2016 TresDuro: Tres Means Three Part 2

German Touring Series 2

Five cars took the grid for GTS2, not a bad number.  We had some familiar faces show up back on track, and another 911.  Never a bad thing.  Unfortunately my favorite Porsche model didn’t take the top spot, BUT my favorite Boxster did.  Adam Heller in the 09 Emotive Boxster took home the win in all three races, and walked away with some shiny hardware.

In second place is Tom Rogers, in his E30 3 Series.  The old #160 was dead reliable, as far as I could tell, and finished each race on the podium.  Quick side note: I don’t know why I want to, but I have this strong desire to spell Tom’s name with an H.  Thom instead of Tom.  No reason why, but I just really want to do it.  Anywell, Tom ran well all day, and all season.

Getting himself the only medal that is man-made (gold and silver are naturally occurring, mankind had to figure out how to make bronze), was Chris Haunold.  I’m pretty sure he keeps chatting me up at the events, but I’m not 100% sure.  If it is, you’re a pleasant fellow.  If it isn’t, then there’s a pleasant fellow roaming the paddock and making small talk.  Neither is a bad thing.

Pro Touring E

The sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and Todd Green (aka Poppa Smurf, aka the unofficially official corrections department of this fair website) won himself another PTE medal.  It wasn’t easy, the blue car was willing to go fast, but it made Todd work for it.  The hard work paid off, and Todd got himself some more hardware.

Troy Duffin in his Datsun 510 (still packing an L series engine and drum brakes in the rear) was your second place finisher in the class.  It’s good to be shooting photos of Troy again, takes me back to when there was NASA sanctioned open wheel racing at our weekends.  Good times.

Rounding out the podium was Team Slap Hands in the #158… car?  I shot 4600 photos over two days, and I don’t have a #158, which (according to MyLaps) only took part in the first race.  I do have some photos of a #58, which was around the cars that the Team Slap Hands car supposedly did.  Who is the #58?

PAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLL MITTTCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.  Speaking of MyLaps, guess who didn’t run the race that produced this photo opportunity? Yeah, so good ole Paul (who had a rotating cast throughout the weekend) either took home third, or fifth.  Regardless, Smilin Joe Sims is listed in 4th. UPDATE: Yeah, it was all Paul Mitchell.  The 158 and 58 are one and the same.  The Timing and Scoring system doesn’t like having the same number with multiple drivers in a class, hence this whole confusion.

Spec Boxster

Spec Boxster is still a thing, and it’s still occupied by one man.  One hero: Mark Boschert.  He wasn’t all by himself though.  His pace on two of the three races kept him close to either the GTS2 cars, or the PTE field.  On East he outran the Spec Miatas by a few seconds, but trailed the slowest Spec Z by over four seconds.  Boxsters are cheap, people!  Come on!  Someone else grab one, and get in on some spec racing!

Spec Miata

It was Williamson and Bond vying for the class win.  By taking the first two races, and finishing second in the third, Chris Bond earned himself a much deserved martini.  It was close though, Matt Williamson kept close in those first two races, just like he did all season.  The TresDuro was a microcosm of the entire Spec Miata season, and it was awesome to watch.

Matt Williamson was knocking on the door all season, but he couldn’t get over the hump.  I’m telling you, next season he’s going to clear that hump.  Spec Miata is an old class, but it always breeds great drivers and good racing.  Next season, spend some time watching Matt Williamson fight for the crown.

Craig Shane finished the day in third.  He’s a grinder, he was the only Spec Miata driver to start every race this season!  That’s sixteen races!  Craig is a lot like the Miata he races: dead reliable.  Craig deserves some sort of award for his reliability.

Spec Z

You guys remember when Spec Z was just three cars?  I do.  You know how many cars took to the tarmac for this year’s TresDuro?  16.  Man how this ridiculousness has grown.

Topping this ridiculousness was Arthur Golebiowski, one of the OG Spec Z drivers.  Doing this for two and a half years gives you some skills and insight, and Arthur has all of those things rolling around his head.  His average margin of victory was over six and a half seconds in the TresDuro, which begs another question: what does he think about while he’s all by himself at the front?  Is he like Kimi Raikonen, dreaming of his next nap?  Kittens?  Arthur is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, strapped into a silver 350Z.

Not an OG, but definitely a long time Spec Z driver, Chad Aalders took home second place!  Chad spent most of his day battling another OG, and looking longingly at Arthur’s taillights.  Well, I’m not so sure about that last part, but he spent a fair amount of time looking at the back of Arthur’s car.

Rounding out the top three is Tom Kaminski.  He spent plenty of time in his retro liveried Z battling Chad, and chasing down Arthur.  Tom and Arthur having been battling it out with each other since 2014, and I hope they keep it up for years to come.

Speaking of blasts from the past, we had a Thunder Roadster field!  JD Stull came out swinging, and took the win in all three races.  Normally I’d stop the Thunder Roadster writing at that, BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER THUNDER ROADSTER!

Yes, there was another!  Jihn Han, coming out of nowhere, took home some hardware.

And there it is, the round up of the Lightning group.  Looking for the Thunder and/or Time Trial write ups?  I’ve got separate posts for them.

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