Rettich Converts Pole into Win at Mosport
Scott Rettich converted the pole position into a win Sunday (May 22), taking home top honors in Round Four of the SCCA Pro Racing Spec Racer Ford Series at Mosport International Raceway. Standing alongside the Alliance Autosport driver on the podium were Hagerman RacEngineering’s Richard Spicer and PM Racing’s Brian Schofield.
After encountering rain late in the opening run at Mosport, threatening overcast skies greeted the Spec Racer Ford Series drivers when race two of the Canadian doubleheader commenced on Sunday morning. As series followers have come to expect, when the green flag waved, the entire field fanned out two and three wide entering turn one. Rettich however made the most of his P1 starting position, holding the lead through the opening sequence of turns, despite constant threat by Schofield and Spicer. While the opening lap or two featured the top-three running virtually nose-to-tail, Rettich was ultimately able to pull out a gap, thanks to the Schofield and Spicer dice heating up.
Behind the lead trio, the action was just as entertaining to watch, with Harris Racing’s Carl Harris, Lehner Racing’s Jeffrey Lehner, Sweeney Racing’s Herb Sweeney IV, and PM Racing’s Jean-Luc Liverato dueling for fourth place, not far ahead of Warren Racing’s Carl Warren, Citgo Racing’s Richard Wiehl, McNeish Racing’s Lee McNeish, Motion Dynamics’ Don Kahn, Trac Consulting’s Tom Riley and Dinosaur Racing’s Frank Vultaggio going head-to-head.
Out front, the order shuffled, when Schofield had a significant bobble exiting the high-speed turn four, allowing Spicer to take over second place, and subsequently pull away from the defending SCCA National Champion.
As the 20-race progressed, the battle for third place heated up. Harris and Lehner, having broken away from their pursuers, began challenging Schofield for the final podium position. This combined with the multi-car fight near the rear of the field proved to be the best action, with the order only decided by the waving of the checkered flag.
Rettich in the end emerged with his first win of 2011 via a four second victory of Spicer. Schofield, despite some late race pressure, came home in third. Lehner and Sweeney IV completed the top-five, narrowly edging Harris at the stripe.
“It feels great to come away in Spec Racer with two poles, a second and a win,” Rettich said. “It just feels awesome. I’ve got to thank my crew, Alliance Autosport for giving me an incredible car and working very hard. I’ve also got to thank my parents, Goodyear, Red Line, PDI Communications and Springboro Car Wash for putting together a great package for this weekend.
“My car was really good from the get go and it just got better and better and by middle race on, it was a really strong car. That’s when my car peaked. Towards the end, I was backing off a little bit.”
The chase for the SCCA Pro Racing Spec Racer Ford title resumes on August 6-7, with Rounds Five and Six on the historic streets of Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. With four of the 10-race season now in the books, Rettich leads Spicer in the championship standings by 23 points, 492-469.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the ESR Facebook page and ESR Twitter page.
Audio interview of Round Three winner Scott Rettich Click Here (1.9 mb – .wav)
The video race coverage of the Mosport doubleheader will be available at http://www.GoRacingTV.com in approximately two weeks time.