Ferguson Finally Grabs Runoffs Gold in New P2 Category

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David Ferguson, of Paso Robles, Calif., played a smart and patient Prototype 2 race at the 2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs to win his first gold medal. Mark Mercer, of Aurora, Colo., and Fabian Okonski, of Los Gatos, Calif., completed the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
 
Ferguson successfully avoided an opening lap skirmish in Turn Two and moved from sixth to fifth while avoiding a spinning car. The incident brought out the first of three full-course cautions in the P2 race.
 
“In turn two, we had a lot of cars running close together,” Ferguson said. “People were slowing down a little earlier than I was ready to and I went around three wide, which is a little risky depending on what happens. As I got up around the corner, I saw the back end of John Bosso coming around. [Paul] Decker was slipping inside of me, and he was trying to go around the end of John and caught the end of his wing as he backed into it. I just barely made it by both of them. I think I was two wheels on the dirt, and I slightly got tapped by someone on the exit.”
 
On the first restart, Ferguson once again deftly avoided the madness ahead of him as the top three aggressively jockeyed for position. Taking advantage of missteps made by the cars ahead, Ferguson moved his No. 75 Veracity Racing Data/Mazda Mazda Van Diemen RFS-03 into third by the next full-course caution period.
 
On the ensuing restart, Ferguson watched as Okonski made a pass on Tire Rack Pole winner and then leader Robert Kazen, of Fallbrook, Calif. He used the situation to move himself around Kazen and into second. Ferguson then set his sights on Okonski, making his move in Turn Nine.
 
“I was still looking for the few laps to learn how to drive the track fast,” Ferguson recalled. “The fact that I fell back a little bit and let them get ahead was really me using my training time that I didn’t feel like I got in qualifying. Then, when I was ready to go, I tried to get in close behind Fabian.”
 
Shortly thereafter, the final full-course caution period of the race was issued. Ferguson had no trouble holding off Mercer on the restart and began to pull away from the pack. He pulled out an insurmountable lead over Mercer and Okonski, crossing the finish line with a 15.981-second lead to claim his first ever Runoffs title in his 10th start.
 
Like Ferguson, Mercer admitted he was still learning the 11-turn, 2.238-mile track even come race time and was pleasantly surprised with the performance of his No. 34 Hoosier Tire/Ferenco Lola 90 Mazda.
 
“I took the car out for one day this year, and I ran it one time, and I thought ‘this car is pretty fast,’” Mercer said. “I didn’t know what I was up against with the motorcycle cars, so I thought we’ll go, and just try it. My engine’s got 23,000 miles on it, I bought it off eBay, threw it in there. I had a rough year with my family and couldn’t race much, so it was tough. This morning I said, you know what, I’m going to go out and try to learn the track. I’ve never been here before. I just settled down and said to myself I’m going to follow Dave, he knows the track, and maybe I can stay with him. That was my strategy, and it seemed to work pretty good.”
 
A Runoffs Rookie, Okonski was impressive in the 20-lap race’s multiple restarts. His No. 4 SimplicityinSoundMobileAudio/GDRE Stohr 01D Suzuki twice took over the race lead during such occasions. His mastery of the restart earned him the Go Pro Hero Move of the Race Award.
 
“I didn’t do anything that I don’t normally do,” Oconski said. “Robert seemed a little sluggish on his restarts for some reason, so we just had really good restarts. I did change the gearing on my car for restarts, so maybe that made a little difference. It went well for me.”
 
The Californian appeared to be catching Mercer for second near the end of the race, but realized his pace could be putting his podium in jeopardy.
 
“It wasn’t going to happen (catching Mercer),” Okonski said. “I was trying quite hard, and starting to make some mistakes. I was afraid I was going to throw away a podium spot. There was no one for a long way behind me, so I just figured after trying for a while and getting a little close, I recognized it was probably for naught. I was going to wait for [Mercer] to make a mistake, and of course, there’s not a lot of mistakes happening.”
 
Anders Graff, of Kohler, Wis., finished fourth in his first Runoffs appearance and earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. David Arken, of San Jose, Calif., completed the top five.
 
The 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12.
 
 
The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date on SpeedcastTV.com.
Adam Sinclair
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