Motor Racing Roundup : Holbert Wins IMSA Event With a New Partner

Al Holbert and Al Unser Jr. ran away from the field Sunday in the Lowenbrau IMSA Camel GT sports car race on the Road America course in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

The Porsche 962 prototype won for the fifth time in the last seven races and the sixth time in 14 starts this season. Holbert moved within 15 points of clinching his second straight Camel GT title and the fifth of his career.

Englishman Derek Bell, who usually drives with Holbert, had a racing commitment in Japan, and the 24-year-old Unser took his spot in the 500-mile race.

Holbert drove the last 39 laps and got his 46th career victory.

It was the 11th victory in 14 starts this season for Porsche, which has dominated the IMSA GTP series for more than a decade.

The winners averaged a race-record 108.712 m.p.h. and led for a total of 61 laps. The victory was worth about $28,000.

Early leaders John Watson and David Hobbs, in a BMW, were ahead by nearly a lap when the car suddenly slowed moments after a scheduled pit stop on lap 71.

Holbert and Unser led the rest of the way, finishing five laps ahead of the Porsche 962 of Price Cobb and Rob Dyson.

Rocky Moran and Dennis Aase drove a Toyota Celica Turbo to victory in the GTO class and an a third-place finish overall. They beat GTO point leader Scott Pruett and co-driver Bruce Jenner, in a Ford Mustang, by less than a lap, with the Pruett-Jenner entry finishing fifth overall.

The Italian trio of Ruggero Melgrati, Martino Finotto and Carlo Facetti drove a Ferrari Alba to fourth place overall and first in the Camel Light division.

Roger Mandeville and Danny Smith won a battle of Mazda RX-7s in the GTU division, beating Irv Hoerr and Tom Kendall by less than three seconds in the best race of the day. Mandeville and Smith were 15th overall.

Bob Hubbard, crew chief for the Mazda RX-7 of Amos Johnson and Dennis Shaw, suffered a fracture to his lower right leg and multiple bruises when he was struck by the Probe GTP car driven by Tom Gloy. Witnesses said Hubbard appeared to stumble into Gloy’s path on pit road as the latter made a scheduled stop while the Mazda was also pitted.

Kal Showket drove to his third victory of the season by winning the Champion Spark Plug Challenge at Elkhart Lake.

Showket, driving a Dodge Daytona, never trailed in the 100-kilometer, 15-lap race.

Doug Peterson moved past Tommy Archer into the series point lead as he ran second to Showket, finishing 4.4 seconds behind in a Honda Acura.

Peterson has 118 points, while Archer, who spun off and hit a guardrail, remained at 109. Showket took third with 92 points.

Ron Eaton of Tacoma led every lap to clinch his sixth victory of the season and the NASCAR Winston Northwest Tour Grand American stock car championship at Tenino, Wash.

Eaton has a 65-point lead over Bob Fox of Bremerton, who was second, six seconds back. Only 60 more points are available in the last event of the series, the Schuck’s 150 on Sept. 1 at Monroe, Wash.

Eddie Lawson of Ontario, who has clinched the world 500cc motorcycle title, rallied to win the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano Adriatico, Italy.

Lawson, riding a Yamaha, overtook the early leader, Australian Wayne Gardner on a Honda, with 15 laps remaining in the last race of the season for big machines. He was timed in 47 minutes 30.83 seconds at an average speed of 96 m.p.h.

Carlos Lavado of Venezuela has clinched the 1986 250cc championship, but he fell with six laps remaining and Japan’s Tadahiko Taira won the race for smaller machines.