Formula BMW USA - Round 9 - Barber Motorsports Park - Race

Lacroix back on top in Round 9 Birmingham, Ala. - July 30, 2005.
Formula BMW USA Junior driver Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport) won Round 9
of the 2005 Formula BMW USA Series today at the Barber Motorsports
Park. The 16-year old Canadian led wire-to-wire, in the 30-minute
contest completing 14 laps of the 2.3-mile, 16-turn circuit. In taking
his fourth victory of the season, he consolidates his lead in Overall
points and moves back to the lead in the Rookie points. Edoardo Piscopo
(EuroInternational) came from the seventh starting position to finish
second, .414 seconds behind Lacroix. Following post-race technical
inspection, Piscopo was excluded from the results, moving Richard
Philippe (Team Autotecnica) to second place. Philippe maintains his
hold on second place in both the Overall and Rookie points. Maxime
Soulet (Gelles Racing) was credited with third, with the rest of the
field moving up one position after Piscopo's exclusion. 18 cars took
the standing start as Ryan Campbell dropped out on the formation lap
and Jules Duc started from the pit lane. Lacroix took charge immediately
with Philippe, Robert Wickens, Piscopo and Maxime Soulet filling out the
top-five in the early laps. Reed Stevens, required to start from the
rear of the grid, quickly moved into the top-10. He ended the day in
sixth place. On lap six, a crash by Adrien Herberts in turn three
brought out the safety car. As the green flag restarted the race on lap
10, Piscopo passed Philippe for second. Robert Wickens slowed with
mechanical problems in the final four laps and dropped from fifth to
10th. Tom Sutherland, Stevens, Rob Bunker, Race Johnson and Justin Moon
all took advantage of his slowing car and moved up for top-10 finishes.
In holding off Piscopo on the final lap, Lacroix set the fastest lap of
the race (1:28.503). "It was a really good race," said
Lacroix. "Richard seemed to be a bit slower than me so I was
pulling him. After the restart, I saw Piscopo right behind me and I
knew he was faster. With only four laps left I was able to hold him off
and win the race." Philippe said, "On the restart, my tires
were a little cold and I made a mistake, allowing Piscopo to get by me.
Now there are five more points between Kevin and me, but there is still
tomorrow and other weekends where I can still win some races. I will
have to look for any advantage. We will do the best we can
tomorrow." Lacroix continues to lead the Overall points with 107
points. Philippe is second (99), and Wickens third (85). Lacroix also
regains the Rookie points lead with 110 over Philippe (104) second and
Wickens (100) third. The top finishing Rookies were Lacroix (P1),
Philippe (P2), Davison (P4), Stevens (P6) and Bunker (P7). Tomorrow's
Round 10 race is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Round 9 - Results
(14 laps) 1 Kevin Lacroix (R) AIM Autosport 26:14.054 2 Richard
Philippe (R) Team Autotecnica 26:16.635 3 Maxime Soulet Gelles Racing
26:19.113 4 James Davison (R) HBR Motorsport Team USA 26:20.467 5 Tom
Sutherland HBR Motorsport Team USA 26:23.585 6 Reed Stevens (R) HBR
Motorsport Team USA 26:24.392 7 Rob Bunker (R) AIM Autosport 26:24.757
8 Race Johnson (R) HBR Motorsport Team USA 26:25.129 9 Justin Moon (R)
Gelles Racing 26:25.196 10 Robert Wickens (R) Team Apex Racing USA
26:26.353 11 Daniel Herrington Jensen MotorSport 26:26.363 12 Matthew
Lee (R) Twintooth/BRM Motorsport 26:26.831 13 Darin Marcus (R) Gelles
Racing 26:27.271 14 Doug Boyer (R) Jensen MotorSport 26:27.602 15
Jules Duc (R) Jensen MotorSport 26:37.909 16 Derek Burseth Burseth
Racing 26:53.685 17 Dan Abbale Atlantic Racing Team 10 laps 18 Adrien
Herberts (R) Atlantic Racing Team 5 laps 19 Ryan Campbell (R) Gelles
Racing 0 laps 20 Edoardo Piscopo (R) EuroInternational excluded
Championship points after 9 of 14 races: 1. Kevin Lacroix (AIM
Autosport, 107), 2. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 99), 3. Robert
Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 85), 4. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing,
79), 5. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 65), 6. Reed Stevens
(HBR Motorsport Team USA, 63), 7. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team
USA, 34), 8. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 26), 9. Justin Moon
(Gelles Racing, 23), 10. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 11.
Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 22), 12. Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing
Team, 22), 13. Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing, 22), 14. Daniel
Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 18), 15. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport
Team USA, 13), 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), 29. Dan
Abbale (Atlantic Racing Team) Rookies: 1. Kevin Lacroix (110), 2.
Richard Philippe (104), 3. Robert Wickens (100), 4. Reed Stevens (76),
5. James Davison (73), 6. Rob Bunker (39), 7. Justin Moon (34), 8.
Edoardo Piscopo (34), 9. Race Johnson (32), 10. John Zartarian (31),
11. Tobias Hegewald (22), 12. Darin Marcus (20), 13. Matthew Lee (20),
14. Adrien Herberts (19), 15. Doug Boyer (10), 16. Ryan Campbell (3),
17. Jules Duc (2), 18. Nathan DePagter (0), 19. 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.