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Under sunny skies the Bertil Roos Race Series kicked off its season at Virginia International Raceway. This year starts with a lot of change, coming in the form of a new style of tire supplied by Cooper Tires,  but also promise for the series, returning veterans and a new crop of rookie drivers leading to a very health and competitive field.

Group 1 Race 1:The field was set for Group 1 Sunday morning with veteran Dave Long taking pole over Chris Williamson, who on his return to the series, had a quiet session but kept the car on track to grab 2nd spot to round out the front row.  When the green flag dropped it was Chris that made the best start to take the lead, a lead he would hold to the end on the race. Behind him the race was on between Dave Long, Kevin Anderson, Toulouse Lafond and Norman Lizzul. On lap 4 going down the esses Dave momentarily slid the car and was tagged from behind ending his race. Kevin took over 2nd only to a lap later have an error which saw him leave the road and have to get the car checked out. Norman overtook Toulouse the following lap to gain 2nd. Kevin who after the stop was charging came up through the field to 3rd, with Mike Abboud finishing 4th and Toulouse rounding out the top 5.

Group 1 Race 2:By virtue of his win in Race 1 Chris was on pole for Race 2. He held the lead for the first lap but by the end of the 2nd was over taken by Kevin for first place. Race 1’s pole sitter Dave Long, after starting last was making a charge through the field steadily picking off cars and by the end of lap 7 had made his way to 4th place.  On lap 11 the order at the front changed as Chris, who had been nose to tail with Kevin, made an error entering into the Oak Tree corner and found himself in a tire barrier ending his race. The Battle for second was heating up as Dave long had caught up to Norman Lizzul. The two, while battling, were also catching Kevin as the race was winding down. Dave passed Norman and started his race to catch Kevin the gap had shrunk to less than a car length by the time the checkered flag fell giving Kevin his second Roos Race Series win and Dave a strong 2nd place. Finishing 3rd was Norman followed by rookie Alastair McEwan who had a quiet race but gained valuable knowledge and points for the season ahead. Behind Alastair was longtime Roos Series driver Earl Ihrie taking the 5th spot.

Group 2 Race 1:At the start of the race for Group 2 an incident on the front straight between the pole sitter Stuart Rettie and defending champion Mark Vultaggio saw the race stopped before the first lap was completed. When the race was restarted it was 2nd place qualifier Tim Nichols on point followed by Frank Vultaggio and brother Mark. Tim would hold his place to take the win for Race 1, while behind him Mark made his way past Frank to take 2nd. Stuart, who after restarting 6th, picked up 2 spots to finish 4th with Steve Darrah following him up to 5th place.

Group 2 Race 2:After a clean start to Race 2 it was Tim Nichols leading the pack ahead of Frank, Stuart, Mark and rookie Gary Peck. On lap 5 defending series champ Mark Vultaggio, who on lap 2 passed Stuart and on the next lap passed Frank, made it passed Tim who, when leading, locked up and went off course. The following lap however the order would shuffle as Tim had to pit to have the car checked. The new order was Mark, Frank, Stuart, Gary and then Steve Darrah for the top 5. The order would stay this way till lap 11 when rookie Gary Peck ran afoul of the Bertil Roos “3 times 4 wheels off” rule and was unable to finish the race. Despite having a second off in the closing stages of the race Tim Nichols was able to hold onto 5th place behind Steve Darrah. Taking 3rd and a podium finish to start the year was Stuart Rettie, 2nd was Frank Vultaggio, and starting the year where he left off at the end of the 2009 season, with first place, Mark Vultaggio.

The final Finishing orders are as follows:Group 1  Group 21 Kevin Anderson  1 Mark Vultaggio2 Dave Long  2 Frank Vultaggio3 Norman Lizzul  3 Stuart Rettie4 Alastair McEwan **  4 Steve Darrah5 Earl Ihrie  5 Tim Nichols6 Toulouse Lafond  6 Andy Ourant **7 Mike Abboud  7 Peter Cellino **8 Zane Gibbs **  8 Clark Darrah **9 Chris Williamson  9 Gary Peck **** Denotes Rookie Drivers