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Elkhart Lake, WI, June 30, 2009

Family vacations, other conflicts, and mechanical problems left a small field for the Shell Historics’ appearance at the historic Road America track last weekend, but the racing more than made up for the small grids.

In qualifying for the Disc Brake Group’s Saturday race Lawrence Stroll, driving the ex-Roger Penske/Sunoco 512 M and Jim Fuchs, in a 1979 512 BB/LM, swapped fast laps for the entire session. Stroll ultimately turned the fastest lap and took pole position with a lap of 2:20.920. Fuchs was second fastest, 0.6sec back from Stoll, and shared the front row for the start.

Stroll led into Turn One at the start, but for the first few laps Fuchs’ red BB/LM remained tied to the Sunoco-blue Ferrari in front. Stroll was turning laps 2/10s under his pole qualifying time, but Fuchs had dropped his time by almost a second, and was staying with Stroll on the four mile-long track. The BB/LM had been built for the long straights at LeMans and Daytona, and Road America suited the car well. The battle was finally interrupted by fuel pressure problems on Fuchs’ car, and with the pressure off, Stroll drove to an easy win.

Fuchs’ was still a class winner, over Chuck Wegner in an ex- NART 512 BB/LM. Jon Shirley in a 250 GTO won the 250 Berlinetta class over Nick Colonna’s 250 SWB/Comp, and Steve Dudley was a class winner in his 308 GT/Michelotto.

Stroll had commitments which prevented him from racing on Sunday, but Fuchs and Chuck Wegner produced an exciting race at the front of the Disc Group race. The starting grid had been set by Saturday’s results, so in Stroll’s absence Fuchs had pole, with Wegner alongside. Wegner used an outside line to take the lead into Turn One, and led the first lap, but Fuchs reclaimed the position on the second lap, and Wegner could never catch up. Fuchs was 12 seconds ahead at the end. Shirley and Dudley repeated their Saturday class wins.

The Drum Brake Group races belonged to Peter Giddings – again. Giddings won his first championship in the Shell Historic Challenge in 2000, in the first year the grids were split into Drum and Disc groups. He’s won the overwhelming majority of his races in the series since, and in 2009 Road America just continued that tradition.

Giddings qualified his Maserati 250 F, a Grand Prix car once raced by Stirling Moss, on pole for the Saturday race, but an observer could have been forgiven for thinking he’d been transported back to 1957; sharing the front row with Giddings was a second, almost identical Maserati 250 F. Jeff O’Neill qualified this car, one of the later lightweight 250 Fs mostly raced in period by Harry Schell. Chuck Wegner, now in his Maserati 200 SI, and Peter Greenfield (Alfa Romeo 8C/35) shared the second row after defending champion Jon Shirley’s Maserati 300 S was unable to qualify, with brake problems.

Giddings led from the start, shadowed for a few laps by O’Neill, but Giddings began to pull away, to a lead of over 30 seconds at the checkered flag. Wegner defeated Nick Colonna, also in a Maserati 200 SI, for a class win, and Mark Lindman, driving a Ferrari 212 Inter Spyder beat Erick Shirley for a class win; Shirley was driving a 500 Mondial in his first race in the Shell Historics. Greenwood was a class winner as well, in the 1935 Alfa.

Those results set the grid for Sunday, so Giddings and O’Neill again shared the front row, and the results were the same: Giddings led into the first turn, and O’Neill was never able to challenge. Wegner, Lindman, and Greenfield duplicated their class wins from the previous day.

The Shell Historic Challenge is organized by Ferrari North America, and sanctioned by Grand-Am. Ferrari North America, Inc. is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and is the exclusive North, Central and South American importer of Ferrari vehicles including the 599 GTB Fiorano V-12 sports coupe, F430 Berlinetta, F430 Spider convertible sports car, 430 Scuderia, California Gran Tourer and 612 Scaglietti (luxury performance 2+2). Additional support for the series comes from Shell fuel and lubricants, and from Panerai watches.

The series is open to authentic Ferrari and Maserati competition cars built before 1980, and pre-war Alfa Romeos of the type raced by the Scuderia Ferrari.

Race 1
Pos.  No.  Class  Name  Model  Chassis #
1  6  DSK7  Lawrence Stroll  512 M Sunoco  1040
2  447  DSK6  Jim Fuchs  512 BB/LM  29509
3  72  DSK6  Chuck Wegner  512 BB/LM  35527
4  86  DSK5  Stephen Dudley  308 GTB/M  21883
5  10  DSK1  Jon Shirley  250 GTO  3729GT
6  3  DSK1  Nick Colonna  250 GT SWB Comp  2443GT

Race 2
Pos.  No.  C lass  Name  Model  Chassis #
1  447  DSK6  Jim Fuchs  512 BB/LM  29509
2  72  DSK6  Chuck Wegner  512 BB/LM  35527
3  86  DSK5  Stephen Dudley  308 GTB/M  21883
4  10  DSK1  Jon Shirley  250 GTO  3729GT
5  3  DSK1  Nick Colonna  250 GT SWB Comp  2443GT

Race 1
Pos.  No.  Class  Name  Model  Chassis #
1  31  DRM6  Peter Giddings  Maserati 250F  2501
2  4  DRM6  Jeff O'Neill  Maserati 250F  2527
3  23  DRM5  Chuck Wegner  Maserati 200 SI  2423
4  41  DRM1  Peter Greenfield  Alfa Romeo 8C/35  50013
5  26  DRM5  Nick Colonna  Maserati 200 SI  2412
6  14  DRM4  Mark Lindman  212 I Cal Spyder 0147E
7  25  DRM4  Erick Shirley  500 Mondial  0468MD

Race 2
Pos.  No.  Class  Name  Model  Chassis #
1  31  DRM6  Peter Giddings  Maserati 250F  2501
2  4  DRM6  Jeff O'Neill  Maserati 250F  2527
3  23  DRM5  Chuck Wegner  Maserati 200 SI  2423
4  41  DRM1  Peter Greenfield  Alfa Romeo 8C/35  50013
5  14  DRM4  Mark Lindman  212 I Cal Spyder  0147E
6  25  DRM4  Erick Shirley  500 Mondial  0468MD

The next race for the Shell Historics will be at Le Circuit at Mont- Tremblant, Quebec, Canada, on July 24-26.