Pacenotes – November 2012

• It’s always nice when the CEO of a major automaker shows an interest in motor sport, and an excellent example of this phenomenon took place at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion when BMW North America chief Ludwig Willisch drove a 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL—one of the five team cars from the factory’s 1975-’76 IMSA effort—in Group 6A for IMSA GT and other similar cars. Willisch placed 29th in a field of 38 cars, but was happy to have been able to take the wheel of a genuine piece of his company’s racing history.

• Tony Adamowicz and Jim Stengel have been crowned as champions of Classes A and B, respectively, of the U.S. Formula 5000 Drivers Association, following the rain- and crash-shortened series finale at Watkins Glen on September 9. Adamowicz, the SCCA’s 1969 Formula 5000 champion, repeated as the F5DA Class A titlist driving the same Eagle Mk5-Chevy with which he won the ’69 crown, while Stengel reprised his 2009 F5DA title by taking the Class B win at The Glen with his McRae GM1-Chevy. Seb Coppola won the Class A contest at The Glen with his Lola T192-Chevy.