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| March 12, 2010 News |
| EFCN One-on-One: JDC MotorSports' John Church |
 | John Church's JDC MotorSports squad ended the the 2009 season with both the Star Mazda Championship and F2000 Championship Series titles
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship) |
With the start of the Star Mazda Championship just around the corner, eFormulaCarNews.com recently had the chance to talk with JDC MotorSports Team Principal John Church. The Minnesota native discussed the team's double championship-winning season, what makes them successful and the upcoming 2010 campaign.
EFORMULACARNEWS.COM: First off congratulations on your double championship-winning season this past year. You must be very proud of what JDC MotorSports and its drivers accomplished.
JOHN CHURCH: Thank You, it was definitely a very exciting and rewarding season. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work and determination by a lot of people within the team. Everyone deserves to be very proud of what we have accomplished.
EFCN: Let’s begin by talking about expectations coming into the 2009 season. I think every expected JDC MotorSports to challenge for the team and driver championships in the Star Mazda Championship, given your previous success and who you had behind the wheels, particularly given your last minute signing of Adam Christodoulou. Did you guys have those same expectations? If so, did you and the crew or drivers feel pressure to meet those goals?
CHURCH: I guess we go into each season looking to win championships. That was certainly the case this past year. Going into the season-opener at Sebring the drivers and team as a whole had a lot of confidence that we could meet that goal of challenging for the championship. I definitely felt that we had all the pieces in places to win on a regular basis.
EFCN: On the F2000 Championship Series front, was the goal the same, to challenge for the team championship title, given it was only your second season in the series?
CHURCH: Absolutely. We felt we had a very good shot at the title, given the fact that we were coming back with Chris Miller as a second-year driver. He had learned a great deal during the 2008 season, and we matched that with some key chassis improvements. He did a fantastic job all year and everything came together for us.
 | Quality personnel and solid teamwork has always been a key component in JDC's on-track success
(Photo: F2000 Championship Series - Janice Eakin) |
EFCN: Obviously 2009 was a dream season, what with all the pole positions, wins and championship titles. What do you believe was the key to achieving these results?
CHURCH: It all comes down to teamwork and how well everyone works together. We have a lot of smart and talented people within the team, and a lot of complimentary skill sets. I have often felt that there is not a problem that we can't collectively solve.
EFCN: While it is becoming more and more common for teams to run multiple cars in different championships, it still must be pretty difficult to do, let alone challenge for wins on a consistent basis. What is the most difficult aspect about running two or more cars in two different series during the same race season?
CHURCH: The biggest hurdle is the logistics. It gets pretty difficult when you have trucks going in two different directions. Again, it comes back to the teamwork and everyone looking out for each other. A reality of this economy is you have to do more with less. That being said, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by quality people, ensuring we can accomplish our and the drivers goals.
EFCN: JDC has established a reputation for helping train/develop young drivers into race winners and championship contenders. This was further showcased this past year, with Adam Christodoulou, Alex Ardoin and Mike Guasch [Masters class] all visiting victory lane in Star Mazda Championship, and Chris Miller scoring multiples victories in F2000 Championship Series competition. Why do you think young, albeit talented drivers, have excelled under the JDC awning?
CHURCH: Again, I have to go back to the team and the teamwork. I feel that we give our drivers the best opportunities to showcase their talents and learn from each other. Last year, the drivers did an excellent job of working together to better not only themselves, but also their teammates. When we struggle, everyone puts in the extra effort to pick each other up and solve the problems.
 | JDC MotorSports plans continuing to train and develop young drivers via its multi-car championship efforts
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship) |
EFCN: With driver development a key ingredient in junior formula car racing, we’ve seen a number of teams establishing internal ladder programs via competition in several series. With already two championship-winning efforts at JDC MotorSports, has the team looked at expanding its race operations? Perhaps adding a karting program to work with drivers before they begin racing cars, or maybe an Indy Lights program as a final step before reaching the top echelon of formula car racing in North America.
CHURCH: Certainly we have been looking into different areas to expand the team. The biggest hurdle is defining a series which makes good business sense. Open-wheel formula car racing is where we would like to stay, but things are a little difficult right now.
EFCN: Finally let’s talk about the upcoming 2010 race season. JDC MotorSports has two championship titles to defend. What are your thoughts prior to the season-openers in the Star Mazda Championship and F2000 Championship Series with regards to repeating as driver and team champions?
CHURCH: As always, the new season brings new challenges. I think we have assembled another great driver lineup, and will be announcing our USF2000 Championship drivers very soon. Nothing comes easy, so hopefully a lot of the areas we have worked on during the off-season will help us to improve as a team.
EFCN: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, and we look forward to covering JDC MotorSports' pursuit of more series titles in 2010.
CHURCH: As always, it was a pleasure talking with EFCN and its readers. Hopefully you'll have lots of good JDC results to write about this year.
For additional EFCN One-on-One features, please visit HERE |
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