Cars that did not start

American domination

A record numbers of fans would enjoy some kind of à perfect day. The race by itself was one of the fastest ever to be run at Road Atlanta. The domination by Porsche was to be shaken down by two American marques : Chevrolet and Buick. It was good news for the IMSA series which would have its best season ever. Porsche would be over powered by the big turbos. While the practice sessions were highlighted by two big accidents involving Franz Konrad, who drove the Leon Bros March 85G Porsche, and Drake Olson's Porsche 962, Sarel van der Merwe would settle himself on thé pole position. He would post à 1m12s001, which was the new track record. Al Holbert was second in 1m13s053! John Paul Jr, which was expected to give Sarel van der Merwe à run for the pole, was hampered by a wrong suspension set-up. The Jaguar XJR5s, who won last year's event, were out paced and Chip Robinson started ninth. The start of the race was given under à warm and breezy afternoon, and BMW would experience another fire in the engine bay of one car. Unexpectedly, Al Holbert was in the lead for the first ten laps, followed by John Paul Jr. Sarel van der Merwe was third, ten seconds behind. Then John Paul Jr overtook Al Holbert and took the lead. Following the three cars were the two Ford Probes driven by Pete Halsmer and Klaus Ludwig, then Chip Robinson's Jaguar XJR5. Jochen Mass and Jo Gartner trailed. John Paul Jr would stretch his lead by 10 seconds fifteen laps later. John Paul Jr was out of reach for thirty three laps, then an incident would suddenly change the plot. John Kalagian March 85G Buick spun, and a full caution would then be run. Sarel van der Merwe dashed into his pits. Doc Bundy stepped in. Then it was Pete Halsmer, John Paul Jr and Chip Robinson to pit for fuel and a driver's change. Al Holbert, Klaus Ludwig and Jochen Mass remained in their cars. Al Holbert and Klaus Ludwig had taken over the top two positions but they would lose their positions when the green flag was out. Doc Bundy took over the lead, followed by Whitney Ganz, whose car was running less good than thé leader's and Bob Tullius, who ran quite well. Doc Bundy was running fast, in the 1m17s range, and would lap Derek Bell, under rather dangerous conditions. He would pit on lap 70, leaving Whitney Ganz in the lead for one lap. Sarel van Merwe returned to the lead over Derek Bell, who was counting on a better mileage. Al Holbert was in after the Porsche 962 pit stop. The two Ford Probes were having trouble with ignition, and retired both. Sarel van der Merwe was counting on a car which was getting better and better. His advantage over John Paul Jr was 47s when he pitted for his final stop. Al Holbert was third, followed by Chip Robinson. After his final pit stop, the Corvette GTP led by à scant 4s. Traffic would play à rôle in this last part of the race. The Hawk Buick had trouble with its brakes, and had to pit for a splash and go too. When John Paul Jr restarted, he was 29s down Doc Bundy. The race would end up That way, with Al Holbert finally on the lead lap thanks to its two pit stops. Bob Tullius finished fourth, two laps down, while John Morton and Jochen Mass were another two laps down. The Lights class was dominated by the new Spice Fiero, who led the first thirty laps, then Bob Earl was sidelined by an electrical problem. Jim Downing's Argo JM19 Mazda took over but had to pit to fix an alternator problem. Teammates John Maffucci did a great job and took back the lead sixteen laps later. Mike Brockman and Steve Durst had led the class but suffered from à slow picture in the closing stages of the race. They finished second in their Tiga GT285 Mazda, one lap down. Third place went to the Argo JM16 Buick driven by Don Bell and Terry Wolters. A very exciting race, in the end, and two American manufacturers in the two First spots beating Porsche. The 1986 season was probably the most promising ever.