Because Spec E30s can jump right into German Touring Series 1 with no modifications, GTS1 was the largest field at the Western States Championships.
Sylas Montgomery, who moved up from his sixth-place finish into third in Spec E30 after post-race DQs, started on the pole position. Aristotle Balogh started from second, with Timothy Carman in third.
Unlike Spec E30, the German Touring Series races begin with a flying start. Montgomery was sandwiched between more powerful GTS2 and GTS3 cars, so the start was pretty chaotic. Montgomery held his own till the dust settled, then put his head down and hammered away error-free laps for 45 minutes.
“I started from the pole and pulled away,” Montgomery said afterward. “After that, it was just a matter of trying to manage tires, brakes and faster traffic behind me.”
Meanwhile, Raymond Zanotto started from the back of the pack and third from last overall. Clearly he had his work cut out for him as did SoCal Spec E30 Regional Champion Michael Mihld, who started just ahead of Zanotto.
Zanotto took second, but was DQ’d after the race. That left Mihld to take second place and Ken Bains in third.
“It was great,” Mihld said. “I started sixth and worked my way up to third. It was a great race. Everybody raced clean out there, no damage, so I think it was pretty good for everybody.”
