was elbows out from the first lap to defend his lead in the championship. Merrill closed in on Herne as the opening laps unfolded.

I was snapping away as the action settled in with the 1-2-3 order of Herne, Merrill and Annunziata. 

I moved from spot to spot between turns 13 and 16. Venturing a little further down than I had the day before. Turn 18, which had a crest that allowed for a nice front bumper shot. The stretch from there to 19 was fast and a good place to practice more panning. 

By then, Merrill had taken the lead from Herne. Annunziata and Crews just behind them and biting at their heels.

TA2 Feature Race yellow flags

There was a full course yellow in the opening laps which led to a restart. Merrill was making moves on Herne to try and get out front.  Crews was still in fourth but not for long; by the next caution a few laps later he had gone ahead.  With 40-plus cars on track there was a lot of action all down the grid.  

 Merrill forced Herne way out on the restart to take the lead away, as Annunziata took back third from Crews.  Yet another caution bunched everything back up again, after which Herne returned the favor to Merrill and launched right back out front.  

 Midway through the race I went back to the outside of turn 15.  Merrill was busy swapping a little paint with Annunziata who took second and then set his sights on Herne.  He went through turn 14 fast enough to lift the right front and took the lead. 

The top 4 continued to jockey for position until the end when Crews took the checkered flag and the win after a very exciting contest.  I caught them just after the pass and just before the race finished under yellow.

Rafa Matos won the championship for the third time and ran most of the race with the door down. Rafa Matos is now the winningest driver in the history of the TA2 series.

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Trans Am TA/XGT/SGT/GT Feature Race.

For the start of the Trans Am headline race, I headed back to the “Bobbypin” area and settled in at the photo hole between turns 10 and 11. I had used this location earlier in the weekend.  It was right around this time that I began wondering just how much gasoline was left in the tank of my golf cart.  As it turned out, I used less than half of the fuel for the entire weekend.

 Paul Menard was the polesitter after qualifying the #3 Menards/Master Force Tools Ford Mustang with a 2:03.800 lap.  As they went through the first turn, Chris Dyson caught the number two qualifier Gar Robinson off guard and took second.  I got them on the first lap coming over the hill in turn 10.

After 6 laps, Annunziata, who was coming off the TA2 race, passed Chris Dyson to move into second.  The two had been battling since the opening lap.

Another good battle down the field a bit was between Tomy Drissi and Amy Ruman, who swapped positions several times in the first part of the race.  Don Yount, the other Lucas Oil car, was right in that mix as well.  Yount also drove a beautiful ’69 Camaro in Group 6.

About midway through the race, I moved to the other side of the Bobbypin turn (11) as Menard continued to lead the pack. Dyson in second and Annunziata just behind in third I continued to the outside of turn 12 to shoot some more before heading to the paddock and victory lane area.

COTA Speed Tour 2024 TA Class

 Chris Dyson took the win in the TA class, followed by the two DrissiMotorsports cars of Tomy Driss (2^nd) and Don Yount (3^rd).  

COTA Speed Tour 2024 XGT Class

Will Rodgers took the #12 Chris Evans Inc Camaro to second overall and first in XGT. Michael McAleenan (2^nd) in the absolutely stunning #31 SmithallingPS / LoweGroup Racing Lamborghini GT3 Huracan EVO and Ken Sutherland (3^rd) piloting the #85 Kallberg Construction/WyattFireProtection Dodge Challenger filling out the podium for XGT.  

COTA Speed Tour 2024 SGT Class

Joshua Carlson drove the #36 Enseva/TC Fab/Diercks Ltd Ford Mustang to a first place finish in SGT. Second and third place podium spots going to Kaylee Bryson (2^nd), in the 02 Logical Systems Inc/Sam Pierce Chevrolet Corvette, and to Lee Saunders (3^rd) in the #84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper.

COTA Speed Tour 2024 GT Class

The top three finishers in GT class were Chris Coffey (1^st) in the #97 Norwood AutoItalia/TrafficGrafix Maserati MC GT4. David Hampton (2^nd) in the #14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Colin Cohen (3^rd) in the #38 Norwood AutoItalia/TrafficGrafix Maserati MC GT4.

To finish out the race, I went back to some spots that I had used more than once over the weekend between turns 12 and 16.  I liked the versatility of that area and every time I returned to it, I found something new.

I had a little time before the Group 9 race, so I headed for the paddock to take in the winner’s celebration.  One thing that I can tell you about the SVRA / TransAm events is that they are very inclusive and friendly when it comes to the fans. 

Ben Cissell even gets on the microphone to get more people in, simply because, I believe, not everyone realizes that it is ok to be there.  Anyone attending one of these races, credentials or not, should be sure to seek out the paddock and the winner’s circle area; it is a nice experience.

Arriving at the winner’s podium I was just in time to see Chris Dyson being congratulated on the win.  I was also able to listen to the interview and made a few shutter clicks while I was there.  I took shots of the cars in the corral, then I headed trackside once again as the action of the day was not finished.

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Group 9 Helmet Race.

To catch the Group 9 race, I parked just down from the turn 3 bridge.  I liked this position because I got a very nice distant front view coming out of 3. Capturing fast pans as they headed toward the next corner.  The cut-out in this location was wide enough to accommodate several photographers. I shared the window (and the back step of my golf cart) with a photographer who was working for the Rapscallion team. 

One thing that made things more difficult for me was the wind; on Sunday it was more of a factor than other days and it really buffeted my 400mm.  At times I had to be mindful that I was at the very edge of the opening for the long-distance shots. If I wanted to pan, I had to scoot over a little to avoid banging my glass up against the metal side.  Photographer’s first world problems, I guess…

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Group 6-12a Helmet Race.

After Group 9 I moved to the other side of the bridge to see the start of the helmet race for Groups 6 and 12a.  There was a lot going on with this one; first came the Vipers, with their 600+ hp 8.4-litre V10 engines. Then came all of the Corvettes, Mustangs (including a Boss 302) and Camaros from the 60’s and early 70’s, then there were the ’65 Cobras, an ’85 Cobra IV, and two Shelby GT 350’s that were simply immaculate. 

Finally, as if that wasn’t enough, there was a standout 1959 Devin Evolution.  That only covers Group 6 and the Vipers.  Group 12a also presented a Ford Rousch Mustang from 2001, a 2000 PANOZ, and the ’72 BMW CSL.  Slam all of that together and you have one heck of a diverse field, most of which were packing some serious heat under the bonnet.

Group 6-12a Helmet Race start.

 When the race started, I could hear them rumble down the hill from the first turn. A few seconds later they were upon me coming out of 3, Vipers at the sharp end.  I snapped a lot of “group portraits” during that first lap, then things settled down and spread out so I was able to concentrate on individual cars.  

The two Vipers of Jerry Robinson and Michael Gerdts held the overall lead throughout the race, while the #28A Corvette of Mark Hilderbrand staked out the top spot in Group 6 early on with the the Devin just behind. 

By the time that I got to the bottom of turn 1, the Devin was in third having passed Hildebrand.  I finally made it to the top, standing inside turn 1 as the cars crested the apex and on down the hill to the rest of the course. 

I got there just in time to catch that Boss 302 Mustang and the #10 GT 350 driven by Steven Seitz.  There were no cut-outs in this area, so I was shooting through the fence.  I also had my shutter set too high, so the cars appear as though they are parked. No matter, they are still beautiful to look at.  Gerdts made a late pass to finish first ahead of Robinson, in a race that I enjoyed quite a lot.

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Group 2 Helmet Race.

 For Group 2 I wanted the same view as I had with Group 9, so I went back to the opening by the bridge.  In fact, I stayed here for the rest of the day which, for me, ended during the Group 4-5-8-12b race.  

 The Brabham trio was an exciting thing.  This sort of thing just doesn’t happen, and if it wasn’t for Ron Hornig throwing it all together it would not have happened at all.  I enjoyed digging into the history of the different Brabham chassis and their documented racing heritage for this report. 

There was one entry, the #63 1970 BT29 driven by Paul Haggar, that did not join the race.  He was listed as having a time of 2:33.107 in the first qualifying round but was not listed in qualifying round #2, so I’m not sure what happened there.  I did manage to take four shots of it, but sadly, they were all blurry.  There’s always one or two that I miss.

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Group 7-11-PSSA Helmet Race.

 Another race viewed from the same cut-out.  At this point I had the golf cart sitting right next to the opening so I could stand on the back step.  I also had company for a bit as the photographer for the Rapscallion team shared both window and step. 

As the race unfolded, the Staudacher got jumped on the start, then John Miller hit the barrier just down from where I was which tripped a full course yellow.  Ron Fletcher in the “Bat Mobile” came out ahead after the restart, but the Staudacher would put pressure in the next few laps and would end up winning the race. 

The cars in these groups looked really nice in this area of the track, especially so with panning.  I will use that spot more the next time I have a chance to do so. 

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Group 4-5b-8-12b Helmet Race.

This would be the last track action for me.  I was getting a little battered by the wind and I felt like I had enough work for the weekend.  On the start Nathan Thompson shot out of the barrel of a cannon and went from the back of the field into the lead in short order.  

One last bit of photography for the weekend was the winner’s ceremony for the Group 4-5b-8-12b race.  The ceremony area was just in front of the SpeedTour trailer where I dropped off my vest as the last official act of the day.  

Results

Full details of all SVRA Group racing results, along with schedules, explanations of each group, and many other things can be found on the www.svra.com website.

Trans Am standings and results can be found at  www.gotransam.com

PSSA (Prototype Sprint Series Association) standings and results can be found at www. https://prototypesprint.com/

FR (Formula Regional) Americas standings and results can be found at www.framericas.com

F4 US standings and results can be found at www.f4uschampionship.com

JS F4 standings and results can be found at www.jsf4series.com

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