Category: Lotus49

Sarting from the pole, Breuning led flag to flag in the streets of Long Beach, with expected challenge from Bill Smithem being cut short by an early encounter with the wall. Mike Erter was in 2nd place, Larry Eaglen put himself on the final step of the podium, while Bill Smithem finished 4th and Ian Wilson 5th.

Mike Erter started from pole position and took the lead. Breuning didn’t catch up with him until Smithem dropped out due to technical issues. The two drivers up front were nose to tail and Breuning couldn’t find a way past until lap 36, when Erter ran a little wide coming off turn 4. The roles changed, but the battle continued, now with Erter in hot pursuit. Although he got close a few times, Breuning held on for the win and Erter took 2nd, with Don Warren joining them on the podium. Stuart Wright was 4th and Jack Wilson rounded out the top 5.

Pole sitter Breuning had a 13 pt deficit on Smithem going into the finale, meaning that Smithem needed to finish in the top 5 to secure his first title. Which he did. He ran a solid and careful race and finished on the podium behind Breuning and Mike Erter, who had a good dice for the lead – swapping positions twice. As always in this Lotus 49, a little mistake has big consequences and Breuning got lucky when Erter went wide in the carousel. Rod Potgieter, who started on the front row, finished 4th – also finding out that small mistakes take you back a ways. Phil Peterson rounded out the top 5.

Breuning led the small field to the green flag tonight. The five drivers engaged in close and fair racing all race long, with a few yellows to bunch them right back up when someone messed up. On the final lap it was Erter leading ahead of Wilson and Breuning, who tried to go through the middle going into turn 3. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room for this ‘dash for the cash’ move and everyone got caught up in the melee. Wilson survived with the least damage and drove across the line in first, with Breuning following on 3 wheels. Erter was too damaged like the rest, but was classified as 3rd, with Smithem and Peterson respectively scoring 4th and 5th with the same fate.