Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 12, 2005. The Canadian National Anthem played for the second time this weekend as BMW Junior and Rookie driver Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA) won Round 6 of the Formula BMW USA Series at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 16-year old Wickens, of Etobicoke, Ontario, the third-place finisher of yesterday's Round 5 race, finished 3.440 seconds ahead of fellow BMW Junior Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA) in the 12 lap contest. Wickens, starting from the sixth starting position, took over the lead from polesitter Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team) on lap seven. He recorded the fastest lap of the race (1:46.997) on lap 10 as he drove to his first Formula BMW USA victory. Hegewald recovered to round out the podium, for an excellent weekend's work.
Robert Bunker (AIM Autosport) was fifth and Matt Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport) finished eighth for their season's best result.
Kevin Lacroix's accident and resulting retirement on the opening lap of the race did not allow him to score any points, but he retained his lead in both the Overall and Rookie points. Fourth-place finisher Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing) closed to within nine of Lacroix in the Overall points and Wicken's win moved him to third, only one point from Soulet.
Wickens and Stevens each moved up one position in Rookie points to second and third respectively. Lacroix now leads Wickens by just two points.
"My car was spectacular today," said a happy Wickens. "I need to thank my sponsors MMG Financial, Cameron Motorsports, F1-K International, Malcom McMaster, Bob Cameron and Panielle. They all made it possible. Today it was a little bit of luck and a little bit of a fast car. I had a car to win, but two yellow flags definitely helped a lot."
Stevens, who equalled his best result of the season today said, "This weekend we had trouble in qualifying. We were not able to qualify as far forward as we wanted, but I had a car capable of winning. A good result depended on a good start and very good opening laps. We were lucky today. We had a fantastic start and two yellow flags really helped us to get into the second position."
A disappointed Hegewald said, "I was a little bit unlucky today. I had a really good start and was in the lead for the first 6 laps. After getting hit by Stevens, I was third and I couldn't do anything."
The top-finishing Rookies were Wickens (P1), Stevens (P2) and Bunker (P5).
Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2005 Formula BMW USA Series will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 18 - 19 in support of the United States Grand Prix.
Round 6 - Results (12 laps)
1 Robert Wickens (R) (Team Apex Racing USA): 24:53.367
2 Reed Stevens (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 24:56.807
3 Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team): 24:57.855
4 Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing): 25:05.534
5 Rob Bunker (R) (AIM Autosport): 25:07.413
6 Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport): 25:07.912
7 Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 25:10.083
8 Matthew Lee (R) (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport): 25:10.410
9 Darin Marcus (R) (Gelles Racing): 25:10.632
10 Paul Rees (Walker Racing): 25:12.065
11 Adrien Herberts (R) (Atlantic Racing Team): 25:12.768
12 Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing): 25:13.217
13 Ryan Campbell (R) (Gelles Racing): 25:15.140
14 Jules Duc (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 25:24.020
15 Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing): 25:28.357
16 Edoardo Piscopo (R) (EuroInternational): 25:37.161
17 John Zartarian (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 9 laps Accident
18 Doug Boyer (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 6 laps Accident
19 Justin Moon (R) (Gelles Racing): 4 laps Accident
20 Richard Philippe (R) (Team Autotecnica): 3 laps Accident
21 Race Johnson (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 3 laps Accident
22 Kevin Lacroix (R) (AIM Autosport): 1 laps Accident
23 James Davison (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 0 laps DNS
Championship points after 6 of 14 races:
1. Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport, 72), 2. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing, 63), 3. Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 62), 4. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 49), 5. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 49), 6. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 35), 7. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 8. Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 18), 9. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing, 18), 10. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 18), 11. Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing, 15), 12. Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 14), 13. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 13), 14. Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team, 12), 15. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 8), 16. Matthew Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport, 8), 17. Darin Marcus (Gelles Racing, 4), 18. Doug Boyer (Jensen MotorSport, 2), 19. Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team, 2), 20. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 1), 21. Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing, 0), 20. Ryan Campbell (Gelles Racing, 0), 21. Nathan DePagter (DRE Autosport, 0), 22. Jules Duc (Jensen MotorSport, 0), 23. Scott Harnell (SDH3 with Cinema Concepts, 0), 24. Ryan Phinny (Gelles Racing, 0)
Rookies: 1. Kevin Lacroix (75), 2. Robert Wickens (73), 3. Reed Stevens (56), 4. Richard Philippe (54), 5. James Davison (41), 6. Rob Bunker (33), 7. John Zartarian (29), 8. Edoardo Piscopo (25), 9. Justin Moon (22), 10. Race Johnson (19), 11. Matthew Lee (19), 12. Darin Marcus (15), 13. Adrien Herberts (13), 14. Doug Boyer (5), 15. Ryan Campbell (4), 16. Jules Duc (3), 17. Nathan DePagter (0), 18. Ryan Phinny (0)
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 by far exceeds 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, BMW -
