Courtesy Kyle Kosir
The Formula 1200 Championship, part of the CASC Race Ontario Series, had their 2010 season started May 8th and 9th with the 60th BEMC Spring Trophy Races at Mosport International Raceway. Coming into the new season, two drivers seemed to be entering with a lot of momentum from the 09 season; two-time F1200 champion Michael Iamundi (#35 Montana Auto Centre Van De Car) and 2009 4th place finisher Eric Barrett (#80 Lynx B) won 17 of 18 rounds of the 2009 season, including all 12 at Mosport. In fact, the last time Iamundi or Barrett failed to win a race at Mosport was Celebration 2008, when Guy Bellingham won the final race of the season.
With any new season comes new teams, new drivers, and new rules; all of which aim to make the racing either more competitive or more cost efficient. After 19 years away, Frank O’Hanlon returns to competition, driving the #87 Mysterian M2. He’ll be joined this year by a couple of rookies, hopefully for a full season of 1200 action. Among this year’s crop of rookies include Kevin Kapelke (driving the #4 Blackhole), Karl-Dennis Allard Turcotte in the #93 BRD, Steve Bamford (in the #7 Mysterian M2/#46 Lynx B) and Kevin Deevey, racing under the new AVR Motorsports banner in the #25 BRD. AVR takes over where TLM left off; personally, I wish the team good luck; as I do all competitors.
Qualifying was run in conjunction with the CASC Formula Libre class; however the faster cars seem to be the least of the team’s worries. Temperatures barely over freezing, gusting winds and falling rain made conditions treacherous at best. Iamundi seemed to have had the best run going, until a penalty for passing under yellow cost him his best 2 times. The season’s first pole went to Phil Wang in the #73 Sterling MicroSystems Caracal C, with a time of 2:02.938. Joining Wang in the top 5 included top-10 finishers in the ’09 points Robert Tronchi in the #36 Vallis Motorsport BRD and Andre Bonaldo in the #92 BRD, former champion Guy Bellingham in the #17 V-Max, and Shane Viccary in the #27 AVR Gladiator.
Race 1 had the conditions worsen to qualifying, and the 19 drivers in the field had some of the worse weather seen in many seasons. Wang found out how bad the conditions were firsthand as he spun coming to the original green flag, forfeiting his pole and nullifying the start. For the second go-round, Bamford in his Mysterian spun and impacted the front straight concrete wall, forcing his retirement. It was a rough first lap for Bellingham, as he spun in the first turn; he would continue on and finish tenth. However, it would be Iamundi who would have the greatest swing in luck; starting 6th, he would be have the lead heading down the hill into turn 4, only to spun off in the conditions and be beached in the Turn 5 gravel bed. This would cause a full-course caution and a subsequent green/white/checker finish. When the race was restarted, a strong lead battle between Sergio Pasian in the #76 BRD, Bonaldo and Tronchi. As they battled up front through the last couple laps, battles continued right through the field. On the last lap, Aaron McCauley in the #31 Vallis BRD spun out, forcing the #79 Lazer of Michael Rogers to spun and get stuck in the same gravel bed as Iamundi did earlier. Up front, it would be Pasian who went on to take the first win of 2010, followed home by Bonaldo, Turcotte, Tronchi and Barrett.
Sunday, and two races greetings the 1200 grid. Snow also greeted the competitors, as the course was lined with a light dusting during warm-up. Gridding up for race 2 would see both Iamundi and Bellingham starting from the rear; Iamundi because of his off in race 1 and Bellingham because of a switch to run a BRD. They would be the big story of this race, as within 4 laps, they both were up front and battling the 8th-place starting Wang. After a back and forth battle for the next few laps, Bellingham took the lead and started to pull away. He was on his way to his first win since 2008, when his engine lost power and caused him to stop up the back straight. This gave the lead to Wang, but it would be Iamundi winning race 2 on a last lap pass. Rounding out the top-5 would be Tronchi, Rogers and race 1 winner Pasian. Bellingham would be credited with a 9th place finish.
Race 3 would be run in bright sunshine, which seemed to suit Iamundi, as he would walk away to an 8-second victory over Wang. Behind them though was an excellent six-way fight for the final podium position between Bellingham, Tronchi, Rogers, Bonaldo, Pasian and Barrett. On the last lap, going through the infamous Turn 2, a wreck within the pack would cause the retirements of the first names mentioned in the group (Bonaldo would end up rolling his car and would leave the track seeking some medical additional assistance post-race).
Heading to Round 2 at Shannonville, the point standings look like this: Sergio Pasian leaves Mosport with a slim 1-pt lead on Michael Iamundi, 61 to 60. Phil Wang is third, on the strength of back-to-back runner-up finishes and 3 top-10s, with 56 pts; Tronchi (43) and Barrett (40) round out the top-10. In the race for Rookie of the Year, Kevin Deevey leads with 14 pts, eight points clear of Turcotte, with Kapelke and O’Hanlon tied for third and Bamford fifth.
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