LYNX DRIVERS KEYES AND EVANS CONTINUE RUN OF PODIUMS AND TOP-5 FINISHES IN ROUNDS 9 & 10 OF THE 2013 PACIFIC FORMULA 1600 SERIES AT BUTTONWILLOW RACEWAY
After yet another successful weekend of podiums and top-5 finishes in Rounds 9 & 10 of the 2013 Pacific Formula 1600 Series at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California, Lynx Racing Academy drivers remained at the track to begin testing of the new Toyo tires that will become the series spec tire at the next event.
The tire change, which both team and drivers expect will 'level the playing field' for future events, capped another weekend of strong performances by the duo. In qualifying for Round 9 on Saturday, the second row of the grid was all Lynx Racing, with teammates Alex Keyes' No. 32, and Andrew Evans' No. 19 side-by-side in their Spectrum/Hondas.
With temperatures approaching the predicted 100 plus degrees, the field set off on the pace lap for the 11:15 am start. As the Formula F1600 group took the green flag both Evans and Keyes made excellent starts and stormed to the front as the field headed to the first turn. From there it was a heated, nose-to-tail battle between the top five drivers in the series. Evans made a strong move to pass his teammate on lap eight, and from there build a lead and take a strong third place finish, with Keyes finishing fourth.
"This past weekend was definitely a good one for me and the Lynx Racing Academy team," said Keyes. "We've cut the lap time differential between us and the championship leaders in half, and that's big progress in cars this evenly matched. I think we're developing as drivers, and the team is learning more about both us and the cars, so we're getting more competitive each race and I feel immediately comfortable when I get in the car. The change to Toyo tires will give everyone a bit of a learning curve, but will be good for us because the tires last three or four times longer that what we've been using, and cost half as much."
Sunday's Round 10, with grid positions set by finishing order in Round 9, took the green flag at 8:00 am and before the checkered flag fell, saw seven lead changes among top drivers. With temperatures 20 degrees cooler than Saturday's race, but still in the 80s, Keyes made an excellent start and stormed into a lead, engaging in a wheel-to-wheel battle with series points leader Colton Herta.
The Lynx duo hounded the race leaders, pushing each other forward, for the first half of the race. Unfortunately, at lap 8, Evans' car lost power (a problem eventually traced to an electrical short circuit) coming out of Sunset corner and slowly crept down the front straight and into retirement. Keyes raced on to finish on the podium in well-earned third place.
The development of the Lynx Spectrum cars has made great progress," said Evans. "My car was running really well on Saturday and despite the extreme heat I experienced good wear on the tires. Saturdays race was exciting and I placed third on the podium! Sunday morning I had a lot of confidence going into the race given the cars setup. Unfortunately an electrical problem eliminated all power to the engine midway through the main event and cut short my bid for the podium. However, I am extremely confident that Cameron Racing will have the Spectrum up and running in fine form for our next race early in September!
In the championship points battle, Keyes in now in third with 187 points, while Evans is hot on his heels in fourth with 173 points. The series will be returning to Buttonwillow Raceway Park on September 7-8, for Rounds 11 and 12, joining the Vintage Auto Racing Association for its Oktoberfest weekend event.
About the Lynx Racing Academy
Lynx Racing was formed in 1990 by Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, the first women in racing history to own a championship-winning open-wheel racing team. Lynx was created in order to provide opportunities for young drivers to move up to Indy Cars and was both a racing team and driver development program. The team won multiple championships in the Formula Atlantic series, and graduates of the program include Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, top Grand-Am racers Michael Valiante, Dane Cameron, Memo Gidley and Bryan Sellers as well as Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier. The Lynx Racing Academy will utilize the same training techniques and many of the same personnel as the Lynx Racing team and competes in Pacific Formula F1600, a series designed to provide a cost-effective stepping-stone from karting to open-wheel racing.
About the 2013 Pacific Formula F1600 Series
Formula F1600 is the world's premier junior development category in motor sport. The Pacific Formula F1600 Series is a 6-weekend, 12-race series based on the U.S. West Coast and is designed to provide an affordable transition for drivers as young as 13 to move from karting to open-wheel racing. The 'spec' formula is designed to reduce costs to about the level of a season of karting, and cars are built with a light-weight tubular space frame designed to maintain the highest levels of driver safety.
A number of manufacturers, both local and international, build the basic Formula F body and chassis; the most common being the Van Dieman, Mygale, Piper and Spectrum. The F1600cc engine is either the new Honda FIT powerplant or the Ford Kent engine that has been with the category for over 30 years.
The key to the category's long-term success is the uniquely level playing field dictated by the performance parity rules, allowing the differing skills of the drivers to determine the victor. The relative equality between the vehicles also guarantees the category's reputation for some of the most exciting and close racing to be seen on any American or international circuit.
No less than eight World Formula One champions have come from the F1600 open-wheel class, including Michael Schumacher, Mikka Hakkinen, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
About Cameron Racing
Cameron Racing has long been the 'team behind teams', operating the highly successful racing programs of Lynx Racing, Finlay Motorsports, Dorricott Racing and Pope Racing. 2012 saw Cameron Racing operate the World Challenge program for G-Speed Motorsports with the Ferrari F430 GT2. Cameron Racing also ran selected races in the Grand-Am Continental Challenge with the Mustang Boss 302R. Other customer programs included Pro Mazdas in the Formula Car Challenge series. Included in Camerons operations are Cameron Karting and the Red Line Oil Karting Championship. Cameron Karting is a full service kart shop offering sales and service. The Redline Oil Karting Championship is a ten race series that includes one of the largest Rotax Max Challenge series in the USA.
