Best Wishes

[Susan Addison]

Best Wishes to the Skippy Aces running the Skippy Race at the Glen during the Grand Am Race. Please share your stories with those of us not fortunate to come watch or race.

Susan

[dalyduo]

I'll second that.

Go fast, have fun, be safe.... and then tell us all about it.

[JonMiller]

Big 3rd from the gimpy kid. Anyone doubling up? GAC + a skippy race? MJAmok... Murray...?

[rhpearson]

Entery list is here

http://www.formuladodge.com/showarticle.asp?AID=1521

[Gerardo]

So far, Sy is quickest. Should be interesting.

http://www.skipbarber.com/news/article.asp?AID=1522

[rhpearson]

Some nice shots there by Rock Rizzo

[rcote]

yes.. good pics by Rick..and he was workn hard for em too in the HOT and kinda muggy Glen air.

A really good day for everyone there today. Forest and a couple other guys that are also running a Grand-Am car are all having a fun time in our cars. I started off pretty happy, 5th in first session with not much seattime here at the Glen. 2nd session was lookin froward to improving on that and my fuel pump died just afew laps in. 3rd session, different car felt like I was driving much better...earlier to power most corners and I'm watchin people just pull from me... uhgg alil DOP..
but none the less had a decent session. Part of being with a pro weekend and not having any avaliable tracktime for testing before the racedays. We get spoiled by the work that gets done in a day or two to get the cars equalized..
Once again all the crew are doing an awesome job getting the cars setup and adjusted and worked over again and again after they get to hear all of us after every session complain.."my car's slower than his..my car doesn't handle how i like" ( including me ) But again the guys and Todd (with radar gun in hand) and Jason are doing a great job with getting all the cars as equal as possible.
Sy did a great job all day. Peter really stepped it up last two sessions, especially during the worst track conditions later in the day. Another great day at the track. even more fun with the much more R/T friendly smaller curbing in a couple sections of the track. So lookin forward to tomorrow and getting back into the two front rows again. Now, off to rest up for another warm and hazy day, and our first race.
Good day to all...Roger

[dalyduo]

Our shy bashful unassuming fearless leader is right where he wants to be...
On qualifying pole!
For the start of the Glen Invitational....

Way to set the pace SyDude! (And you look so cool in your TJR driving suit. :-)

Good Luck to Sy, Peter, Dick, Ivo, Charles, Murray, Roger, John, Michele and any other TJR members I've left out. !!!
__________________________________________________ _________________
From the Skip Barber Site:

06/10/2005
W.G. Invitational: Race One Starting Grid
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Sy Aryeh pipped Peter Ludwig for pole for this afternoon's first of two Skip Barber Racing's Watkins Glen Invitational races. Dick Lippert, Ivo Guerguev, Charles Anti and Murray Marden round out the first three rows.

It was a 20-minute session, so if you didn't come in for any set-up changes, you could count on getting eight laps in.

Ivo Guerguev put up a 2:13.858 on lap two to set the pace, then did a 13.4 two laps later. Dick Lippert then took pole with 13.274 (Aryeh was 13.302, Ludwig 13.330). Lap six, Aryeh broke into the 12s (2:12.909), which held for the remaining 3 minutes, though Ludwig also broke into the 12s on his last lap.

Starting Grid After Qualifying for Race One, Friday,
Watkins Glen, SBRS Invitational

R1 Qualifying:
1. Sy Aryeh, 2:12.909 / 92.093 mph
2. Peter Ludwig, 2:12.982 / 92.043
3. Dick Lippert, 2:13.274
4. Ivo Guerguev, 2:13.426
5. Charles Anti, 2:13.549
6. Murray Marden, 2:14.189
7. Roger Cote, 2:14.280
8. John Mayes, 2:14.344
9. Keith Lorentzen, 2:14.471
10. Jeff Relic, 2:14.763
11. Michael Gomez, 2:15.002
12. Forest Barber, 2:15.799
13. Dario Cioti, 2:15.990
14. Robert Ward, 2:16.962
15. Ari Gatoff, 2:18.644
16. Joe Trevino, 2:18.664
17. Michele Marden, 2:19.663
18. Michiel Schuitemaker, 2:19.920
19. Alain Roger Matrat, 2:21.746
20. Eddie Hennessey, 2:22.935

- Ricky Lusso

[dalyduo]

I'll leave it to Sy to relay the details but after a race long battle with Peter Ludwig, while Dick Lippert and Ivo nipped at their heels, Sy pulled the rabbit and the victory out of his hat for the first Invitational Race at the Glen. Way to go Dude.

Congratulations Sy, and all the TJR podium finishers. Well done! (Sy's phone signal went south as he was relating the details so I don't know the finishing order but I'm guessing it was Peter and either Dick or Ivo. Sure to be posted soon on the Skippy site. Cheers all around.

[cheekychica]

1. Sy
2. Charles Anti
3. Dick Lippert
4. Roger Cote
5. Peter

At least that's the report I got earlier this evening. Way to go guys, and great that you avoided the monsoon.

[dalyduo]

Thanks A.,
Congratulations Sy, Charles & Dick! Apparently they also beat ex Champ Car and F1 driver Roberto Moreno who was a last minute entry as well! Not too shabby. :-)

Sy was relaying his outside pass on Peter into the bus stop on the final lap and being bog slow coming out with the field on his tail when his phone signal went bad. Looking forward to the rest of Sy's version and also reading Ricci Ricardo's report tomorrow. :-)

Originally Posted by cheekychica

1. Sy
2. Charles Anti
3. Dick Lippert
4. Roger Cote
5. Peter

At least that's the report I got earlier this evening. Way to go guys, and great that you avoided the monsoon.

[cdh]

huge congrats Sy, great drive. Even more admirable given your reduced seat time this year and the fact that you don't like WGI as a track..........well, maybe not anymore....

[Jimal Temus]

I spoke with Sy yesterday afternoon shortly after the race. Maybe it was the adreneline left over from winning the race, or maybe it was all that podium champagne he consumed, but Sy sounded pretty happy on the phone. Sounds like it was a pretty good race, with special last minute guest Roberto Moreno (yes, THAT Roberto Moreno) starting shotgun on the field and getting past half the field in a car he'd never seen before on a track he'd never driven. I wonder if they brought any "Rookie of the Race" trophies with them?

Way to go Sy! Lets hope today's race is as exciting!

[Jimal Temus]

http://www.theglen.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=190

[dalyduo]

With a big tip of the cap to Rick Rosso, who made it possible for those not in attendance to go along for the ride anyway, we say thanks for great photos yesterday and pass along, unedited from the Skippy site, his breathless narrative of two terrific races at Watkins Glen.

Not wanting to spoil the ending of race #2 for anyone, we congratulate the podium winners and all the TJR skippy racers who won by simply showing up and giving their best efforts.

A great show for open wheel race fans by well trained drivers upholding the highest standards of the sport. Big to all of you and, of course, the unsung hero's of Skip Barber who did all the heavy lifting to make the event run like a Swiss watch. Our only regret was not being there to share it all with you.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

06/11/2005
Race Series at The Glen
WATKINS GLEN - Watkins Glen International needed another series for their Rolex Sports Car race weekend lineup. Who they gonna call? How about the best open-wheel amateur series in America? That's right, the Skip Barber Race Series.

Thus begat the Skip Barber Racing "Watkins Glen Invitational," an all-star race of sorts. Two races, actually, because that's how we do it. And the boys -- and girls -- did not disappoint. Two great races, two great winners and podiums, a cameo appearance by an F1 and Champ Car star -- the weekend had it all.

Race One
Nerves were a little bit frayed. This was the first time in a long, long time (The Meadowlands, mid-1980s, is my best guess) that the Race Series supported a big pro weekend. But these races were non-points, like a Memorial. How would, you know, everyone "act"?

The answer: Better than many drivers in "professional" events. And with a lot more action to boot!

From pole, Sy Aryeh lead a flying field into One. Here was the first test… and everybody made it through cleanly, finding the real estate they wanted. Up into the Bus Stop. An even bigger test. And again no one disappointed, everybody through. Crossing the stripe, Sy over Ivo Guerguev (fourth on the grid) and Peter Ludwig (second). Lap two, Ludwig takes "his" second place back from Ivo, Dick Lippert right there in fourth. Next time around, everybody rockets down into the Boot. God knows what went on down there, but Ludwig emerges from the Heel with the lead! On lap four, Peter and Sy begin to check out just a little bit from Ivo, Lippert (and with Roger Cote and Charles Anti gathering steam).

Lap five, halfway there, Ivo regrettably bites the dust -- literally and figuratively. Ludwig's hard pedaling up front meant a dropped wheel or two, and at the Bus Stop a particularly healthy cloud was formed when Ludwig dropped two. Ivo said, "I couldn't see for a second and I missed the turn-in for Five!" Off he spun into the grass, going 360, re-joining in 12th. This moved Lippert to third, Anti to fourth (he had gotten around Cote, now fifth).

Things held station for the next two laps: nose-to-tail top three, fourth and fifth gaining. (Sy said later, "Peter kept racing me! But I wanted to hook up and go!") On lap eight, Sy's great exit at 11 paid its usual dividend halfway around the track, up in the Bus Stop, where Sy popped for the lead. All the "racin'" has dragged Lippert, still in third, really into the fray. Next lap, Peter returned the favor to Sy, snatching P1 in the Bus Stop.

Now it's the last lap and a used tissue would cover the top three. Sy does a juke going into the Bus Stop; he throws his nose inside, which Ludwig covers, then instantly moves outside and commits. "I planned that, it worked, I know the pass was ugly, but hey, I wanna win!"

Ludwig would not give up, of course, and ended up side by side with Sy going into the Laces. They actually rubbed sidewalls, but Sy kept the lead. A few hundred feet later Ludwig muffed a downshift into the Toe, and wide of the apex and late to power, the rest of the pack flew by, including Anti, brilliantly into second, Lippert into third. It was a typical Skippy race. Which is to say, close, exciting and fun.

Cote did a solid job to take fourth, Ludwig salvaged fifth, Ivo recovered a bunch of spots to get sixth, followed by John Mayes, Murray Marden, Jeff Relic and Keith Lorentzen.

The cameo? That was F1, Champ Car, Atlantic and F3000 ace Roberto Moreno, who leapt in at the last minute because his Rolex DP had only given him four laps since he had arrived at the Glen Thursday. Believe it or not, in the Brazilian's long and storied career, he had never even been around Watkins Glen in a rental car. Starting last, and getting used to the track, the car and our drivers all at the same time, he worked his way to 11th at the end, setting 10th-fastest race lap. And he said he had a huge bag of fun (that's a shocker…).

Race Two
With Sy on pole again, and him stretching a lead right from the start of race two, and with a confidence-building win less than 20 hours earlier, would Sy rocket off into the sunset, leaving crumbs for everybody else? Are you nuts? This is a Skip Barber race…

Okay, Sy did take a big lead early. Halfway around lap two, it was 1.5 seconds (that's big in the Race Series). But that would evaporate, since we had to go full course yellow, the result of some contretemps in the Laces. I don't know exactly what happened, but the end result was Lorentzen stuck in the mud and Mayes coming around in 17th, and we needed a couple laps to clear things up.

The order was Sy, Ivo, Peter, Cote (up from 10th) and Anti, we were green again for the start of lap five Into the Bus Stop, it was a three-car flair for the lead. Sy stayed on the point but Ludwig snatched second from Ivo, and Anti got around Cote. Ludwig hitched a chain to Sy's gearbox for the next lap, and on lap seven, when they got to the Toe, Sy slipped up and Ludwig went by. As did Ivo. And Anti. And Cote. And Lippert spun down there, too.

Now the pack is flying up to the Bus Stop, a lap-and-a-half to go. A flurry of cars dive into this very fast chicane, all kinds of moves are made, and the driver that emerged with the lead -- Ivo Guerguev -- was not even sure what happened. All that mattered to him was he was in front.

Ivo gapped everyone else, but P2 was still up for grabs. Ludwig had it starting the last lap, but again a scary flair of cars dumped themselves into the Bus Stop and out the other side came Anti in second, Sy in third and Peter in fourth. At the Heel, four corners from the end, Sy rode his brakes all the way down to the apex to get around Anti to take second.

Whew! Another heck of a race… Ivo did such a great job, it was a much deserved win, and Sy was really on his game. Charles was sneaky fast all week and has made tremendous progress in the little time he's been racing, about a year. Good going, guys.

Fifth(!) was Moreno, who might've fought for the lead if there had been another lap or two, Cote was sixth, Murray Marden a terrific seventh, followed by Michael Gomez, Lippert and a recovering Mayes.

Two great races, and I gotta tell you, I'm tuckered out just writing about them. Bottom line: Thanks for putting on such a perfect show in front of a big road-racing sanctioning body and a NASCAR-owned race facility. Hope y'all had a good time…


- Rock Rizzo

[juicyjules]

So proud of you baby!

[sydude]

OMG! What an amazing weekend! Todd and Divi put this incredible deal together and it went flawlessly. It was just TOO COOL. We had our own special area right next to where all of the DP and GT teams were, so we were right in the middle of all of the action.

All of the Skippy guys and girls did a flawless job taking care of us and getting us through the fixed Grand Am time schedule, and all of our racers did an unbelievable driving job and kept out of trouble, so we maximized our track time. I don't recall the last time we had so few incidents and especially such little crash damage. The fact that this was at Watkins Glen only magnifies its impressiveness!

And as usual the Glen provided us with incredible racing, too. There was incredible action in all of the sessions. We had Grand Am fans, racers and crews come up to us constantly and tell us what a great show we were putting on, and with how well we drove. I think they were a bit shocked by our performance compared to their own series - we provided HUGE racing action with so few incidents.

Also, a very big Thank You for all of your kind words this weekend. I wish you were all there and could have raced and experienced the amazing event with all of us. I'm going to start a new thread for the racers to put up their own stories, which I hope will be very memorable.

[kwlorentzen]

I agree with Sy! It was an excellent weekend. I for one had a lot of fun and learned a lot from all the guys, especially in the deparptment of race craft! I can't wait till the next time! Congradulations to Sy and Ivo for winning, Charles for his pair of podiums, and Dick for his third place appearance! I only wish I could have been up there competing with you all in that second race, though I got a really good education none-the-less.

[LimeRockRacer]

Sy...AWESOME performance. I have heard you had "performance anxiety" before the big race weekend. Apparently you rose to the occassion. Great job all around. We are so very proud of our racing friends putting on such a great show on our behalf. SBRS is producing some very good amateur racers. Congrats to Ivo as well. Sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate your success in person.