"Fantastic!" was heard in many languages, by many spectators, drivers, teams and organizers at this famous track. And a fantastic weekend this was. Formula BMW put on two truly international races with drivers from Canada, USA, Romania, UK, UAE, Brazil and Spain.
Atlantic Racing Team, driving this year in the FBMW Pacific series, received two last minute requests to participate in Montreal from the Brit Ollie Millroy, a BMW Junior driver with Fisichella Motorsports (FMS) and Asad Rahman of Dubai, UAE, driving in his first year for Motaworld. Both drivers are participating in the European Formula BMW Series.
"We still had two cars here in Halifax, Nova Scotia and decided three days before the beginning of the Montreal race weekend, to take on the task and run Asad and Ollie in Montreal - a decision we will never forget.
These two guys have not only talent but also great personalities - when out of the car, they showed their tremendous sense of humour and ability to adapt to anew team very fast and well; when in the car, only one thing counted - doing their best within all their means!
And that is what a Junior race car driver needs these days - getting along with the team and also understanding what is being asked of them," explains Ingo Strackerjan, team manager of Atlantic Racing Team. He proceeds to say, with a smile on his face,
"Even when things did not work out well for Ollie in qualifying, due to a throttle problem and the time-costly repairs in the pits, he still managed to get a decent time. In the meantime, Asad's time improved lap by lap, his confidence growing. He liked the track and was amazed by the atmosphere here."
The results of the races showed how difficult both races were in terms of driver talent, the shunting and pushing, accidental or not, and weather factors. It also showed clearly that a race is not won at the first turn in the race. Asad stayed out of trouble, improving his time with each lap, and gained track space on the re-start. Unfortunately for Ollie, the first race ended for him in the third chicane, just a couple laps short of the finish; in the second race he came up to P3 but then got punted in the rear,
breaking the exhaust manifold tubes, and subsequently losing much of the horsepower needed for this fast track. He ended the second race in P6 while Asad secured P8.
Asad and Ollie ended up in the top 5 of the Rookie Cup - a great achievement for these young, first year drivers.
"We instructed both drivers to drive fair and clean, and to get the most out of this event by learning from more experienced drivers - watching and observing, getting used to a different track, on a different continent - and to immerse themselves in a somewhat different culture - food, people, habit, racing and team", tells Lucas Strackerjan, the team engineer.
"Both did that and enjoyed it. I hope they look back on Montreal as one of the great experiences in their racing careers."
For more information on this series and teams visit www.formulabmwamericas.com and www.atlanticracingteam.com
- Ingo Strackerjan-
