Extends lead in rookie championship
In his bid to make up for a disappointing weekend at Mid-Ohio a few weeks back, Gianmarco Raimondo would have a strong run at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut this past weekend. Gianmarco would take a podium finish in race two and combine it with a top-five result in race one (P4) to add valuable points to his championship run. He would be the top rookie and top BMW Junior over the course of the weekend.
Drivers would take to the newly modified Lime Rock Park circuit on Friday for what was to be practice and a single qualifier for a three race weekend. The series had recently announced the addition of three races on the season with the first to be run this weekend.
Unfortunately, the rules at Lime Rock do not allow full race events on Friday so the session was converted to qualifying for the second race. Gianmarco had already qualified the car fifth for the first race on Saturday. He would go out in the second session and put the car on the second row (P3) for race two Saturday afternoon.
"We made some adjustments to the car that made it more settled" noted Gianmarco. "The #50 Team Autotecnica FB02 was pretty solid in that session and we were able to improve our time and move up to the second row. The car feels good for the races on Saturday."
Race one would go at 9:00 a.m Saturday. Giamarco, who reports that he was feeling "rested and ready to race", made up a position but could not gain on the leaders, although he was closing on the last podium spot finishing just 2/10ths back of third place. However, he did manage to hold off the series points leader for the fourth spot to gain some points.
Two and a half hours after completing race one, Gianmarco was back on track for race two. From the third starting position he would wage a close battle for second place early in the race. Gmo would hold position to the end, adding another podium result on the year. Once again the top rookie and BMW Junior, he has retained his lead in the rookie championship and sits a solid third place in the overall standings.
Gmo will next head to Putnam Park July 28 for a sanctioned Formula BMW test. The next race takes place at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 8-10.
Driver Facts:
Seventeen-year-old Gianmarco Raimondo is a 2008 Formula BMW Americas Junior. A graduate of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship (SRFKC) where he raced Intercontinental C (ICC) shifter karts.
He also raced in the Stars of Karting series with Hamilton, Ontario-based Cameron Motorsports. At the end of the 2007 racing season, Gianmarco was awarded a scholarship by SRFKC to compete in the Skip Barber Southern Region Championship where he scored a podium result in a race at Sebring in January of this year.
He now races with Team Autotecnica in the Formula BMW Americas series. Gianmarco receives support from Lakeshore Cardiology and Level Ten Communications. Gianmarco is know by his friends and fellow races as GMo (pronounced gee-mo)
Team Facts:
Team Autotecnica has been in the Formula BMW Americas series since its inception in 2004 (then called Formula BMW USA). The team has recorded a number of wins and podium results in that time. Autotecnica won the series championship in 2005 with rookie driver Richard Phillipe.
In 2007 the team recorded a record nine pole positions with rookie driver Esteban Gutierrez. The team also collected the rookie championship in 2007 with Gutierrez. Team web site: www.autotecnicagroup.com
Chris Jameson, photo - otp.ca
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