Cars that did not start

Brabham's number eight

Round eleven of the 1988 of the IMSA Camel GT was no different from the previous events. Nissan had got accustomd to dominating the series since the beginning of the season, but this time, they would have to fight hard. In fact, Jaguar proved it was a great contender, threatening Nissan for the first time. At Portland, Nissan had dominated the race from the beginning. A strong twenty eight car field was to be seen on the tight 2,5 mile course. Two Nissan ZX T GTPs were entered by Electramotive, and they would solo driven, by Geoff Brabham and John Morton. They were faced by two Castrol Jaguar XJR9s, driven by Martin Brundle-John Nielsen and Davy Jones-Jan Lammers. The Jaguar team was confident on this very tight course, which was perfectly suited for their normally aspirated V12 engine. Seven Porsche 962s were entered by different teams. The cars were no longer the reference of the series, but they were always a threat in the longer events, thanks to their reliability. Dyson Racing had a modified 962 entered for Price Cobb and James Weaver.

John Morton and Tom Gloy finished eighth in the second Nissan ZX Tc GTP

Holbert Racing was here with Chip Robinson and Derek Bell, while Al Holbert was concentrating on his future responsibilities. Unfortunately, what laid in the future would seal his fate. Busby Racing had a specially built 962, which would be driven by Bob Wollek. The car was backed by BF Goodrich. Gianpiero Moretti had entered two different cars : a Porsche 962 for himself and Scott Pruett, and a March 86G Buick powered for Michael Roe and Steve Phillips. John Hotschkis and Jim Adams had their Fabcar built car entered, while Bayside Motorsport was here with a car entered for Rob Dyson and Bruce Leven. Kalagian Racing had a 962 for Doc Bundy and John Graham. A Corvette GTP, driven by Sarel van der Merwe and Elliot Forbes Robinson, was still able to be a strong contender for the win. Two uncompetitive Ford GTPs were entered by Tom Milner Racing. Tom Pumpelly and Chip Mead drove the first car, while Dominic Dobson and Ruggero Melgrati drove the second car. A Pontiac Firebird GTP was driven by Bob Earl and Jeff Kline, with some ambitions. The Ball Bros team had a Spice Buick for Michael Brockman. The remainder of the field was all Lights cars. Six Pontiac Firebirds, which were Spice built. Dan Marvin drove the Huffaker Racing car while Don Bell had his own car, backed by AT and T. Skeeter Mc Kitterick, Charles Morgan, Frank Everett and Costas Los all drove similar cars. The opposition would come from th Spice SE88 Buick driven by Scott Schubot. Two Argo JM19s, entered by Downing Racing, for Jim Downing and Howard Katz-Hiro Matsuhita, would try to get the best from this race. A single Tiga GT287 Buick, driven by David Loring, would close the entry list. Geoff Brabham qualified on the pole for the seventh time this year, clearly proving once again he was the class of the field. He set up a new lap record for the Sears Point track in 1m23s139. Martin Brundle finally managed to settle for the second place in 1m24s033. That was still more than 0.8s slower than the Nissan. The second Jaguar was third on the grid but the exploit was accomplished by Bob Earl, on the Spice Pontiac Firebird, who managed to place on the fourth spot, quite as fast as Jan Lammers. He was ahead of the best Porsche driver, who appeared to be Price Cobb, driving the Dyson Racing car. The latter was followed by Bob Wollek and Derek Bell. Derek Bell complained about his car's speed, and he obviously could not run faster. The weather seemed to be different ftom the practice sessions', with thirty degrees plus. At the start of the race, Geoff Brabham jumped into the lead, and seemed to fly away from everyone. At the end of lap one, he had a two second plus advantage over Martin Brundle. The gap grew up to four seconds on the next lap, and it seemed that it would go on growing. But in fact, it would not be the case. Martin Brundle then began to eat this gap. After eight laps, he was on the Nissan's heels. Then began a duel between the two men would last for about twenty laps. The Jaguar being slower on the main part of the track, but clearly faster in turn eleven, where the Nissan was quite agonizing. On lap thirty two, slowed by backmarkers, the Nissan was held up and the Jaguar took the lead. From that moment, Martin Brundle was able to build up a three second lead over Geoff Brabham. But the Nissan driver was having a plan. The Lights category was dominated by Dan Marvin, whose Huffaker Pontiac Firebird had shattered the previous Lights record by three seconds. Costas Los and Scott Schubot were the runner-up in that category. From the start of the race, Dan Marvin set up his dominance over the competition. He was fast enough to push the March 86G Buick driven by Michael Roe hard. In fact, Costas Los would settle easily for second place, while Scott Schubot was third. By lap thirty three, the flying Dan Marvin was lapping third place holder Charles Morgan. Skeeter Mc Kitterick had just retired earlier in the race. Then it was Costas Los who retired from the race, with a dropped valve. Scott Schubot was now second in class, but he was more than thirty five seconds down. He would for a security pit stop, that would prove disastrous. Spilled gasoline would catch fire in the cockpit. He would manage to fix this problem, and get back to the track just behind Don Bell, who had suffered minor troubles too. Scott Schubot then got past Don Bell, who did not know of his actual position in the race. But Dan Marvin was clearly faster than anyone, and his only trouble appeared to be the fatigue. But he would make it to the end. Back in the lead, John Nielsen had taken over the wheel of the leading Jaguar. When he exited the pits, he was still in the lead, but his tyres were cold. Geoff Brabham was still behind, but he waited for his time. In fact, he could overtake the Jaguar on when exiting famous turn eleven. The Jaguar could keep up the pace, but Geoff Brabham had the race for himself, and he won with a three second margin. Geoff Brabham finally won the Sears Point race, but it was the hard way. Copyright Van Zannis Davy Jones took a third place finish, despite an off course right tbrough the end. James Weaver and Bob Wollek fought all over the race and James Weaver finally had the edge over his opponent, after sending him spinning in the closing laps. A quarrel resulted from this race action. The Pontiac Firebird cold not do better than seventh, after a disappointing race. At the end, it was a new Nissan victory, and the season ushered in a new era for the IMSA Championship.

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