By Jeremy Croiset
Published: October 24, 2006
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R Round 7 of the NASA Socal region Honda Challenge race took place at Buttonwillow Raceway on October 14th, and 15th. It was a beautiful weekend with temps in the high 70s, and sunny skies. On Saturday morning everyone was more than ready to get on track. Because of the NASA National Championship in September, some had a small break while others had a short amount of time to prep for this event after the long trip back home. Morning practice went well, and provided ample time for most to relearn the #13 CCW configuration. Qualifying time rolled around and the cars head out to track to see who could set the fast times. When the session was over, Michael Lee had captured pole with a 2:02.675 followed by Bernardo Martinez and Sam Higashi. In H4, Jeremy Croiset took the pole with a 2:04.280 with Edik Stepanyan and Ryan Flaherty making up the top 3. The time for the race arrived and the cars rolled to the front straight where they were staged for another exciting standing start. As the green flag dropped, the cars took off heading for T1.
Sam Higashi was able to get the holeshot and led into T1, but Bernardo Martinez was able to get by on the exit and lead the first lap. Jeremy Croiset was able to lead Edik Stepanyan for the first 5 laps until the front hub on his car failed. He was forced to pull off and Stepanyan was able to finish out the race unchallenged for the win. In H1, Martinez was able to hold the lead unchallenged and take the win in H1. Sam Higashi was able to finish in 2nd followed by RJ Martinez in the final podium position. H4 results were, Edik Stepanyan, Benny Pecqueur, and Sam Rothchild.
Sunday morning came and the rising sun showed that it would be another perfect day for racing. Practice went well with no incidents. Cars went out for qualifying tyring to use what they had learned Saturday to maximize the times and it was clear they had taken some good notes. As the times came in, we had Bernardo Martinez on pole in H1 with a very fast time of 1:59.887 followed by Sam Higashi and John Thawley. In H4, the times were VERY close. Benny Pecqueur had pulled out a 2:03:368 followed by Edik Stepanyan (2:03:593) and Jeremy Croiset (2:03:613). Again, the call to grid sounded and the cars, drivers, and crew rolled to grid. The cars lined up on the front straight for another standing start and took off as the green flag fell. Again, the power of Higashi’s motor and his good standing start skills showed its strengths and got him into the lead for T1. But yet again, Bernardo Martinez was able to get by on the exit where he continued to pull away for the rest of the race. Higashi was plagued with a misfire during the race and fell back into the clutches of John Thawley! Those two continued to battle it out till the end with Higashi retaining his 2nd place finish and Thawley getting 3rd.
With Higashi’s two 2nd place finishes, he was able to take over the Socal Honda Challenge H1 Points lead.
In H4, Jeremy Croiset was able to get one of his patented “shot from a gun" standing starts and get to the lead for T1.
He then built a slim gap over Edik Stepanyan and was able to maintain it till the end to take the victory in H4. Benny Pecqueur and Ryan Flaherty battled for 3rd, but saw Benny come out on top and take the final podium spot. It should be mentioned that these race reports are written using official results. Andy Hope was competing in H1 with his 06 Honda civic Si using the “fun run” designation so he would not affect the Championship points standings. He started from the back of the field both days. Unofficially he finished 3rd in H1 on Saturday, and put in a great drive on Sunday to finish in 2nd! With only 1 race weekend remaining in the NASA Socal Honda Challenge Championship, it’s still anybody’s race at this point. The next event will be held at Buttonwillow Raceway on Nov. 11-12th. Come join us for the exciting conclusion to the season and find out what happens first hand. Photos by Harut Stepanyan!
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