A record 29 Honda Challenge drivers made the call to grid to what was one of the best Honda Challenge race weekends in history. The Aug 6/7 Infineon race was scheduled as a “crossover” weekend between NorCal and SoCal regions, but it also attracted racers from Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Nevada. “This was a monumental event in Honda Challenge history and we hope to see this same formula continue to prosper each year,” said National Chairman Ryan Flaherty.

Aside from the talent on hand and the sheer number of entrants, the racing was also exciting because this was the first time many of the drivers had run the difficult track. In Saturday Qualifying, it was clear that the H1 cars were up to speed with Ryan Flaherty laying down the quickest time of 1:52.1. The remaining 2 spots were filled by Martin Rauch and Neil Vanni who were separated by a scant five tenths of a second. Unfortunately, Rauch experienced some damage to his car, which would put him out of the race after a stellar qualifying session. The action in the H4 qualifying was even closer with a four tenths of a second separating the top 3. Edik Stepanyan took the top spot with a 1:57.5 followed by Rick Delemare and Rick Hohwart. The Honda Challenge race began with an exciting standing start and followed with close racing throughout the entire field. The top 4 cars in H1 and H4 were bumper to bumper nearly the entire race and some top contenders experienced some engine trouble during the race, which put them out of the battle for the lead. Edik Stepanyan (H4) suffered a broken engine after a misshift and Bernardo Martinez (H1) was plagued by overheating problems which turned out to be a repairable head gasket. The top finishers in each class for the Saturday race were Flaherty (1^st H1), Vanni (2^nd H1), Hartanto (3^rd H1), and Delamare (1^st H4), Ellsworth (2^nd H4), Team GOTO 2 (3^rd H4).

It was clear the Sunday races were going to be different as evidenced by the change in qualifying order in both classes. Positions had changed with Hartanto, Martinez and Flaherty taking the top three spots for H1. Hohwart, Team GOTO 2 and Delemare secured the top spots in H4. On this day, both classes were amazingly separated by an even closer margin of two tenths of a second! All the drivers showed amazing skill with another flawless standing start to kick off the final race of the weekend. NorCal H1 points leader Hartanto got the lead from the start and never looked back. Hartanto really stepped up his game and also managed to set a new track record of 1:51.6. Flaherty was nose to tail throughout the entire race but was never able to make a move for the lead on Hartanto. The battle for 3^rd was fierce between Martinez and Kraus but ended abruptly when Martinez suffered another motor gremlin and was forced to retire from the race only after having gained the position on Kraus. At the finish, the top three in H1 were Hartanto (1^st), Flaherty (2^nd) and Kraus (3^rd). H4 was also packed with excitement. The battle for the lead was ongoing until Steve Ellsworth dropped out of the race when his car suffered major damage from an off-course excursion. He was making a charge through the field claiming 3^rd place and setting a new track record of 1:56.0 in the process until the incident put an end to his drive. Saturday’s winner Delemare dropped out of the top three due to a few spins and lost valuable positions in the process. When the checker flag flew, it was Hohwart in 1^st followed by Team GOTO2 in 2^nd and series rookie Jeremy Croiset taking the 3^rd podium spot in only his second Honda Challenge race.

Expanded results may be viewed at http://nasa-norcal.mylaps.com/ by viewing the group H results. Special thanks are extended to NASA NorCal region, their officials, and all the competitors who traveled long distances which made this a great event.