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| June 20, 2012 News |
| Formula Car Challenge: 19 Mazda Powered Racers Scream Through Sonoma |
The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear visited Sonoma for a doubleheader event this past weekend (June 16-17). It was sunny and hot all weekend, with Saturday's high temp at 100, followed by a cooler Sunday that was "only" in the low 90's.
After a morning warm up session, the drivers headed out for qualifying. In his first start of the year, Patrick O'Neill clicked off the fastest time at 1:30.616 just edging out points leader Kyle Kaiser. Lloyd Read completed the top three in the Pro FM class. Michael Whelden set the bar in FS2.0 with a lap time of 1:36.928. FS2.0 entries of Ken Rodrigues and Kerstin Smutny followed closely behind. Formula Mazda driver Bill Weaver scored another pole in the class with a fast lap at 1:37.783. Derry O'Donovan and series newcomer TJ Fischer rounded out the top three in FM.
In Saturday's race, Kaiser solidified his top spot in the Pro Formula Mazda points by grabbing the victory. In a classic turn 11 move, Kaiser passed the polesitter O'Neill. Giving chase through turn two, O'Neill tried to return the move, however, fell back. 2011 FCC PFM Champion Read finished second, and Andre Erikson filled out the Pro FM podium.
The Formula Speed 2.0 podium welcomed Smutny for the first time this year. The talented female driver snagged the third spot, as Michael Whelden and Ken Rodrigues battled it out for the top spot. Whelden kept his run going, picking up his fifth win of the year.
Weaver scored his third win of the year on FM, narrowly holding off O'Donovan, who pushed for the top spot over the 14 lap run. Scoring his first podium finish, Fischer grabbed the last position on the podium.
Point's leader Kaiser secured the pole position on Sunday morning, setting a fast time of 1:31.307, narrowly staying ahead of Read by less than a tenth of a second. Eriksen rounded out the top three starters.
Whelden continued to set the bar in the FS2.0 with a fast time of 1:37.647, however the hard charging Rodrigues and Smutny showed their speed, narrowing the gap greatly over Saturday's fast times.
Weaver kept his perfect weekend on a roll, again picking up the top spot in qualifying with a 1:38.067. Fischer picked up the pace securing the second spot on the grid, followed in close tow by O'Donovan.
Picking up his second win of the weekend, young Kaiser added valuable points to his championship lead. O'Neill had an impressive drive from the back of the field to actually cross the line first, but O'Neill was penalized one position to second spot for going to a new set of tires for the second race. Read took the final Pro FM podium position.
After two close calls, Whelden was able to regain his composure and apply steady pressure to Rodrigues to move into the top spot with just three laps remaining in the FS2.0 class. Rodrigues made impressive gains to lead the field. Smutny maintained a clean race to claim the third spot.
Scoring the weekend sweep in Formula Mazda, Weaver led all 15 laps on route to his fouth win of the season. Impressive Fischer matched Weaver's pace, but was mired in a race long battle with O'Donovan, narrowly edging out the veteran at the finish.
Races seven and eight of the West Coast Region Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear will take place at Portland International Raceway on July 13th-15th. |
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