MX-5 Cup: Dean scores in Race 1 at Mazda Raceway

John Dean added another victory to his 2015 resume as the result of a Turn 11 pass in the closing laps of Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as part of the Monterey Grand Prix. Patrick Gallagher finished second followed by his teammate Peter Portante.

Dean led only the final four laps of the 23-lap Round Five race at the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course, in his No. 16 Bulb Jacket/PPG MX-5, but it proved to be enough to cross the finish line in first. The race was slowed by two full-course yellows that totaled three laps. However, Dean made his pass for the lead happen under green-flag conditions.

For the opening 19 circuits of the course, it seemed like Gallagher was the class of the field as he pulled out a multi-car gap on two occasions. Dean worked his way within striking distance and got a clean run off Turn 11 to take the lead. From there, Dean never looked back.

"I started on the right side of the track," Dean said. "Since this track is mostly left turns, that's not the best place to be. I was running with my teammate Drake [Kemper] for a while, and he was right behind me helping with the draft. Then we had the first restart, which didn't really affect the running order of the front guys.

"After the second restart, I had worked my way close enough to Patrick [Gallagher] to be within distance to make a move. But, every time I would get right up on him I would make a little error. Toward the end of the race, Gallagher made a couple mistakes that allowed me to get right up to his bumper. He missed a shift coming out of the last corner and I was able to get him right there."

In his No. 44 Howard Concrete Pumping MX-5, Gallagher finished second. Following the race Gallagher looked gutted after coming within four laps of scoring his first career win in the series. In this race, Gallagher said he ran a flawless race until the gearbox let him down going through Turn 11, on lap 20. For the final four laps, the gearbox was not the same causing Gallagher to slow.

"The yellow flag sessions hurt my chances quite a bit," Gallagher said. "Every time we could build a little gap, another yellow would come out and erase all of that. I knew the guys behind me were a little better up the hill, but I felt like we had a better car everywhere else. My plan was to just keep the gap behind me and drive the perfect race.

"We had a great car. I don't think I dropped a wheel off the entire race. We jumped over the curbing in Turn 11 and the car pops out of gear. I thought it wasn't a big deal, but the same thing happened on the next lap. It's just frustrating. We're changing the gearbox, but I just don't know what we have to do to win one of these things."

Open-wheel veteran Portante scored his first podium finish during his first season as part of the series. Driving the No. 24 Intercity Lines MX-5, Portante showed patience as he stayed in the lead pack throughout the 23-lap race. Portante was shuffled as low as sixth, but fought his way back to third by lap 17 and held that position.

"The yellow-flag sessions didn't really help me or hurt me," Portante said. "So, I think I was pretty lucky there. Early on, I tried to run down Gallagher but made a mistake in Turn Six. That allowed Dean to catch me a bit. From there it was a Sick Sideways slaughter, which caused me to drop back a little more.

"I wish that hadn't happened, because it really made me do more work than I needed to do. We started catching the leaders toward the end of the race. It's great to be on the podium, but it should have happened earlier this year. We've been in some situations that have resulted in damaged racecars, that haven't been our fault this year. It's racing, and that happens, but it's nice to get a little payoff."

Ara Malkhassian, of Houston, finished fourth in his No. 11 ALARA Racing MX-5. On the long runs, Malkhassian seemed to bring his car to life. Malkhassian was playing the patience game making opportunistic passes when the situation presented itself.

Drake Kemper finished in fifth after a hard-fought battle throughout the race. In the No. 99 Royal Rugby/Mazda Motorsports Development/BFGoodrich Tires MX-5, Kemper started third but was engulfed in an intense battle for position right off the start. Kemper was as far up the field as third, on lap 16, but dropped back to sixth on the next lap. He improved to his finishing position, of fifth, by lap 21.

In the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge series, Sam Adams scored his first career victory. Adams was the benefactor of an incident that took out then class leader Ben Albano. The collision was the cause of the second full-course yellow period.

"Ben Albano was really quick," Adams said. "It seemed like it was going to be Robby [Foley], Albano and me fighting it out for the lead. Albano was involved in the second incident that brought out the full-course yellow, which allowed me to take over the lead. After that it was all about focusing on my race and doing what I needed to do.

"Leading up to the incident, I didn't know what I would have for the guys up front. Ben was running quick laps and Robby is so hard to pass here. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to run with those guys, but I was going to try."

Nikko Reger followed his NOLA win with a second-place finish at Mazda Raceway. Bryan Hixon crossed the line in third place.

Hernan Palermo took home the Battery Tender Hard Charger award. In his No. 77 CMS/Brimtek/Sync Speed Inc. MX-5, Palermo improved four positions from his 18th place starting spot.

For additional information on the series, including full results, visit www.MX-5Cup.com.

Monterey Calif. - Provisional results from Saturday's 45 minute Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires Round 5 race, part of the Monterey Grand Prix at Monterey Calif. with position, class, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car, laps, and gap.

1,MX,{4},John Dean II, Sebring Fla.,MX-5,23,
2,MX,{1},Patrick Gallagher, Thornville Ohio,MX-5,23,0.413
3,MX,{2},Peter Portante, Plainville Conn.,MX-5,23,1.332
4,MX,{6},Ara Malkhassian, Houston Texas,MX-5,23,4.202
5,MX,{3},Drake Kemper, Toluca Lake Calif.,MX-5,23,4.908
6,MX,{7},Kyle Loustaunau(R), Vacaville Calif.,MX-5,23,6.33
7,MX,{5},Nathanial Sparks, Spanish Fort Ala.,MX-5,23,6.635
8,MX,{8},Dean Copeland, Bowie Md.,MX-5,23,9.553
9,MX,{9},Devin Jones, Mooresville N.C.,MX-5,23,10.208
10,MX,{10},Timothy Paul, Mahopac N.Y.,MX-5,23,10.453
11,MX,{13},Sarah Montgomery, Lafayette La.,MX-5,23,11.885
12,MX,{15},Zach Lee, San Antonio Texas,MX-5,23,13.668
13,MX,{11},Matt Koskinen(R), Harper Woods Mich.,MX-5,23,22.215
14,MX,{18},Hernan Palermo(R), Houston Texas,MX-5,23,24.178
15,MX,{14},Keith Jensen(R), Dallas Texas,MX-5,23,26.883
16,MX,{20},Steve Bottom, Newport Beach Calif.,MX-5,23,31.487
17,MX,{19},Brent Mosing, Lafayette La.,MX-5,23,40.6
18,MX,{21},Aurora Straus(R), New York N.Y.,MX-5,22,1 Lap
19,MX,{17},Charles Paquin, Ottawa Ont. Can.,MX-5,22,1 Lap
20,MX,{16},Tim Probert, Houston Texas,MX-5,8,Mech
21,MX,{12},Nick Igdalsky(R), Stroudsburg Pa.,MX-5,3,Crash

1,SBMX,{24},Sam Adams, Richfield Wis.,SBMX-5,23,
2,SBMX,{25},Nikko Reger, Houston Texas,SBMX-5,23,2.89
3,SBMX,{26},Bryan Hixon, San Antonio Texas,SBMX-5,23,7.88
4,SBMX,{22},Robby Foley, Randolph N.J.,SBMX-5,23,7.974
5,SBMX,{27},Kieron O'Rourke, Grand Cayman,SBMX-5,23,44.703
6,SBMX,{28},Chris Beaufait, Freeland Wash.,SBMX-5,23,46.932
7,SBMX,{23},Ben Albano, Greenwich Conn.,SBMX-5,8,Crash

45:14.492
MX Margin of Victory: 0.413 seconds
SBMX Margin of Victory: 2.890 seconds
Laps Led: #44 1-19; #16 20-23
Fastest Race Lap: #7 Dean Copeland 1:41.957 (79.022 mph)
Hard Charger: #77 Hernan Palermo, +4

Image: John Dean made a pass in Turn 11 in the closing laps of Saturday's Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup Round Five race to take the win at Mazda Raceway.
Credit: Al Merion Padron