IMSAblog

Momo Corse : the Italian way

Gianpiero Moretti began making and selling custom steering wheels while he was a student at the University of Pavia in Italy. He had a real talent at it and he began his racing career in the beginning of the seventies. Soon, Enzo Ferrari had placed an order for some Momo wheels. His business had grown and he had a production line to supply Ferrari, and he had become a successful businessman while he was still a student. In 1971, he had moved up to big time racing and was running a Ferari 512M in the World Sportscar Championship. The first race of the season was the 24 Hours of Daytona and this very first race would determine his later familiar race number : 30. He would always carry that number throughout his IMSA career. His racing career in Europe spanned for eight years, and he began his American career in 1978, in the US. He had purchased a Porsche 935, and moved to the IMSA Championship, in which he finished third overall, in his first season.

Gianpiero Moretti had his best season in 1978, which was in very first IMSA Championship. He drove his Porsche 935 to a fourth place finish

Copyright Mark Windecker

The two following years were more disappointing, with an eighteenth place overall in 1979, and a sixth in 1980. He won the last two races of the season however, with Reinhold Joest. The 1980s began with many travels between Europe and the US. He did plan his races according to his personal priorities. He purchased a Joest Porsche 935L in 1981 and had hired Ian Dawson as a Team manager. He had some good placings at the wheel of this very fast car, often placing second behind Brian Redman's Lola T600. However, running such a car stirred up some disapprovals from many competitors and the fall Road Atlanta race would be his last appearance for a season and a half. He and IMSA had a disagreement about the rules interpretation, so he left the series and came back to Europe. He did some 1982 World Sportscar Championship races with a March 82G Porsche, but with little success. Remembering these years, Gianpiero Moretti could sense the difference between the US and European spirit, and he probably felt that he would be back very soon. So, in 1983, he was back in the US, with the Porsche 935L, which was now outdated. He then purchased a March 83G, in which a Porsche engine would be installed. He would use the two cars during the entire season, the March 83G Porsche was used and replaced by the Porsche when it was crashed. For that season, Gianpiero Moretti had arranged a deal with Kreepy Krauly, a South African pool cleaning supplier factory.

Gianpiero Moretti drove his two year old Porsche 935L with Sarel van der Merwe when his March 83G Porsche was destoryed. Here at Mid Ohio

Copyright Mark Windecker

They had explored the March chassis and would bring Sarel van der Merwe and Désiré Wilson as co-drivers. Alistair McNeill served as team manager and this relationship between the two men would strengthen throughout the years. The year was not much successful, and was frought with two violent crashes, one at Lime Rock for Gianpiero Moretti himself and the second for Désiré Wilson at Brainerd. The March was destroyed and the team had to finish the season with the Porsche. Gianpiero Moretti finished up twelfth in points.
For 1984, Momo Corse went on some new ways, and did campaign an Alba chassis car, powered by a Ford Cosworth engine. Renamed Momo, the car was underpowered and had trouble keeping up with the best. The Porsche 962 was now the new pacesetter, even if it was not a Porsche driver that won the Championship. The car was built out of carbon fiber composites and had won the Group C2 Chamionship in the 1983 WSC. His best result was a fourth at Lime Rock, which he ran solo.

Gianpiero Moretti purchased an Alba AR3 fitted with a Cosworth engine, which he campaigned in 1984. He was at the wheel of this car at Michigan, finishing tenth overall.

Copyright Mark Windecker

For 1985, the car was renamed Alba and he entered the car in the GTP class, being fitted with a 3,5L engine. The team entered the car at Miami, Road Atlanta and Riverside, with not much success.Then he car was sold to CCR.
1986 was quite an off season with only three appearances on the Camel GT circuit. He brought along the Momo sponsorship to the Joest Racing Porsche 962 for the two Miami and Sebring races. Two very disappointing races with a thirteenth overall at Miami and a dnf at Sebring after only ten laps. Then Gianpiero Moretti drove once with Roger Andrey at Lime Rock, with no good result at the finish.
In 1987, Gianpiero Moretti appeared surprisingly at the wheel of a Ford Probe with a dnf. He did not appear until the end of the season, he had meanwhile purchased a March 86G Buick. The beautiful car was driven by himself and Whitney Ganz. They finished ninth at Portland for the first race. Then it was a succession of top ten finishes. He had two cars, that were previously run as the BMW GTPs. The chassis were BMWs, but the engines were Buick. A 3,0L Turbo V6 engine was fitted on the first car while the second one was fitted with a 4,5L V8. Buick did not bring any support except from the engine help.

Gianpiero Moretti campaigned a Buick powered March 86G in 1987. He had a very disappointing season and no support from Buick at all.

Copyright Van Zannis

In 1988, the cars were entered at the 24 Hours of Daytona, but with poor results. The next races were a succession of dnfs or very poor results, and the best result of the season was a ninth at Watkins Glen. At the end of the season, Gianpiero Moretti entered a Gebhardt prepared Porsche 962, and he would enter for the remainder of the season. A fifth would reward the team at the Tampa GTE World Challenge. The March experience was already over. The 1989 season began at the 24 Hours of Daytona with the Porsche 962. The season seemed to start under better auspices with a dnf at this first race, but Sebring ended up with a fourth overall. Gianpiero Moretti was co-driven by Derek Bell and Michael Roe.

Back again with Porsche! Gianpiero Moretti entered a Porsche 962 in 1989, finishing third at Road Atlanta with Stanley Dickens co-driving.

Next, the team did almost every remaining race. A pair of thirds at Road Atlanta and Mid Ohio, a fourth at San Antonio and a fifth at Tampa. Gianpiero Moretti ended up eleventh in points.
The 1990 season started with a crash at Daytona with Derek Bell ending up on the roof, but he was unhurt. The best result was a sixth at Watkins Glen. In 1991, the season began at West Palm Beach with a dnf. The team had a tenth place finish at Sebring, with Derek Bell co-driving. At Topeka, the team had a radical Momo C901 Audi powered car. They once again met little success and later sent back to Germany to be converted back to Cosworth power. At the end of the season, the Porsche 962 was brought back to the track. The car was now prepared by Reinhold Joest instead of Gunther Gebhardt. Gianpiero Moretti and Derek Bell were sixth at Portland. After a last dnf at Road America, the team did not enter Del Mar.
They started the 1992 season at Daytona, and Hans Stuck, Henri Pescarolo and Frank Jelinski were his new co-drivers on the Porsche 962C but it was again a dnf after 503 laps. The next race, held at Miami ended up with an eighth place finish and Sebring a third place. Oscar Larrauri and Bernd Schneider were his co-drivers for this last race. The 1992 was the year of the big Nissan versus Toyota battles and the Porsche 962s were becoming increasingly outdated. Gianpiero Moretti was content with a sixth at Road Atlanta, despite a spin in the dirt. Lime Rock was a dnf, as well as Mid Ohio. Gianpiero Moretti would be joined later in the season by John Paul Jr. They both competed in the New Orleans and Watkins Glen, and were rewarded with two sixths. Then it was Frank Biela at Portland. John Paul Jr was back again at Road America, again for a sixth overall. Their last race was at Phoenix, where they took a seventh, but they could obviously not do better. The season ended up with a sixth place finish for Gianpiero Moretti, which was quite an honest achievement. For 1993, Nissan had decided to retire from GTP racing, and subsequently had asked Gianpiero Moretti to run the Nissan NPT90. Their objective was to face the extremely strong opposition from the All American Racers team. At that point, Nissan was thinking of turning their program into a true car customer service, as Porsche did. They recommended Kevin Doran as a Team Manager, as he was familiar with running the cars. Unfortunately, Nissan's racing team was disbanded, and all they had for themselves was the engine shop and no more factory support. Things could not begin worse. They began the season at Daytona with a quite usual team : Derek Bell, Massimo Sigala and John Paul Jr along with the boss. That very first race was quite encouraging for the team as they battled for victory until two hours from the finish when the engine quit, leaving them to a disappointing sixth overall. Then it was a string of encouraging races, with a fourth at Miami and a second at Sebring. John Paul Jr was still part of the team. After a dnf at Road Atlanta, the Derek Bell and Gianpiero Moretti pair took a sixth at Lime Rock and a third at Mid Ohio. After an eighth at Watkins Glen, the team would wind up a fourth at Laguna Seca and Portland, but it was clear that no victory would reward the glorious Italian team. However, Gianpiero Moretti ended up third in points, which his best result ever in the series, along with his first season, which was 1978. Kevin Doran was named Technician of the Year. His dream of winning a GTP was not fulfilled, and would never be, as 1993 was the last year for the GTPs. So he would never win a GTP race, as IMSA had opted to go WSC. Gianpiero Moretti would run a Ferrari 333SP, and finally be rewarded with international success at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen, but that's another story.
Gianpiero Moretti has become a true figure of IMSA racing, and he has become a familiar face wandering in the IMSA paddocks. If you ever wanted to eat pasta, then he was the man you ought to know, but on the track, he was a real contender for the win. He has brought his Italian style and accent to IMSA racing. He is one of the men who made the IMSA Camel GT and he is one of the living legends of the series.

Fiction : 24 Hours of Daytona 1974

The 1973 oil crisis began in 1973 when the members of OAPEC announced they would no longer ship petroleum to the nations supporting Israel. As a result, the members of OPEC agreed to use their leverage over the the world price setting mechanisméin order to quadruple world oil prices. Highly dependent on the OPEC oil, these price increases were dramatically inflationary to the economics of these countries. To worsen things, the OAPEC placed an embargo on shipments to the west, and especially the USA. This resulted in a soaring increase of the oil prices. Many occendital countries changed their policy concerning energy and it was clear that oil had not to be spoilt : energy conservation was the main goal. The retail price of a gallon of gasoline had risen from 38,5 cents in may 1973 to 55,1 cents in june 1974.
The daily consumption dropped and the USA suffered their first fuel shortage since World War II. This situation resulted in a great auto racing events reduction. Many long distance races were purely cancelled and events were not exceding 6 hours duration. The IMSA Championship was forced to drop his best race : the 12 Hours of Sebring. A remarkable fact was that, nonetheless, more than two thousand fans showed up anyway on the third week-end of March 1974. The legend simply did not want to die!
This post is singularly different from the other ones in many aspects. It is probably the most subjective. However, it is based on facts, let us say IMSA results and archives from 1973 and 1974. This is a compilation of what might have been the entry list. I will comment it and explain why I chose these cars. First, I think that a sixty five plus  car field looks quite appreciable. An odd mix of cars, as per usual, with top cars and drivers, along with amateur racers, fast ones or backmarkers, this is some kind of experimentation, so let us have a look at this entry list. A bunch of Porsche Carrera RSRs, you should find the winner amongst them. Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood brought theid immaculate Brumos car.

Al Holbert and Elliot Forbes Robinson shared this beautiful Porsche Carrera RSR

Copyright Mark Windecker

Always impeccably prepared, the car was impressive, and they had won the 1973 race, beating the prototypes. Holbert Racing entered a similar car for Al Holbert and Elliot Forbes Robinson. Very impressive in each race, he could do well in such a race. The car had a beautiful paint scheme and was very attractive. Toad Hall Racing had a Porsche Carrera RSR for Michael Keyser and Milt Minter. The two drivers were regular entrants and had won many IMSA races. So you could expect those two guys to be close behind. Silverstone Racing entered his grey Porsche Carrera for George Stone and Mike Downs. Probably less competitive, you could expect to find them in the top five rankings. Gregg Loomis and Pete Harrison had their white 2,8L car along with a real feeling for this particular race. Bob Bergstrom was a usual entrant for that race that he found attractive. He shared his car with a living legend in the name of Bob Bondurant. From Canada came Ludwig Heimrath who shared his car with Jim Cook, as well as Klaus and Harry Bytzek, who had Rudy Bartling as co-driver, while Jacques Bienvenue and Marc Dancose had made the costly trip to Daytona.

This Porsche Carrera RSR was to be driven by Harry and Klaus Bytzek, along with Rudy Bartling

Copyright Mark Windecker

George Dyer, who was improving at every race, had his familiar Neufeld Porsche Carrera RSR, which he shared with Brad Frisselle. Charlie Kemp was a familiar face on the IMSA circuit and entered his Porsche Carrera RSR, which was an updated 2,8L model, which he shared with John Tunstall. John Graves, Dave Helmick and John O'steen were to drive the Ecurie Escargot car, which displayed the usual number forty three. Guillermo Rojas, Hector Rebaque and Freddy van Beuren came from Mexico with some strong hopes, giving the race a very international air. This strong field of Porsche were the crowds' favorites, but which one? The Bavarian marque BMW was not officially represented, yet two BMW 3.0CSLs could be seen, to everyone's delight. Very fast, if not reliable, they were very well driven. John Buffum and Andy Peterey drove the first one while George Follmer and Brett Lunger drove the second one.

John Buffum and Andy Peterey shared this BMW 3.0CSL.

Copyright Mark Windecker

Unfortunately, the expected works cars were not ready, and the current ones were not IMSA legal. A very interesting car, in the form of the Ford Capri RS3100, entered by Ausca Inc, could play more than second fiddle. Horst Kwech and Harry Theodoracopoulos had had very good races, yet the car was perhaps not so reliable, but who knows? A bunch of Chevrolet Corvettes was here, and it was indoubtedly John Greenwood who attracted the most spectators. His fantastic black car was as impressive as it was beautiful. Probably the crowds favorite, as to the action to be brought. John Greenwood was co-driven by Sam Posey, and the car was to be seen at its favorite spot : first place. The Garcia brothers, George, Javier and Manuel had a Greenwood Corvette too, and they were often placed in the top ten standings, so you should have a look at this one. Phil Currin had his red old 63 roadster that he shared with Bob Picariello. Craig and Darrell Carter shared their own Carter Bros Corvette. They hoped they could make it to the finish with an old car. Tony de Lorenzo and Wilbur Pickett had better hopes with the Leldon Blackwell car, and you could have an eye on this car in the opening laps of the race.

Tony de Lorenzo and Wilbur Pickett drove this Corvette entered by Leldon Blackwell

Copyright Mark Windecker

James Alspaugh and Gene Persinger were part of the usual amateur entry and had no ambition but to finish and have fun. Babe Headley and Sammy Feinstein were  IMSA and Trans Am regulars, and usually did well at the wheel of the Babe's Garage of Paoli Corvette. Ford Smith and Luis Sereix were usual contenders in the East coast events and they could do well in that race. Roger Pierce and Doug Mills entered their usual black Corvette, but finally had to switch to their Ford  Mustang  after a collision in practice. Bill Arnold had a roadster for himself and Carl Thompson. Rick Hay and Mike Brockman shared a beautiful Corvette with good hopes. Frank Brown and Ed Lowther, Wiley Doran and Mason O'keef, Rick Mancuso, John Cargill and Larry Bock were the last Corvette entries. Many Camaros were to be seen too, with Gene Felton, who brought his big block 7,0L car. He was partnered by NASCAR star Buddy Baker for big time racing. The sams could be said from Maurice Carter who had Eppie Wietzes as co-driver. An all-Canadian car that could do very well on this horsepower track. Vince Gimondo and Billy Dingman were no stranger to this race  and they usually did well, so keep an eye on this car. Herb Jones, Steve Faul and Radjah Rodgers had a beautiful Camaro too. Gene Harrington and Allan Barker were good contenders and should appear in the top ten at the start. Mike Williamson and Al Cosentino had an old car, as well as Roberto Boza and Eduardo Garido while Tom Nehl and Milton Moise were having good hopes for the race. Paul and Kenper Miller shared a Camaro too. The most impressive was to come : Carl Shafer had entered his to-the-limit Camaro he shared with Tom Bagley. Plenty of excitement was to be seen. A last car was entered by Ralph Noseda, co-driven by Richard Small. A second Ford Mustang, driven by Richard and Dave Mroz, alongside Roger Pierce's car. Some lonely cars were entered too : an Alfa Romeo Montreal, entered by Bobcor Racing, for Bert Everett and Paul Nichter. The car suffered from reliability problems in 1973, and had been developed furthermore. Two De Tomasos were to be seen, a Pantera and a Mangusta. Hugh Kleinpeter was partnered by Jeff Stevens in an effective car. Max Sebba and Bob McGraw had an impressive, if not efficient, Mangusta. A Jaguar XKE, driven by Glenn Bunch and Al Taylor, added some variety to the field. A Shelby Mustang was also here, driven by French Hickman and Jim Speck. The GTU class was widely spread, and many Porsche 911s would show up. George Drolsom and Harold Williamson had some good reasons to hope for the win, as well as Bruce Jennings-Bob Beasley, Bob Kirby-Mike Sherwin, Paul Spruell-Bill Bean, Mike Tillson-Dieter Oest and Don Parish-Dave Causey. All these teams had their chances for the class win.

The Porsche 911S driven by George Drolsom and Harold Williamson was among the GTU favorites

Copyright Mark Windecker

Two Porsche 914/6 were to be seen : Dave White and David McClain were driving the first one  while John Hulen and Ron Coupland drove the yellow one. A noisy Mazda RX3 could be seen, driven by Ray Walle and Tom Reddy.
A handful of Datsun 240Zs added diversity to the class. John Tremblay and Bob Lapp drove one, Spencer Buzbee and Craig Ross another one, and Bruce Mabrito and Jack Steel but the most interesting car was undoubtedly the Bob Sharp Racing car, driven by Bob Sharp and Jim Fitzgerald. It was the fastest GTU car but what its reliability? A single BMW 2002, for Frederick Miller and Russ Norburn, a Volvo 142 for Arthur Mollin and Arthur Riley. An interesting Chevrolet Vega, which was driven by Steve Coleman and Amos Johnson, but too new a car to last? A Ford Escort entered by Juan Montalvo and Jim Grob, which was beautifully prepared. This car closed this honest entry list. In a future post, I will try to tell you the story of what might have been the race.

24 Hours of Daytona 1985

It was the first event of the 1985 season. An impressive entry list was to be seen at the famous speedway, and it promised an exciting race. As expected, many Porsche 962s were entered and you had to search the winner amongst them. Two cars were entered by BF Goodrich, the team had switched from last year's Lola T616 Mazdas and had an all star line-up. Jim Busby ran the team and he drove as well. He was partnered by Rick Knoop and Jochen Mass on the #67 car while Pete Halsmer, John Morton and Dieter Quester were on the #68. Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr drove the Holbert Racing car. They were the favorites but they should have to be very cautious at their opponents, who were very hungry and searching for new honours with their potent new cars. Bob Akin had entered his 962, which was driven by himself, Hans Stuck and Paul Miller. Preston Henn had entered a 962, and the car was driven by the well-known trio, Bob Wollek, Al Unser Sr and AJ Foyt. It was now a very good team, accustomed to racing together. Bob Wollek and AJ Foyt even appeared as good friends, and everything looked allright. The last car was entered by Bayside Disposal, Henri Pescarolo was partnered by Thierry Boutsen and Bruce Leven. The opposition had materialized in the form of two Jaguar XJR5s, entered by Group 44. The two cars were driven by Bob Tullius, Brian Redman and Hurley Haywood, and Claude Ballot Léna, Jim Adams and Chip Robinson. The boss was very confident about his cars, and could couunt on the two cars' reliability. They would run at their own pace, which was nearly practice times. A bunch of Marches was still entered by different teams. While slightly outpaced, they could still play a major role in Endurance racing. The most efficient car was undoubtedly the Phil Conte Buick powered Hawk. Based on the March chassis, the car had been thoroughly modified and obviously improved. Very fast, it had to be improved on the reliability level. John Paul Jr was an excellent recruit for the team. His co-drivers were Bill Adam and Whitney Ganz. The practice sessions would confirm this statement as John Paul Jr would easily claim the pole position. John Kalagian had still a Chevrolet powered 84G model, and he was eagerly waiting for the 85G Porsche powered he would debut later in the season. Kreepy Krauly was again here, the 1984 winner had a Porsche powered March 84G, Sarel van der Merwe was partnered by Ian Scheckter and Tony Martin, with the secret hope of making it two in a row.

The last year winning March 84G Porsche had a very disappointing race

Copyright Dave Kutz

The Al and Art Leon brothers had two cars : a 84G Chevrolet and a 85G Porsche. They were driven by Art Leon-Skeeter McKitterick and Terry Wolters on the 84G and Al Leon-Randy Lanier and Bill Whittington on the 85G. Neil de Atley had brought a 84G for Tommy Byrne-Darin Brassfield and Michael Roe. Twonother cars were to be seen, the Red Lobster one would have one of its last appearances on the IMSA circuit and the Pegasus Racing car, driven by Ken Madren-Wayne Pickering and Cliff Allison would have a quiet race.
A single Lola T710 Chevrolet was here and aroused everyone's curiosity. It was a new car which was not factory backed, so it could not be much of a threat for the rest of the field. Momo Corse entered its Alba, which was still Ford powered. Gianpiero Moretti, Jim Trueman and Massimo Sigala were the drivers. Many Porsche 935s were entered, and they were now second hand cars, purchased by semi-professionnal teams. They could of course no more win any race, but they were still very spectacular cars to watch. Bob Akin still owned his 935-84, and he entered his car for Jim Mullen-Ray McIntyre and Kees Nierop. The car was now carrying the Polo Ralph Lauren colors, and it was still fast. Chuck Kendall had chosen to run his K3, which he ran with John Hotschkis and Peter Fitzgerald. Preston Henn had chosen to act as Bob Akin as he entered his 935L for Jean Louis Schlesser-Harald Grohs and Walter Brun. T and R Racing had a J car for Tico Almeida, Miguel Morejon. Lance van Every had dropped his usual Porsche Carrera and had a 935, which he drove with Ash Tisdelle and Jack Refenning. Wayne Baker, Jack Newsum, Chip Mead and Ren Tilton drove the car which had the longest history. It ran in 1983 as a Porsche 934 and had been reconverted to 935 specs.
Fred Baker, Richard Silver and Rick Maher were also driving one, as well as Paul Goral, Hugo Gralia and Emory Donaldson. Both teams were driving really outdated cars, but running is fun, isn't it. An old but beautiful Aston Martin Nimrod was present. Driven by Jack Miller, Carlos Ramirez and Tom Redding, the car would not start the race. An old Lola T600 Chevrolet, with a modified front nose, could be seen. Driven by Richard Anderson, Bard Boand and Mike Brummer, gone were the days of their domination.
Lyn St James entered an Argo JM16 Ford with Tim Coconis and Eric Lang, with very little hopes for the win.
The newly introduced Camel Lights category appeared to be a mild success. Charles Morgan, Jim Miller and Bill Alsup drove a Buick powered Royale RP40, with the victory in mind. Jim Downing, who was the instigator of this new class, had a Mazda Argo JM16. His co-drivers were John Maffucci and Yoshimi Katayama and the three of them were very confident about their car. Peter Welter, Nick Nicholson and Tom Burdsall had a Tiga GT285, while Kelly Marsh, together with brother Don, shared an Argo JM16 Mazda with Ron Pawley. The GTO class was still as much exciting, with many spectacular cars. A new marque seemed to be willing to set its domination : Ford. Jack Roush had two very fast cars, which had debuted at the 1984 Daytona Finale, and they easily won. John Jones-Wally Dallenbach and Doc Bundy drove the number 65 car, Willy T Ribbs-Jim Miller and John Bauer the #06, which was a Trans Am Mercury Capri converted to IMSA GTO specs. As per usual, a handful of Chevrolet Corvettes, Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds would make for the field. The Fords best opponents appeared to be the Chevrolet Corvette driven by Allen Glick-Billy Scyphers and Dan Marvin. Les Lindley was not too far with his Chevrolet Camaro. He was co-driven by Neil Bonnett and Loren St Lawrence. A Pontiac Firebird entered by Dingman Bros Racing, and driven by Walt Bohren, Billy Dingman and Ron Bouchard should do well, but would start from the back of the pack. One should keep an eye on the steady Pontiac Firebird entered by Les Delano, Andy Peterey and hot shot Tommy Riggins. A single Porsche 934 was on the entry list, driven by Rick Borlase, Don Kravig and Jim Torres.
In GTU, the now usual fight between Mazda and Toyota was somewhat antiquated with the now GTU legal Porsche 924GTR, which could provide a very strong opposition. The best car appeared to be a Porsche 924GTR, driven by John Schneider, Elliot Forbes Robinson and Don Istook.. Regular Mazda racers such as Jack Baldwin, the 1984 IMSA GTU Champion, Ira Young and Jeff Kline were close behind, followed by Paul Lewis, Scott Pruett and Joe Varde. The sole Toyota, driven by Chris Cord and Dennis Aase edging the Amos Johnson, Jack Dunham and Yojiro Terada Mazda RX7, which was not far behind. Plenty of close racing action was to be awaited by the 50000 spectators.
A bunch of Porsche 911s would try to have their reliability prevail upon speed. Another interesting car was the single Pontiac Fiero, which had done very well the previous year. Entered by Entech, the car, driven by Clay Young and Ron Grable would start dead last. The practice sessions would be reduced in time and the competitors would have only two ones, scheduled on Thursday and Friday. No one seemed to be willing to blow an engine and the sessions appeared to be much calmer than the previous years. John Paul Jr did not mind and was clearly set for a new lap record with a 1m41s490, which was a new track record.

John Paul Jr easily captured the pole position at the wheel of the Conte Racing Hawk Buick. He can be seen following the Mosler Racing Ferrari 512BB

Copyright Dave Kutz

Second was Sarel van der Merwe, but he was more than one second and a half slower than the polesitter. A March front was soon established, letting the Porsche 962s, which were obviously the favorites for the race, behind. Third was finally Bob Wollek, who managed to do a 1m43s588 in spite of a gearbox fork which jumped out of place. The Porsche squad experienced various problems during practice, but the race would be another story, of course.

At the start of the race, John Paul Jr and Sarel van der Merwe lead the field, at the wheel of their March

Copyright Dave Kutz

The race would be set under a very bright weather, with a comfortable field of seventy six starters. After the usual ceremonies, held under a clear blue sky, the race was set. Immediately after the green, the two leading Marches pulled ahead of the rest of the field. John Paul Jr and Sarel van der Merwe led, followed by an extremely cautious AJ Foyt, who was rapidly getting threatened by a bunch of eagerly waiting drivers. The first car to retire was the Pontiac Fiero driven by Clay Young, at the end of lap one.
Al Holbert would soon get past him. In fact, many drivers would then do the same and one could wonder if AJ was not undergoing troubles on his car. In fact, it was pure strategy, as you could see on Preston Henn's absolutely delighted face. Al Leon then had a puncture, which resulted in a damaged front end. Preston Henn lost his second car when Harald Grohs retired on lap sixteen with engine problems.
As the first hour of race was being broadcasted, every driver in front was trying to give his sponsor a good run for their money. The two leading cars did do that job very well, until the first refueling session. The Kreepy Krauly March stopped on the track, after running out of fuel! He would lose a lot of time, coming back to the pits, then the fuel pump would seize, and it was a dnf for the previous year's winner. Al Holbert, who was second, took the lead when John Paul Jr pitted for fuel. The Bob Tullius Jaguar took the lead during the thirty fifth and thirty sixth lap when the leading car stopped, but AJ Foyt, who was still running slowly had still not refueled! When Bob Wollek took the wheel of the car, he was just behind Derek Bell and ahead of the Conte Racing Hawk Buick. The Holbert Racing car kept the lead but the Jaguar, who had a lower fuel consumption, was a clear second when it came to the second refueling session. The British car took the lead when Derek Bell pitted for fuel. Chip Robinson, on the second Jaguar,  punctured and damaged his car, losing five laps in the process. Later in the evening, it was the weather that would bring some kind of animation to the racers. A big rain shower soon forced everybody to the pits to switch for rain tyres. As it was to last about for ten minutes, again everybody would come back to the pits for slicks. No incident was to be noticed during that short, raincast period. John Paul Jr, who was still well placed, soon experienced rear suspension problems. The Red Lobster March 84G Chevrolet would then retire with gearbox problems. As the night was slowly falling on the track, the first major incident took place when the leading GTU car, the Porsche 924GTR driven by John Schneider, hit the wall. The pace car was out. Many drivers would stop during this neutralisation. It was during that period that the Bayside Disposal car, driven by Henri Pescarolo, Thierry Boutsen and Bruce Leven, would retire after the ignition went hay-wire. The GTP Corvette had retired too, after a very unnoticed race. When the green was set again, many of the fastest cars found themselves jammed at the rear of the field, and they had to overtake the slower cars. Pete Halsmer tangled with a Chevrolet Corvette, which resulted in a new caution period while the two cars were withdrawn from the track. Both drivers were unhurt. Al Holbert led the race, followed by Bob Tullius and Bob Wollek, one lap down. Behind them, the leading GTO car was up into tenth place, it was the Roush Racing Ford Mustang driven by Wally Dallenbach, Doc Bundy and John Jones. Some of the possibly contenders had suffered from the top ten leaderboard. John Paul Jr spent a great deal of time changing the CV joint. The Bob Akin Porsche 962 lost its front cover on the track. While the three first cars were on the same lap, Bob Wollek and his co-drivers were fourth, three laps down. While the Jaguar was second, they would unfortunately be pulled out of the race, after a rear tyre blew out when exiting the chicane. An oil line had been torn off, resulting in a fire break. It was of course a retirement as well.

The Jaguar, driven by Bob Tullius, Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman ran very strong in the race. The car is seen here in the early stages of the race

Copyright Dave Kutz

Bob Tullius was lucky not to suffer more than slight burns, as he was stuck in his car for a long while. The pace car was out again. Thierry Boutsen had been hired during the night and was now co-driver on Preston Henn's Porsche 962. After another pace car session, he went back to the pits with his turbo stuck at maximum pressure. He lost about fifteen minutes. After ten hours, the Holbert Racing car was comfortably up front, Preston Henn's car was still second, while the Jochen Mass-Jim Busby-Rick Knoop car was third. The first Porsche 935, which was Bob Akin's car, driven by Jim Mullen-Ray McIntyre and Kees Nierop, was an excellent fourth overall, but eighteen laps down. then came the March 85G Porsche driven by Al Leon, Randy Lanier and Bill Whittington. They were just ahead of the sister car, driven by Art Leon-Skeeter McKitterick and Terry Wolters, whilst came next the GTO dominating car, the Ford Mustang driven by Wally Dallenbach-Doc Bundy and John Jones. As the night went on, the positions remained quite unaltered. As dawn slowly broke over, the BF Goodrich Porsche 962, still holding third place, pitted for lengthy repairs on the brakes, and the car fell down to sixth place. Holding the lead firmly, it seemed that the Holbert car would make it quietly to the finish, and they could afford lengthy pit stops. However, at 9:19, the car suddenly came back to the pits at a very slow pace. Things seemed to worsen, after the drivers had complained about a misfiring engine. The fuel filter seemed to be cleaned again, losing four laps. Behind them, the race seemed to gain in attrition, and the Coke Porsche 962 lost again its front cover. At 10:30, it started to rain again and everyone went in the pits for a tyre switch. The leading car was beginning to slow down again and was now losing ten second per lap. Now clearly faster than the leading car, the Porsche 962 driven by Thierry Boutsen was only four laps down after 600 laps! Al Holbert had serious trouble keeping up with every remaining GTP car, and he stopped to try to have his electric problem fixed, but it was to no avail.
He knew that the race was lost. At 14:48, Preston Henn's car was in the lead. Derek Bell's car refused to fire up during one of his last pit stops. The BF Goodrich car, driven by Jochen Mass, was now ready to get past Derek Bell, but the latter finally was able to maintain his position until the chequered. He stuck himself thirty meters from the finish line, waiting for the flag to be waved. Enjoying a much more quiet end of race, Hans Stuck, driving the Bob Akin Motor Racing car, finally took fourth, overtaking the team's Porsche 935-84. Porsche took the first five positions, while the Leon Bros Marches took sixth and seventh. The next car was the Ford Mustang winning the GTO class, which was clearly the class of the field. The winning Lights car was the Argo JM16 Mazda driven by Ron Pawley, Don and Kelly Marsh. They finished three laps ahead of the second place Argo JM16 Mazda driven by Jim Downing, John Maffucci and Yoshimi Katayama.
The GTU class was won by the Team Highball Mazda RX7, driven by Amos Johnson, Jack Dunham and Yojiro Terada. The Toyota Celica challenge went loose, when the transmission failed on Chris Cord and Dennis Aase car. At the end, it was a new victory for the TBird Swap Shop team, and Bob Wollek, AJ Foyt, Al Unser Sr and Thierry Boutsen were quite happy with that.

The winning Porsche 962, entered by Preston Henn's TBird Swap Shop, prior to the race

Copyright Michael Crews

The March and Jaguar challenge would become more difficult to hold, with the now regular six or seven car entry, and the Porsche domination was just going on.