Reiser-Callas Race Archive - Watkins Glen 99



	Held at Watkins Glen on October 4, 1999, drivers and teams from Germany, Holland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Japan and Belgium joined North American teams to make this the most international of events on the Reiser Callas race calendar. Although competing here wouldn't add points to Reiser Callas' ALMS title chase, the venue is Reiser's home circuit and, since USRRC teams were invited to attend, it was a racing opportunity too good to pass up. Only one Reiser Callas car (03) was fielded for the "Oktoberfest," with Joel Reiser and David Murry sharing driving duties. In the only FIA sanctioned road race in the US for 1999, Jean-Philippe Belloc and David Donohue raced to Oreca's eighth victory of the year. This was the ninth round of the FIA GT Championship. Olivier Beretta and Karl Wendlinger followed them home to record the team's sixth 1-2 result, and the sixth time this season that the pair lapped the entire field. Belloc, in the Chrysler Viper, started from pole position, but was passed on the second lap by Beretta. Beretta hung on to the lead for much of the race, but lost out just six laps from the end. It was Donohue's first win at The Glen, a circuit at which he was treated like a hero. Chamberlain Motorsport continued their successful second half of the season that has seen them on the podium four times in the last five races. Christian Vann and Christian Glaesel finished third, one lap behind the Oreca cars. Wolfgang Kaufmann and Bob Wollek brought their Freisinger Porsche home in fourth. Kaufmann had put in an incredible opening 13 laps, hanging on to the leading trio of both Oreca cars and Pompidou in third. A puncture caused by overheating tires forced the team to change tactics and the German remained in the car for half the race. Bob Wollek took over the car for the second half and the team changed just the rear tires, enabling him to emerge ahead of the three-way battle for fourth. Mike Hezemans held off Vosse and Homestead's winner Paul Belmondo, and passed Wollek for fourth before his Konrad Porsche's gearbox failed on the 81st lap. Larry Schumacher, this year's USRRC GT champion, was the first of the invited American cars to cross the line, seventh in his Schumacher Racing Porsche 911 GT2. Second in class was the Reiser-Callas Porsche 911 RSR, this year's USRRC GT3 champion, which finished 10th overall in the hands of David Murry and Joel Reiser. "It was a no-hitch race," said Murry. Third in class was Jeff Nowicki's Specter Werkes Chevrolet Corvette GTR, co-driven by Andy Pilgrim, who started and finished the race. Reiser was pleased with the race result (considering 03 is the development car) and the team had the added satisfaction of showing that they could hold their own against such international competition. Some race info courtesy of Speedvision