Steven Hinton And Team Strega Win Unlimited Gold At Reno 2012! (16 Pix)
Monday, September 17, 2012 at 10:57PM 
(click pic to enlarge) Reno 2012 Unlimited Gold champion Steven Hinton with Strega
(16 pix - click any pic to enlarge)
Get Reno Air Race results on this RARA page
The winning streak for Steven Hinton and Strega continued as the pair breezed thru qualifying, the individual Heat races, and then the Gold race (Sunday September 16, 2012) to become the 2012 Reno Gold Unlimited champion! Congratulations to Team Strega for being fast, dependable and consistent... three things hard to achieve in the world of Unlimited air racing.
But the real winner at Reno 2012 was the event itself - along with all the fans around the world that are passionate about the human desire to push ourselves to the limit. Reno 2012 was safe, extremely well run, and had sufficient attendance to show everyone that the world's fastest motorsport is prepared to move into the future and toward the 50th anniversary for next year 2013. Given the challenges encountered in the last year since the Galloping Ghost tragedy, it's truly amazing that the event was able to run this year. The hard work and dedication of so many has kept this long standing tradition alive and renewed our spirits. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of the event once again and I look forward to many more years of the National Championship Air Races!
Steven and Strega in Friday's Heat 2A race (stylized from an image I captured)
Here are 14 more pictures from the race on Sunday to give you a little feel for how well things went. The weather was perfect and the racing was great. Hoot Gibson finished second in September Fury and Dennis Sanders finished third in good ole Dreadnought. Thom Richard in Precious Metal was out of the race after just a lap or two when it was discovered that an inner gear door had left the airplane and was slowing it down significantly, and Stewart Dawson in Rare Bear pulled up and out later in the race. Both airplanes landed without incident bringing the 2012 Reno Air Races to a safe conclusion. Brent Hisey in Miss America and Curt Brown in Sawbones filled out the field of seven Unlimited Gold racers.
With the 2012 event a great success, and the talk that Strega will be retiring now, the future is wide open for Unlimited air racing. It'll to be interesting to see where Steven winds up and if more Unlimited teams will emerge as it's clear that air racing is very much alive and well.
Steven and Team Strega leading the parade to the starting spot in front of the grandstands
Thom Richard and the Precious Metal crew on their way to the starting position
2012 top 5 qualifiers: Strega, September Fury, Rare Bear, Precious Metal, Dreadnought
The Griffon powered Precious Metal is likely to be a real contender in the near future
Steven Hinton and Strega started up and ready to go race for more Reno Gold
Hoot Gibson and September Fury getting started with the home pylon in the background
Note the Rare Bear 'defeat' stickers near cockpit... Gold race made it 3 defeats for Hoot
Rare Bear looked like it was gonna have a great year with a fast qualifying speed but things never quite came together for the airplane and Stewart Dawson. The Bear remains a huge crowd favorite tho and the friendly rivalry with her stable-mate September Fury (both owned by Rod Lewis) made for a great week of racing.
Steven Hinton and Strega taxi back in as the winner of Reno Unlimited Gold for 2012!
A great day for Steven Hinton, Team Strega, and for Unlimited air racing: Reno Style!
The trophy and jacket have been very hard earned... congratulations Team Strega
And congratulations to ex-astronaut Hoot Gibson for 2nd place in September Fury!
Thank you Reno Air Racing Association for a job well done.
Reader Comments (4)
Thanks for the coverage, Martt.
No contest pretty much sums this year up, just like the last 3 years. It sure is sad Strega isn't going to be there any more though.
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