Lacroix wins one for the home team
BMW Junior and Rookie driver Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport) won the most important race of his 16-year old life today as he drove from the fourth starting position to win Round 5 of the Formula BMW USA Series at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Lacroix overtook pole sitter Tobias Hegewald on the first lap and went on to take the victory in front of his home Canadian Grand Prix crowd, extending his lead in both the Overall and Rookie points.
Jumping into the lead on the first lap, Lacroix was shadowed by fifth place starter Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing) throughout the 12 lap contest, ultimately finishing 1.409 seconds ahead of the 2004 Formula BMW USA veteran.
Fellow Canadian Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA) finished on the podium for the first time this season, taking advantage of his outside-pole starting position.
A delighted Lacroix said, "I was really confident about this race because I knew It was really possible to win. I had already won at Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio from the fourth starting spot. In the first lap there was quite a battle in front of me. That was good for me and I was able to go to the front."
Summerton, a winner here last year, said, "The race was good. Of course, I was aiming for that number one position wanting to back up last year's win. Hopefully, I can get it tomorrow, but it will be difficult starting tenth. Today the car got off to a slow start, but Robert made a little mistake, went off the track, and I took advantage of it. From there on, I just tried focusing on catching Kevin."
Wickens said, "It was a great race. Unfortunately, I went off on the first lap, but to be on the podium in my home country is just great and standing on the same platform that the Formula 1 drivers will be on tomorrow is awesome."
The top-finishing Rookies were Lacroix (P1), Wickens (P3) and Reed Stevens (P4). Round 6 is scheduled to start at 9:15 a.m. tomorrow.
Round 5 - Results (12 laps)
1 Kevin Lacroix (R) (AIM Autosport): 21:40.2312 Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing): 21:41.6403 Robert Wickens (R) (Team Apex Racing USA): 21:45.0744 Reed Stevens (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 21:49.9735 Richard Philippe (R) (Team Autotecnica): 21:52.1356 Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing): 22:03.1577 Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 22:05.1298 Edoardo Piscopo (R) (EuroInternational): 22:08.0289 Darin Marcus (R) (Gelles Racing): 22:10.13610 Adrien Herberts (R) (Atlantic Racing Team): 22:10.35611 Race Johnson (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 22:17.41512 Rob Bunker (R) (AIM Autosport): 22:18.50713 Doug Boyer (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 22:20.13114 Ryan Campbell (R) (Gelles Racing): 22:34.67115 Paul Rees (Walker Racing): 22:48.12716 Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing): 22:56.15917 Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport): 9 laps Accident18 Justin Moon (R) (Gelles Racing): 7 laps Accident19 Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team): 6 laps Accident20 John Zartarian (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 4 laps Accident21 Jules Duc (R) (Jensen MotorSport): 2 laps Accident22 James Davison (R) (HBR Motorsport Team USA): 0 laps DNSMatthew Lee (R) (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport): Excluded
Championship points after 5 of 14 races:
1. Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport, 72), 2. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing, 53), 3. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 49), 4. Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 42), 5. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 35), 6. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 34), 7. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 8. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing, 18), 9. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 18), 10. Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing, 15), 11. Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 10), 12. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 9), 13. Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 8), 14. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 8), 15. Matthew Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport, 5), 16. Doug Boyer (Jensen MotorSport, 2), 17. Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team, 2), 18. Darin Marcus (Gelles Racing, 2), 19. 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), 25. Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team, 0), 26. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 0)
Rookies: 1. Kevin Lacroix (75), 2. Richard Philippe (54), 3. Robert Wickens (53), 4. James Davison (41), 5. Reed Stevens (41), 6. John Zartarian (28), 7. Edoardo Piscopo (23), 8. Justin Moon (22), 9. Rob Bunker (21), 10. Race Johnson (19), 11. Matthew Lee (9), 12. Adrien Herberts (7), 13. Darin Marcus (7), 14. Doug Boyer (5), 15. Ryan Campbell (0), 16. Nathan DePagter (0), 17. Jules Duc (0), 18. Scott Harnell (0), 19. Ryan Phinny (0), 20. Tobias Hegewald (0)
