Rich Wesorick
Enthusiast
MOTHER NATURE GETS BETWEEN ARCHER AND THE T1 CHAMPIONSHIP
Bobby Archer’s string of nine consecutive victories in the SCCA T1 class in his No. 32 SuperClubs/ViperSpeed Viper came to an unfortunate end at the SCCA Valvoline Run-Offs at Mid-Ohio. From the seat of his Viper twenty minutes after the rain-soaked race, a disappointed Archer exclaimed: “Didn’t Mother Nature read the script?” Going into the T1 National Championship race at the Run-Offs, several observers had picked Archer as the favorite to win the race. Given Archer’s nine-race undefeated streak in 2001 and outright dominance in several races this year, the choice seemed like a good one.
The format for the 2001 Run-Offs gave the drivers twenty minutes of qualifying time on each of three days, followed by the T1 race on the fourth day. In the first qualifying session and in just three laps, Archer ripped off a blistering lap time of 1:37.566, which shattered the previous T1 track record. The session was cut short due to an accident, leaving Archer with the provisional pole by over a half of a second. Qualifying on the second day was non-existent as rain moved through central Ohio. On the third and final day of qualifying, Archer was unable to improve upon his record lap time, but an old foe from the Speedvision World Challenge series, John Heinricy, qualified a Corvette Z06 on the outside of the front row. Also moving up on the third day of qualifying was Archer’s protégé, Dr. Deborah Loth, driving the No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports/ViperSpeed Viper. Loth moved up five positions, going from eleventh place to sixth place, which was pretty impressive since the five drivers that qualified in front of her had all raced professionally.
The morning of the T1 race, the skies were cloudy and rain seemed imminent. It began drizzling shortly after a morning warm-up session for the T1 cars, sending all of the race teams scrambling to get intermediate and rain tires mounted. Both Archer and Loth initially gridded their cars on Hoosier’s intermediate tires, but were forced to return to the paddock for Hoosier’s quasi-rain tires as heavy rain began to fall moments before the scheduled 1:40 pm start of the T1 race. Archer and Loth made it back to the grid just in the nick of time for the pace lap, but a brake line had broken on Loth’s right rear caliper during the scramble to put the rain tires on her car and she was unable to make it out for the green flag. She would later enter the race four laps down.
As soon as Archer left the pits he knew he was in trouble. The rain was coming down quite heavy and water was running in streams across the track. Archer credited much of his success this year to the Hoosier tires he raced on, but Hoosier’s version of a rain tire (no visible tread difference, but a softer compound) was no match for the amount of water on the track. As the green flag flew and Archer accelerated down the back straight at Mid-Ohio, he found himself hydroplaning badly and struggling to maintain control of the car. The Z06 of John Heinricy, aided by a set of terrific Goodyear rain tires and ABS, passed Archer going into the first turn (Turn 7) and ran away from the field for good.
Meanwhile, Archer had his hands full trying to keep his car on the track, particularly after a careless bump by Fred Baker on lap four. Driver Scotty White, who was right behind Archer and Baker, said after the race; “only Bobby Archer could have saved the car after Baker’s bump in those conditions.” Unfortunately, the bump cost Archer several positions. Archer continued to move backward through the field as the cars with ABS and with true rain tires were able to pass him. By lap seven, Archer had slid to eleventh place and was seemingly living a nightmare. According to Archer, he had more off-course excursions in the first half of this race than he’s had in the past five years. However, toward the end of the 45 minute race, the rain let up, the track began to dry a little, and Archer began to reclaim positions. He moved up to sixth place before the checkered flag was waved for Heinricy, who had lapped the entire field in his Goodyear-shod Z06. Second place went to Henry Van Vurst driving a Viper on Kuhmo rain tires. Van Vurst’s podium finish was hard-earned, given that he too did not have ABS which provides a significant advantage on a wet track. Despite not having any rear brakes, Deborah Loth was able to finish the race and bring her Viper home in one piece. Loth finished in the fifteenth position, ahead of the eight cars that are in the repair shop as a result of the rain-soaked race conditions.
For winning the pole position, Archer was presented with a new Peavey guitar, but this seemed to provide little comfort to him. After the race, a dejected Archer finally climbed out of his Viper when Heinricy’s car owner, Joe Aquilante, came over to talk to him. Aquilante said he was really looking forward to seeing Bobby and John (Heinricy) racing each other and that he would like to have a rematch in better conditions. All of a sudden Archer’s mood changed a bit, and he managed a crack a smile. The ever-confident Archer retorted; “You’re on Joe! And this time I’ll make sure Mother Nature gets my script.”
The rematch may have to wait though as next up for Archer and the ViperSpeed team is a Viper DaysTM / Viper Racing League (VRL) event at Sebring where Bobby will race his T1 Viper in the GT-2 class in VRL’s first-ever appearance as a support race for the annual Sebring Speedfest weekend. More information on Archer and Loth can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
Bobby Archer’s string of nine consecutive victories in the SCCA T1 class in his No. 32 SuperClubs/ViperSpeed Viper came to an unfortunate end at the SCCA Valvoline Run-Offs at Mid-Ohio. From the seat of his Viper twenty minutes after the rain-soaked race, a disappointed Archer exclaimed: “Didn’t Mother Nature read the script?” Going into the T1 National Championship race at the Run-Offs, several observers had picked Archer as the favorite to win the race. Given Archer’s nine-race undefeated streak in 2001 and outright dominance in several races this year, the choice seemed like a good one.
The format for the 2001 Run-Offs gave the drivers twenty minutes of qualifying time on each of three days, followed by the T1 race on the fourth day. In the first qualifying session and in just three laps, Archer ripped off a blistering lap time of 1:37.566, which shattered the previous T1 track record. The session was cut short due to an accident, leaving Archer with the provisional pole by over a half of a second. Qualifying on the second day was non-existent as rain moved through central Ohio. On the third and final day of qualifying, Archer was unable to improve upon his record lap time, but an old foe from the Speedvision World Challenge series, John Heinricy, qualified a Corvette Z06 on the outside of the front row. Also moving up on the third day of qualifying was Archer’s protégé, Dr. Deborah Loth, driving the No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports/ViperSpeed Viper. Loth moved up five positions, going from eleventh place to sixth place, which was pretty impressive since the five drivers that qualified in front of her had all raced professionally.
The morning of the T1 race, the skies were cloudy and rain seemed imminent. It began drizzling shortly after a morning warm-up session for the T1 cars, sending all of the race teams scrambling to get intermediate and rain tires mounted. Both Archer and Loth initially gridded their cars on Hoosier’s intermediate tires, but were forced to return to the paddock for Hoosier’s quasi-rain tires as heavy rain began to fall moments before the scheduled 1:40 pm start of the T1 race. Archer and Loth made it back to the grid just in the nick of time for the pace lap, but a brake line had broken on Loth’s right rear caliper during the scramble to put the rain tires on her car and she was unable to make it out for the green flag. She would later enter the race four laps down.
As soon as Archer left the pits he knew he was in trouble. The rain was coming down quite heavy and water was running in streams across the track. Archer credited much of his success this year to the Hoosier tires he raced on, but Hoosier’s version of a rain tire (no visible tread difference, but a softer compound) was no match for the amount of water on the track. As the green flag flew and Archer accelerated down the back straight at Mid-Ohio, he found himself hydroplaning badly and struggling to maintain control of the car. The Z06 of John Heinricy, aided by a set of terrific Goodyear rain tires and ABS, passed Archer going into the first turn (Turn 7) and ran away from the field for good.
Meanwhile, Archer had his hands full trying to keep his car on the track, particularly after a careless bump by Fred Baker on lap four. Driver Scotty White, who was right behind Archer and Baker, said after the race; “only Bobby Archer could have saved the car after Baker’s bump in those conditions.” Unfortunately, the bump cost Archer several positions. Archer continued to move backward through the field as the cars with ABS and with true rain tires were able to pass him. By lap seven, Archer had slid to eleventh place and was seemingly living a nightmare. According to Archer, he had more off-course excursions in the first half of this race than he’s had in the past five years. However, toward the end of the 45 minute race, the rain let up, the track began to dry a little, and Archer began to reclaim positions. He moved up to sixth place before the checkered flag was waved for Heinricy, who had lapped the entire field in his Goodyear-shod Z06. Second place went to Henry Van Vurst driving a Viper on Kuhmo rain tires. Van Vurst’s podium finish was hard-earned, given that he too did not have ABS which provides a significant advantage on a wet track. Despite not having any rear brakes, Deborah Loth was able to finish the race and bring her Viper home in one piece. Loth finished in the fifteenth position, ahead of the eight cars that are in the repair shop as a result of the rain-soaked race conditions.
For winning the pole position, Archer was presented with a new Peavey guitar, but this seemed to provide little comfort to him. After the race, a dejected Archer finally climbed out of his Viper when Heinricy’s car owner, Joe Aquilante, came over to talk to him. Aquilante said he was really looking forward to seeing Bobby and John (Heinricy) racing each other and that he would like to have a rematch in better conditions. All of a sudden Archer’s mood changed a bit, and he managed a crack a smile. The ever-confident Archer retorted; “You’re on Joe! And this time I’ll make sure Mother Nature gets my script.”
The rematch may have to wait though as next up for Archer and the ViperSpeed team is a Viper DaysTM / Viper Racing League (VRL) event at Sebring where Bobby will race his T1 Viper in the GT-2 class in VRL’s first-ever appearance as a support race for the annual Sebring Speedfest weekend. More information on Archer and Loth can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
