Rush Motorsport Finish 1-2 At Buttonwillow Raceway
===========================================

It was a beautiful sunny Labor Day weekend at Buttonwillow as we returned to our home track for the fall double regional, using the 3.1 mile track configuration #25a, running in counter clockwise direction. #25a in the long track going around Star Mazda and the newer Buttonhook turn. In spite of surging gas prices, 17 Spec Miata drivers showed up for the 2 day event. Besides your regular participants of the Rush Motorsport team, the Christian racing family, the ALive Motorsports car plus other independents, there were some new faces as well.

The friendly duel between the Rush Motorsport cars of Don Thibaut and Clement Lee vs the Christian brothers of Jonathan and William recommenced promptly in qualifying. Don qualified in front with Clement in 4th, sandwiching Jonathan and William right in between. The 4 of them, running at a breath taking pace, all qualified under the track record. The next closest SM was more than a couple of seconds back. These top 4 SM were so fast that only the ITS BMW and T1 Corvette qualified any faster. The anticipation for another close race was definitely brewing.

When the green flag flew, both the BMW and Corvette blasted off into the distance while all the SM went through the first corner in an orderly manner. Don Thibaut and Jonathan Christian rounded Star Mazda swiftly and immediately tried to break away. William Christian had difficulty finding the right gear and Clement Lee promptly made his way around William. By the end of the first lap, the trio were running nose to tail, and had comfortably broken away from the rest of the field.

Don, Jonathan and Clement were literally driving the wheels off the car. On lap 2, Jonathan dropped a wheel coming out of Riverside. That tiny mistake was enough for Clement to take advantage of the long back straight to make a pass. All Jonathan could do was to smartly tucked in behind. Coming onto the pit straight, it was Clement's turn to wiggled. Jonathan wasted no time, doved inside and completed the pass. All three, Don, Jonathan and Clement, in heavy fuel load, were already running faster than the track record.

While Jonathan and Clement were fighting back and forth for position on lap 3, Don ever so gingerly crept away. Clement, with a better run out of Magic Mountain, made another pass on Jonathan on the back straight. With Jonathan in tow, Clement was now in full pursuit of his teammate.

It took 2 hot laps but Clement did reel in his teammate. Could Don finally be feeling some pressure as he placed a couple wheels off coming onto the pit straight?! The Rush Motorsport teammates began lap 6 in nose to tail fashion, with Jonathan just a couple car lengths behind. As they went around the track, Clement took a look over Don coming down the back straight, but backed off as they were closing down rapidly to some I.T. cars. Clement had throw down the anchors to avoid ramming Don as they came around the left-right-left Cotton Corners combination. The delay allowed Jonathan to close right up as well. All three just managed to make it pass the backmarkers before the Buttonhook turn. Once again, the race was almost decided by cars from a different class.

With Clement and Jonathan in close pursuit, Don put in his fastest lap of the race next time around. Clement had a big moment, almost lost it coming onto the pit straight when he dropped his rear wheel into the dirt. Fortunately he caught it in time, but that was enough for Jonathan to slip through. The tires on these 3 cars must be practically gone as Don put several wheel off in the following Sunset corner.

On lap 8, it was a drag race coming out of Riverside. Don protected his line as both Jonathan and Clement contemplated how late one could brake at the end of the back straight. But they knew exactly when to back off too so back into nose to tail formation once more. Next time around, they caught up to a couple Porsche 944s at Riverside, the 944 drivers were very courteous and gave Don, Jonathan and Clement plenty of room to get by. The three were still going at it on lap 10, but they were about to catch up to more I.T. back markers. A VW rabbit, went off at Buttonhook, decided to dirt track all the way before rejoining the track just before the Sunrise corner. Both Don and Jonathan managed to get pass the VW without hinderance, but Clement had to alter his line, loosing a few car lengths to Jonathan in the process.

Once again, the I.T. class were about to decide on the outcome of the SM race as they made their presence known on lap 11. Both Don and Jonathan managed to squeeze by another back marker going into the Esses, Clement had to hit the binders. There just wasn't room to go zig-zagging through. Clement tried to go way deep into Star Mazda to make up a couple tenths, but ended up putting four wheels off and loosing a couple more seconds. With only a couple more laps to left and 4th place Johnny Kanavas' SM almost a whole minute behind, Clement settled for 3rd.

In the end Don Thibaut finished the race in 1st, with Jonathan Christian following right behind. Clement Lee cruised leisurely into third. Johnny Kanavas was a distant 4th with John Stott further back in 5th. Amazingly, the top 3 finishers (Don, Jonathan and Clement) best lap times were well under the track record while the best lap times for the rest of the field were at least 4 seconds behind.

Back to Top

With Saturday's exciting race still in every ones memory, anticipation was high for Sunday's race, especially with the addition of Andrew Staveley, hot off a top 5 finish in a recent SCCA Pro Miata Cup race. At the end of qualifying, Jonathan Christian managed to out qualify Don Thibaut for the top spot. Don in second, Clement in third, Andrew Staveley in 4th while Johnny Kanavas rounded out the top five.

The drivers knew tires were going to be a huge factor in Sunday's race and they got a chance to check out each others tire condition at the impound after qualifying. Staveley seemed to have the best tires and both Jonathan and Don decided to make a quick change. Clement did not have another set to change to so he was stuck with the same set he was running on all weekend. His tires were not yet corded but no doubt they would be by the end of Sunday's race. With the race starting before noon, everyone decided to take an early lunch.

As the race approached and with everyone already grided, Staveley was MIA. The 5 minute board came and gone, then the 3 minute board, and Staveley was still no show. Just before the 1 minute board came up, Staveley made it to his spot on the grid. He definitely cut it close as the cars were let out onto the pace lap.

As the green flag waved, Staveley made a good start and gained a spot over Clement after the first corner. But before the end of that lap, Clement had regained his position in an overtaking manauver at the end of the back straight. Meanwhile, Jonathan had managed to open up a couple car lengths gap over Don who in turn had a couple car lengths on Clement. The status remain unchanged for several laps.

But now you could actually see Clement's slipping and slidding everywhere. On lap 4, Staveley made his move on the pit straight to take over 3rd. Clement lost more ground as his car wiggled around Star Mazda. While Staveley took advantage of Clement's tire woes to open a small gap, Clement had not given up. Within a lap, Clement had made up for the lost ground and were back on Staveley's tail.

Before the end of the following lap, Clement had made recliamed his spot from Staveley. With the bit between his teeth, Clement set his fastest lap next time around and widened the gap from his pursuer. Not letting up, the gap back to 4th place grew wider and wider with each succeeding lap. Meanwhile, now with only 5 laps to go, Jonathan experienced mechanical problems with his exhaust and had to retire.

The situation up front became static at this point. While Don Thibaut finished first, Clement Lee arrived in second place 5 seconds behind, Andrew Staveley came in another 20 seconds later in third, Johnny Kanavas crossed the line another 15 seconds arears of Staveley to cliam fourth while William Christian, Jonathan's brother, rounded out the top 5.

Back to Top

As Don Thibaut finished first on both days, he is now 47 points ahead of Jonathan Christian in the region points race who in turn is 28 points ahead of Clement Lee. With 4 races left, there are still 48 points up for grabs. While Don has yet to lock up the regional Championship, he is almost a sure bet. With numerous DNFs at the beginning of the year, will Clement's luck change in these last few races? Willow Springs may very well decide on the regional points standing.

Congratulations to Don Thibaut, Clement Lee and Jonathan Christian for their outstanding record breaking performance all weekend long. Once again, the trio demonstrated there can be immensely close racing without a single body damage.
Team Dynamic Wheels and Toyo Tires continue to be the winning choice for these top drivers. And the new Brisk spark plugs used in both Rush Motorsport cars proved to be completely reliable and powerful.

Will see you all in a few weeks time at Willow Springs.

Back to Top