Report and photos by David Ferguson, Rusty Nuts Photography
The HSR Mitty Speedfest 2011 was held April 29 – May 1 at the 2.54 mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. This year’s Mitty saw 302 entries, the largest number in 10 years. The featured marque was Mazda and Mazda racing great Jim Downing was Grand Marshal.
After two days of storms that brought so much death and destruction to the South of the US, the event was graced with perfect weather. The track did not suffer any damage during the storms, but many entrants had to deal with weather related hardships on their way to Road Atlanta.Perhaps the hard luck award goes to Harry Dinwiddie, a former IMSA racer, who towed his equipment through the storm only to have the engine in his Corvette let go in the very first practice session.
There were 12 races over the weekend including two enduros and two motorcycle races, providing a festival of speed, noise and color for the spectators and participants.
George Robinson turned the fastest lap of the weekend in his newly acquired Lola B07. The Judd-powered Lola turned a lap of 1:15.2 minutes for an average speed of 121.6 miles per hour.
Stacey Schepens drove her Morgan to third place in Sunday’s group 2 race to get her first ever podium. The other women participants at HSR Mitty Speedfest 2011 were Brenda Johnson, Debbie Cloud and Debra Graves.
Fred Ritenhour won the prestigious Walter Mitty Trophy which is given annually to the driver who best exemplifies the spirit of Walter Mitty, the James Thurber fictional character. Ritenhour, who races a Toyota Sports Racer in group 3, is a former Toyota executive.
Ari Malkhassian of Houston, Texas won the Mazda MX5 Cup despite furious pressure from Jason Saini and Justin Hall. The margin of victory was .02 seconds. Gunnar Jeannette won both Mission Foods GT3 races, and Keith Carroll won both Cayman Interseries events. There was a vintage motorcycle race which attracted 32 bikes of various sizes, classes and age. Billy Hauser on a Yamaha R1 was the winner.
Brian Johnson, lead singer for the rock band AC/DC raced his Lola T70 Mk. I and his Royale RP4. He perhaps summed up the weekend best when he said, “The Mitty is not so much a race as a festival of speed. It’s lots of fun and everybody is car nuts and a gear head.”
HSR Mitty Speedfest 2011 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
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HSR Mitty Speedfest 2011 – Race Results
Group 2 – Vintage Production
Race 1
1- Roy Walzwer, 1965 Lotus Elan
2- Bill Bartlett, 1962 Lotus Super 7
3- Andre Herke, 1968 BMW 2002
Race 2
1- Bill Bartlett, 1962 Lotus Super 7
2- Andre Herke, 1968 BMW 2002
3- Theo Bean, 1960 Aston Martin
Group 3 – Vintage/Historic Production
Race 1
1- Joel Quadracci, 1969 Brabham BT-29
2- William Binnie, 1963 Lotus 23B
3- Roy Walzer, 1963 Lotus 23B
Race 2
1- Joel Quadracci, 1969 Brabham BT-29
2- Farrell Preston, 1963 Jaguar E Type
3- Fritz Seidel, 1969 Porsche 911
Group 4 – Small-Bore Formula and B.O.S.S. Super Cup Series
Race 1
1- Mark Brannon, 1997 Lola T97/20
2- David Porter , 1997 Lola T97/20
3- David Sugg, 1997 Lola T97/20
Race 2
1- Mark Brannon, 1997 Lola T97/20
2- David Porter , 1997 Lola T97/20
3- Travis Engen, 2001 Lola T97/20
Group 5 – Historic Production
Race 1
1- Byron De Foor, 1965 Lola T-70 MK1
2- Farrell Preston, 1966 McLaren M1B
3- Larry Ligas, 1961 Jaguar XKE 4.2
Race 2
1- Edward Sevadjian, 1969 Corvette
2- Larry Ligas, 1961 Jaguar XKE 4.2
3- David Porter , 1985 Swift DB2
Group 6/7 – Historic GTP/Group C/WSC Series and Championship of Makes
Race 1
1- George Robinson, 2007 Lola B07
2- Toby Bean, 1990 Intrepid GTP
3- Robert Garcia, 1999 Riley & Scott
Race 2
1- Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8
2- John Reisman, 1990 Lola B2K40
3- Phil Daigrepont, 1971 Porsche 908/03
Group 8 – Historic Stock Car Series
Race 1
1- Larry Hoopaugh, 2004 Monte Carlo
2- John Finger, 2003 Monte Carlo
3- Mark Furcini, 2005 Charger
Race 2
1- Mark Furcini , 2005 Charger
2- Larry Hoopaugh, 2004 Monte Carlo
3- Brian Norman, 2006 Charger
Group 9 – Historic GT Series
Race 1
1- Donald Soenen, 1995 Mustang Trans Am
2- Phil Lasco, 2000 Mustang Trans Am
3- Dave Machavern, 2001 Corvette
Race 2
1- Richard Howe, 1989 Mustang Trans Am
2- Dale Phelon, 1995 Mustang Trans Am
3- Donald Soenen, 1995 Mustang Trans Am
International – American/RS Challenge
1- Dennis Olthoff, 1966 GT40 MK II
2- Jody O’Donnell, 1969 Corvette
3- Larry Ligas, 1961 Jaguar XKE 4.2
Klub Sport Porsche Challenge
1- Frank Beck, 1972 Porsche 914/6
2- Kevin Wheeler, 1970 Porsche 914/6
3- Fritz Seidel, 1969 Porsche 911
Historic Indy Champ Cars
1- Ken Petrie, 1985 March Indy Car
2- Paul Morgan , 2002 Dallara Indy Car
3- Joel Quadracci, 1997 Lola 97-20
Classic Motorsports Small Bore Enduro
1- Tom Trabue, 1965 Porsche 911
2- Dale Erwin, 1958 Porsche 358 Speedster
3- Andre Herke , 1968 BMW 2002
Louis Chevrolet Vintage Enduro
1- William Binnie, 1963 Lotus 23B
2- Roy Walzer, 1963 Lotus 23B
3- Fritz Seidel, 1969 Porsche 911
Louis Chevrolet Classic GT Enduro
1- Roy Walzer, 1970 Chevron B-16 Spyder
2- Richard Duffey, 1985 Swift DB-2
3- David Porter , 1985 Swift DB-2
[Source: David Ferguson, Rusty Nuts Photography]
The way the photo galleries are accessed has changed and it sucks (sorry, no other way to put it). I used to be able to click through from one photo to the next all the way through a photo gallery. Now, I have to reload the entire page and scroll back down to the gallerie EVERY time I click on any photo to see a larger image. It just doesn’t work, it would take an hour or more if you want to see all the pics in a gallery. PLEASE do something about this so I can see all of the work by these excellent photographers.
Thanks for the feedback. Please try this…wait until the entire page loads. Your browser bar at the bottom will say done. Then, click on a thumbnail to open up the gallery. That should do the trick.
FYI, this has always been the case, but apparently it’s slower on the new site. Not good!!
You guys need to figure out a way to view the photos via a slide-show, rather than having to wait for the entire page to load between every single photo. Other sites can do this; it should not be that difficult.
Just to be clear…you only have to do this once. Wait for the page to load (8-10 seconds max) and then you can view all 200+ images.
And that is no different than any site on the net, fyi. All slide shows have the same mechanism in the background. Ours unfortunately is a little slower than it should be on the initial load right now. Thanks for your patience.
The pictures are just too hard to see. You can wait 1 minute for them to download, and it still doesn’t work.
I’ve never had this problem before on this site.
It’s still not working. We cannot click from one picture to the next. Bar at bottom says done but with error on page. Same with Dennis’ report on California Mille.
What browser are you using?
i am having the same proplem as everybody else. one pic than scroll. never had this proplem before
To state the obvious, there is an issue that we were unaware of before today. We have identified that the issue — please correct us if otherwise — is only evident on the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.
We are working diligently to remedy the bug. Thanks again for your patience.
If you’d like a heads-up on when it will be fixed (and when you can view images normally), please subscribe to this thread and we will update when it’s fixed.
We have slapped on a band-aid to the issue. Not a permanent solution just yet, but hopefully this will allow everyone to see the images as intended.
Please let us know if any other issues arise. Again, sorry for the issue!
Seems to be working. Thanks Jamie,
Dave
I was told about our friend, Fred Ritenour, winning the Walter Mitty Trophy for the event this year. Do you have any photos of Fred with the trophy? What about complete results for all races, etc. It would be nice to see how everyone did, not just the top three per group/category.
Thanks, mj
Mj, I just saw this request.
Sorry, but I have no photos of Fred getting the Walter Mitty Trophy.
Dave Ferguson
Unfortunately I could only attend Sunday and what a DISAPPOINTMENT!!!! Most of the cars I came to see had packed up and gone. The last 2 races of the day averaged 5 cars each and the poor “grand prix” motorcycle guys who had been bumped from earlier in the day only had 2!! Of course I was charged full price for the day, the same price as Saturday and I feel completely ripped off. If HSR is not going to require the participants to be there for both days then make it a ONE DAY event and don’t rip people off for the Sunday ticket. IF I ever attend the Mitty again it will only be on Saturday only.