MILLVILLE, N.J. June 13 – In one of the most exciting races of the year, championship
leader Matt Downs won his third IMSA Lites presented by Frisby Performance Tire race
at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J.
Downs ran a consistent race, never actually leading on track. At the end of the
day he was announced the winner after on-track race winner Kyle Marcelli was
penalized for blocking.
“I was quicker through the first part of the track. I just got killed coming onto the
straightaway every time,” Marcelli explained. “I saw him getting the run and I moved to
the middle of the track. He was right on the inside.”
In a race filled with cars going off track, Marcelli ran second to Lucas Downs for a
while before spinning, allowing Matt and brother Antonio to slip by him. For a few laps it
looked like it would be an all Downs podium, then Marcelli took advantage of small
mistakes to move back into second place. That is when Lucas, who led the first 25 laps,
went off track.
“I had an eventful race. I got run into before the green,” Lucas said. “I spun after
leading and just held on.”
The Lites Two class was just as exciting at the start with Eric Vassian and John
Weisberg swapping the lead. Weisberg managed to get past Vassian for good on lap three.

  “The L1 cars didn’t accelerate like we talked about in the driver’s meeting. They really bunched up
and we all kind of got into each other,” Weisberg said. “On the third lap I was able to draft by
Eric going into one and hold the lead.”

Tomorrow’sround six at New Jersey Motorsports Park will also be a 45-minute race. The green flag will
fall on round six at 12:05 p.m.

 

races in support of the American LeMans Series, but this weekend the racers will be on their own at
New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Formula X event.

Part of the appeal to racing in the series is being able to showcase driver talent in front of the
American LeMans Series crowd, but without the other series, IMSA Lites drivers will have more track
time on the 2.17-mile, 12-turn Thunderbolt course. Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is one
driver looking forward to the extra track time.

“In the 30-minute races there isn’t enough time to make any mistakes. The 45-minute race will
definitely change the situation,” Feinberg said. “We usually have four Lites cars and the ALMS
Viper, so this weekend will be better. I usually do much better when I focus on one or the other. ”

Feinberg will need to focus if he’s going to make up ground on points leader Matt Downs,
Butterfield, Minn., and his brother Lucas, who is second in the point standings. Matt leads Lucas
by 10 points, with Joel another nine points behind.

In the Lites II class John  Weisberg of BERG Racing will be fighting hard to take over the points lead from Robby card and team mate Mike Hill.

Round five of the IMSA Lites presented by Frisby Performance Tire takes place Saturday, June 13 at
12:05 p.m. The green flag will fall again at 12:05 p.m. for Round six Sunday, June 14.
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Well it's been a long time since the site was updated and I apologize for that but we've been busy racing! The 07 season ended with a very successful showing at the 13hrs of VIR where BERG entered 3 Miatas in the ITS class. Competition was fierce and they had us on speed but our Redcom Laboratories, Kumho tires Miatas were sipping the fuel and  the plan was to play tortis to their hare. The stratigy paid of and BERG cars were 1st and third on the podium. The win was enough to clinch the overall drivers championship for BERG drivers John Weisberg and Richard Picut.

Berg Racing finishes 1st and 3rd place in the 24 hours Longest Day at Nelson Ledges event!

Photos of the event are available here!

The Summit Point photos are up for those interested. 

 July 14-15 marked the 60th Watkins Glen SCCA National event. It was also the return of BERG Racing to national competition. Drivers John Weisberg and Richard Picut competed in the highly competitive Spec Miata class along with 23 other drivers. It had been 3 years since the team had competed nationally and with new Rebello motors installed just days before, hopes were high going in.

 The weekend started off well with both drivers posting low times in the first of two qualifying sessions, but hopes were dashed when the times were disallowed due to both cars being less the ten pounds under weight. The second qualifying session was a bit slower then the first but Picut and Weisberg posted times that put them in 8th (Weisberg) and 10th (Picut) for the race.

 In the race both drivers made it through a hectic start to finish the first lap in 7th for Weisberg and Picut dropping back to 13th. By lap three John had gotten to 6th and Richard had climbed back to 8th. The next lap saw Richard improve again to 7th and then John and Richard started working together to make up a 6 second gap to the 3rd,4th and 5th place cars. By lap 12 they had caught the pack and the retirement of the second place car promoted everyone up one place. Last lap "GAME ON"! Mark Ceffelo led the pack in second overall. Giving chase were Charlie Campbell, Mike "Meathead" Collins, Weisberg then Picut. It was side by side going into turn 8. Charlie went wide and Mike and John were able to slide by. Charlie stuck with it into turn nine and dove under John as Mike got out of shape. Through turn ten Mark led with Charlie and John in tow then Mike with Richard filling his mirrors. Across the line they finished in that order with a margin of victory of less then a second for 2nd -6th.

Overall a great return to National racing for BERG Racing. Next race will be the "50 YEARS at LIME ROCK PARK" July 27. Wish us luck and tune in shortly there after for a report. 

On June 1st BERG Racing fielded two cars in the SCCA's 12 Hours of Summit Point.

The 69 Miata driven by Richard Picut and John Weisberg started from fifth position while the 96 Miata driven by Dinah DeRoller Richard Watson and Brad Adams Started from 23 position. The 69 car ran well but a bearing failure dropped the team back in the standings after only two hours of racing. Quick pit work from Kevin Dennis, Alex Korzhen and Mark Gregory got the car back on track in record time. The 96 soldiered on with little problem. At six hours into the race the BERG Racing team were running 1st and second with the 69 car out front and ahead of the third place ITS car by 14 laps. 96 didn't have it comfortable and soon had to relinquish 2nd place to the faster BMW in third. The drama didn't stop there as in the tenth hour DeRoller in the 96 came to gether with John Morris driving the Planet Miata effort. Both drivers came out unscathed but the cars weren't as lucky. Planet Miata made a lengthy stop for repairs but DeRoller pushed on and finished her stint.

Weisberg finished in the 69 car to take the win for BERG with Watson finishing up for the 96 crew in third.

We would like to thank sponsors REDCOM, Mazdaspeed, Kumho tires, Watson McDaniel, Underberg and all of the people that worked so hard to get these two cars to the finish line.