Voting is now Open!
NER Members – voting is now open for the 2023 Board of Directors election. You will find candidate bios on each of the nominees below. Use the link to enter MotorsportsReg to cast your ballot online. Please remember to vote for up to 5 candidates, as there are 5 seats open for this term.
Paper ballots are available for those wishing to vote in that manner. Contact Andrew Benagh to request a paper ballot be mailed to you. Or pick one up at the Annual Meeting and vote in person with the paper ballot there. The final totals will include all online votes, plus those paper votes returned by mail and submitted at the meeting. Online voting closes at midnight on January 6, 2023.
Questions? Please contact Andrew Benagh
Meet the Candidates
Allen Briere
I have been an active SCCA member since 2017 however I have been involved in motorsports for over 20 years. Taking part in Autocross, Track Days and Time Trial events across the country I found my home with the SCCA NER Division. I have owned my own performance shop in the past as well as hold a carrier in the Automotive industry which can bring an interesting outlook at things. This along with my marketing skills I would be honored to support a club that has given me so much.
I believe now is the time to start giving back to the family that has given me so much over the past 5 years. I promise to bring a positive attitude and out of the box thinking while holding the best interest of the club/drivers in mind. Team work makes Dream work and it does take a team of volunteers to make the NER Division one of the best ones in the country.
Maurizio Cerasoli
Hello, my name is Maurizio Cerasoli and I am running for election to the board of directors for the New England Region SCCA.
My passion for racing started early in life and I first started racing with SCCA in 1981. Over the years, I have competed in IMSA, Grandam and in the CanAm 2 liter class.
I own and operate MC Racing which prepares classic and racing cars.
I have enjoyed racing with the SCCA for many years and I am asking for your vote so I can contribute my time and experience to making our club better. My interests are in making our members’ experience more enjoyable in all of our programs, as well as helping the financial health of the club.
Please vote for me.
Abhi Ghatak
My name is Abhi Ghatak and I am running for election to the New England Region Board of Directors. I have had the honor of serving on the board for two terms and am seeking my third and final term. For the past two years, I have served as Regional Executive for the region.
If elected, I would hope to bring my years of business experience in marketing, customer retention and technology to the club. One of my focus areas will be to attract new members and volunteers from different areas of motorsports including Track Night in America, and track day organizations. Over the past few years, in addition to competing in our road race and time trial programs, I have had the chance to attend our autocross and rally cross events and meet the people that make our club such a great organization. We are now the third largest region in the country.
During my years as V.P of Operations at the Skip Barber Racing School, I learned the challenges of running a safe, fun and fair race event, while balancing a limited budget and increased competition for track days. If elected I hope to bring that experience and contacts in the motorsports industry to benefit our club.
I ask for your vote so I can continue contributing to our club.
Hiroshi Hatano
Hello. My name is Hiroshi Hatano and I am running for election to the board of directors for the New England Region SCCA. I have always had a passion for motorsports since I was a little child. My dream was to become a race car driver. Somehow I became a CPA (instead of a professional race car driver), but never lost the passion for driving. Over the years, I’ve experienced motorcycles, go-karts, autocross, DE’s and finally club racing. For me, it was always a little bit intimidating to get into the sport unless you knew someone who was already in that sport. Even certain clubs felt more difficult to get into than others, and I’ve found SCCA to have just the right balance of family, friendship and competition. Each and every time I come to one of the events, I enjoy every moment of it. My son also started racing with SCCA at 16, and he too enjoys the races, seeing and interacting with all the grown-ups(?) who have always welcomed him and encouraged him.
I am retiring from my regular work next year, and I feel that now is the time to give back what I can to SCCA. If elected, I would like to focus on increasing the membership, making SCCA experience easy to get into even if you don’t yet have friends in SCCA. Just like me, I believe there are many people who always had the passion for cars, but didn’t know how to get in. In my professional life as an auditor, I am always working with, and leading teams of people who are of various backgrounds, young and older. I would love to contribute my skills and knowledge to make our club even better than what it already is.
Steve Introne
2021 was my first term elected to the NER Board of Directors. After 40 years of volunteering in T&S as a teenager, and F&C as an adult, 5 years autocrossing, and 20 years road racing, I figured it was time to channel all of that experience back into helping lead our region. In my first term, I spear-headed the development of a recruiting team that is actively working on ways to engage and drive recruitment and new members to all areas of our club. From workers to participants, this team is finding new ways to reach out and increase awareness and involvement. I would be honored to continue leading that team for another term, as I believe our momentum is growing and we’re starting to see results.
In my professional life, I lead a 135+ person Quality team, so coordinating different personalities, finding and putting everyone’s unique strengths to work, building efficient and effective systems, is what I do on a daily basis. All skills that are necessary in leadership roles. But the bottom line is, I love this club. It’s my extended family. My parents, my wife, and my kids are all actively involved in SCCA and our NER region. Building and maintaining a region that will thrive and provide the same joy and love of racing for the next generation is my goal. I’d be honored if you vote for me to spend another term helping make that happen for the current and future members who love having fun with cars.
Dave Patten
I respectfully offer my time to serve as a director on the NER BOD. Most of my SCCA involvement has been in Club Racing, primarily as a driver. Off track I’ve supported timing and scoring during my wife Denise’s tenure as Chief of T&S. When GTL was created, I assisted the National Club Racing Board in writing the class specification.
SCCA Highlights:
• Assistant Regional Executive award in 2005
• NERRC Championships in GT3 and F Production
• Multi-Time SCCA Runoffs participant
• SCCA-NER, continuous member since 1987
Personal:
• Small Business Owner since 2009, FutoFab LLC
• BOD Member of the New England Racing Museum, Loudon, NH
• Past officer and recipient of lifetime membership in the Sports Car Club of NH
• Vintage racing and hill climbs outside of SCCA
Given all the opportunities NER has offered me, it is time that I give back as a BOD member. I would appreciate your vote to make this happen.
Respectfully submitted,
Dave Patten
Dunbarton, NH
Donnie Roberts
Hi, my name is Donnie Roberts, a SCCA member and Flagger since 2015. After 35 years in logistics operations and administration. I decided it was time for another chapter in life. It was quickly apparent that my time was better served behind the wall rather than behind the wheel. I found a passion, a job at 3 tracks and some great people.
I believe I would bring to the board a view from the second best seat in the house. A seat that I’m in 20 days a month where we run. I would like to draw from my experience and build on the recruiting and training of workers effort in all disciplines. And to contribute to the overall growth of the club. Thanks in advance for your support.
Dan Sheppard
I’d like to introduce myself to those that don’t already know me. I’ve been a NER SCCA member since 1987, off and on. I have been a road racing competitor since 1996, in a variety of cars. In that time, I have been a volunteer in several specialties, as well as Race Chair. Basically, one of those old guys that is always involved in making an event run smoothly.
In real life, I have been a Small Business owner, as well raising a family with Jaime. We have been involved in IT7 since the beginning and have fostered it from a few cars to what it is today. Now I am at the point that I feel I should give back to the NER community. I feel with my small business experience, and knowledge base of how NER Road Racing runs, I feel I will be a valuable asset to the board.
