Formula BMW USA begins the second-half of its 2005 season at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 28-31. A new circuit for the series, the twisting 2.3-miles of Barber Motorsports Park will be quickly followed by Formula BMW USA's second visit to the streets of Denver, Colorado for the Aug. 11-14 Denver Grand Prix. These two weekends are sure to prove critical in the hopes of the Formula BMW USA drivers with a chance at the Overall and Rookie crowns before the final weekend of the season at Road Atlanta on Sept. 30 - Oct. 1.
Three BMW Junior drivers, Kevin Lacroix, of St-Eustache, Quebec; Frenchman Richard Philippe, of Key Biscayne, Florida; and Robert Wickens, of Etobicoke, Ontario, stand in the top-three of both the Overall and Rookie Championships, sharing seven of eight wins to-date among themselves.
Lacroix, 16, has led the Overall points since his opening victory in Round 1 and has two additional wins in his column, but three finishes out of the points means he only has a three-point advantage on Philippe and Wickens, who are tied in second.
Lacroix is on top for now, but knows his three point cushion is not much. "For sure I want to try to win the races," he says. "But first of all, I must finish since I had three crashes in past races. I am very happy to lead the Championship points since the first race at Laguna Seca. A Championship in my first year of open-wheel racing would be very good for my future. Since the USGP, I have trained and tried to stay relaxed."
Richard, the younger brother of Champ Car driver Nelson Philippe, has shown speed well beyond what would be expected of a 15 year old in his first year of racing car competition. He has four pole positions to his credit, but, like Lacroix, Philippe's three wins have been tempered by three poor finishes.
He knows what he must do. "Maybe I will be a little bit more cautious, but must take risks to win races. Winning means scoring the most points. Fighting for the Championship is part of racing, but I don't feel more pressure than earlier in the season. There are a lot of good drivers and if I make any mistakes I am finished."
Wickens (16) has one victory and has always finished in the top-10. Four times a podium-finisher, Wickens has been the model of consistency and that has him at the top of the Rookie points.
"I will race in the same way I have all year," he said. "Stay on the track and not crash. It is amazing. I never thought that I would be second in Championship points and actually be leading the Rookie points. Anything can happen on the track and I want to make sure it is only good."
The other twenty-some drivers in the field are sure to give Lacroix, Philippe and Wickens a run. Many have shown new speed in recent Rounds and Barber may reveal a new contender. In the middle of the six weeks since Rounds 7 and 8 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 11 teams took advantage of a two-day test at Putnam Park in Indianapolis, Ind., to keep in tune.
Practice will be held on Friday, July 29 at 8:00 to 8:25 and 11:20 to 11:45 a.m., followed by the Round 9 qualifying session at 4:30 p.m. Round 10 qualifying will be held at 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. Saturday with the Round 9 race scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. The Round 10 race is scheduled to start at 4:25 p.m. Sunday.
Championship points after 8 of 14 races:
1. Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport, 87), 2. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 84), 3. Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 84), 4. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing, 67), 5. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 57), 6. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 55), 7. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 26), 8. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 26), 9. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 10. Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team, 22), 11. Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing, 22), 12. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing, 21), 13. Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 18), 14. Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 18), 15. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 10), 16. Matthew Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport, 8), 17. Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team, 8), 18. Darin Marcus (Gelles Racing, 7), 19. Doug Boyer (Jensen MotorSport, 2), 20. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 1), 21. Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing, 0), 22. Ryan Campbell (Gelles Racing, 0), 23. Nathan DePagter (DRE Autosport, 0), 24. Jules Duc (Jensen MotorSport, 0), 25. Scott Harnell (SDH3 with Cinema Concepts, 0), 26. Ryan Phinny (Gelles Racing, 0), 27. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 0), 28. Robbie Pecorari (Walker Racing, 0)
Rookies: 1. Robert Wickens (97), 2. Kevin Lacroix (90), 3. Richard Philippe (89), 4. Reed Stevens (66), 5. James Davison (61), 6. Edoardo Piscopo (34), 7. Rob Bunker (31), 8. John Zartarian (31), 9. Justin Moon (30), 10. Race Johnson (26), 11. Tobias Hegewald (22), 12. Darin Marcus (19), 13. Adrien Herberts (19), 14. Matthew Lee (18), 15. Doug Boyer (10), 16. Ryan Campbell (3), 17. Jules Duc (2), 18. Nathan DePagter (0), 19. Ryan Phinny (0)
Statistics:
Winners 2005: Lacriox (3), Philippe (3), Wickens (1), Davison (1)
Pole Positions: Philippe (4), Hegewald (2), Summerton (2)
Podiums: Lacroix (3), Soulet (3), Philippe (2), Stevens (2), Davison (1), Piscopo (1), Moon (1), Hegewald (1), Wickens (2), Summerton (1)
Background:
Formula BMW is the world's leading entry-level class in Formula racing. In 2005 the series will be held in Germany, Britain, Asia and the USA. Up-and-coming drivers as young as 15-years-old are given the opportunity of entering motor racing with the high-tech, standard FB02 race car.
This racing car has been seen on the grid since 2002 and has set standards particularly on the safety technology front. The single-seater is propelled by a 140 bhp BMW engine up to 140 mph and exceeds by far the safety requirements for its class. BMW Motorsport has developed the FORS Formula Rescue Race Seat especially for Formula BMW. The HANS® safety system is also mandatory.
In 2005, Formula BMW will be staged five times as part of the Formula One support program. All the series offer a multifaceted Education and Coaching Program as well as sponsorship for promising racing talents. The best-known alumni of this talent hothouse are Formula One drivers Ralf Schumacher and Christian Klien.
BMW Motorsport Director Dr. Mario Theissen: "Formula BMW offers talented young drivers more than just a car. In the Education and Coaching Program we have designed specially for them, they learn everything they need to know to hold their own in the big wide world of motor racing. Formula BMW has shot out of the blocks to become the top entry-level class for Formula racing worldwide."
In December 2005 the Bahrain International Circuit will host the first Formula BMW World Final. Young racing drivers from the four regional Formula BMW series will compete against each other. The winner will get a Formula One test drive.
- Heike Bartsch -
