Daily Report by: RTD Media
Photos by: RTD Media
Saturday, August 13th –After a full day of practice for the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America competitors at Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC), and the Blue Marble Radical Cup Party Friday evening, it was time to take things up a notch on Saturday with qualifying and the first two wheel-to-wheel races of the weekend.
Qualifying
The first on-track session of the weekend would roll off the grid at 9:00am as the twenty-five-minute qualifying session would go green. Looking to score the elusive Motul Pole Awards in their respective classes, Radical Cup competitors hit the 3.048-mile Outer Loop layout for their timed session
Not racing at the Utah Motorsports Campus in nearly five years, drivers would be forced to turn the clock back to 2018 to find times to shoot for before qualifying began. Checking the results from nearly four years ago, Masters class and SR8 driver Jim Booth set the fastest time in qualifying with a 1:52.407 while Al Miller turned a 1:53.681 in the Pro 1500 class behind the wheel of an SR3. Louis Schriber scored the Pro 1340 pole position with a 1:56.449 giving this weekend’s competitors something to try and achieve. When the dust had finally settled and the session ended, it was Robert Rossi (Platinum) who eclipsed all times from 2018 to set a new lap record while Mike Anzaldi (1340) beat the 2018 time by more than half a second in the Pro 1340 class. Palmer Miller would take top honors in Pro 1500 as qualifying was in the books and it was time to go racing.
Qualifying Results
Platinum
- Robert Rossi – 1:49.934
- Steve Jenks
- Jon Field
Pro 1500
- Palmer Miller – 1:55.686
- Jack Yang
- Dan Decker
Pro 1340
- Mike Anzaldi – 1:55.828
- Reid Stewart
- Austin Riley
Race #1
The first wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend would kick off just before lunch eat 11:20am and it was a dramatic one as Robert Rossi got a poor start as Steve Jenks looked to go around the outside into turn one. Rossi was able to hold off Jenks and open a substantial gap by mid-race distance, but the gap began to shrink as Rossi developed problems with his car. While all this was going on, Reid Stewart jumped to the lead of the Pro 1340 class, but it was short-lived as Anzaldi retook the position a few laps later bringing Austin Riley with him. Anzaldi and Riley began to pull away after disposing of Stewart. Palmer Miller had opened a three-second gap after two laps in the Pro 1500 class but goes off course on lap seven and was forced to pit. Returning to the track after a quick grill clean, Miller would fall to the back of the running order as Jack Yang would inherit the lead.
A lap later, Platinum leader Rossi came to the pits with smoke in his cockpit. A lithium battery failure ending his race, handing the lead to Jenks and promoting Field and Judd Miller to second and third respectively. Austin Riley sets his fastest lap of the race on lap eleven and closes the gap to less than half a second on Anzaldi in the 1340 class. Back in the 1500 class, Yang would spend most of the race trying to hold Kent Myers at bay as Myers turned up the pressure with ten minutes remaining while Riley closed in on Anzaldi for the 1340 class lead.
Kent Myers would take the lead of the 1500 Class just before a full course caution would fly for a car off on the exit of turn one to take the win followed by Jack Yang and Dan Decker who scored a podium result in his series debut. Myers would also go on to score the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. Steve Jenks would take the win in the Platinum class over Jon Field and Judd Miller while Mike Anzaldi would lead Austin Riley and Reid Stewart to the podium in the Pro 1340 class.
Race #2
With lap times from race one setting the grids for race two, Robert Rossi would maintain his position at the front of the Platinum field while Mike Anzaldi would start the Pro 1340 race from the point. Despite an off in race one, Palmer Miller nabbed the fastest lap in Pro 1500 to lead his class to the green in race two. The start of race two saw some contact as cars went three and four wide into the first corner. Platinum driver Rossi recovered from another poor start to lead lap one opening a gap of two seconds after one circuit leading Field and Jenks. The Pro 1340 class was led by Mike Anzaldi as Austin Riley was close in tow while Palmer Miller maintained his position at the front of the Pro 1500 class.
Lap two saw Pro 1340 driver and Pro 1500 leader Palmer Miller make contact as Stewart would spin promoting Jack Yang and Kent Myers to second and third. Austin Riley would mount his charge to the lead towards the end of lap three as he and Anzaldi went side by side with Riley moving to the point through the final corner. Pushing Anzaldi back behind 1500 class leader Miller, Riley would have a small buffer ten minutes into the race.
Up front, it was Rossi that controlled the Platinum class with a 3.5-second lead after five laps as the top four were equally spaced. Jon Field continued to run in the second position ahead of Steve Jenks, Judd Miller, and Jim Booth. Riley ran sixth overall but, in the lead of 1340, while Palmer Miller held the point in the 1500 class. Miller was able to move around Riley on lap six which elevated the pace for both over the next couple of laps with Riley stretching a small gap on Anzaldi.
At mid-race distance, the running order remained unchanged as the on-track action had settled down and the Radical Cup drivers were relatively spaced out. However, on lap eleven, Rossi would run into traffic allowing Jon Field to close the gap from 3.8 to 2.3 behind the leader. On the next lap, Field was 1.3 seconds faster than Rossi to get within a second of the leader as the battle for the win was on. A lap later, Field closed the gap even further to get within .599 and only ten minutes to go. On the same lap, 1500 race leader Miller would slide wide opening the door for Riley and Anzaldi to move to sixth and seventh overall. Opening lap fifteen under the rear wing of Rossi, Field was closer than ever with the checkered flag on the horizon.
The former American Le Mans Series Champion Jon Field would make a late braking move into turn one on the start of lap sixteen and surprise Rossi. Rossi would have a moment in turn four going off allowing Field to open a 2.853-second lead as he aimed for his first win of the weekend. On the same lap, Anzaldi ran four-tenths of a second faster than Riley to close within one second with just over two laps to go.
With no movement on the final few laps, the all green flag race would be won by Jon Field as he took top honors in the Platinum class ahead of Robert Rossi and Steve Jenks. Austin Riley held off the late race charges of Mike Anzaldi to take the win and extend his point lead with Reid Stewart joining the two on the podium. Palmer Miller would earn the top step of the podium in Pro 1500 ahead of Kent Myers and Jack Yang.
With the day complete, Blue Marble Radical Cup competitors will return to the track Sunday for the third and final race of the weekend at 9:30am MST. Please remember that you can tune in again tomorrow LIVE at youtube.com/radicalmotorsport
To stay up to date with news, information, photos, and results from the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America event weekend, please be sure to follow along via their social media pages by searching Radical Cup North America.