Round 4 - Mid-Ohio - Race - Philippe Wins Round 4
15 year-old BMW Junior and Rookie driver Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica) took his second win of the 2005 Formula BMW USA Championship season in Round 4 today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The polesitter in every race to-date finished 4.468 seconds ahead of Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational), leading flag to flag in the 15-lap contest.
Piscopo, making his second Formula BMW USA start, raced from his seventh starting spot to finish as runner-up. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing) took the final podium position for his best result of the year.
Fourth-place finisher, Robert Wickens, was credited with the fastest lap of the race (1:26.942), in his run to his second top-five finish of the year.
The top-finishing Rookies were Philippe (P1), Piscopo (P2) and Moon (P3).
Quebec's Kevin Lacroix had his worst finish of the season today (14th) after an incident on the opening lap, but kept the Overall Championship points lead heading to his "home" races, Rounds 5 and 6, in support of the Canadian Grand Prix.
"We have been fast since we came to Mid-Ohio," said Philippe. "Unfortunately we were not able to put it together yesterday, but today it is a win. Kevin didn't finish in the points. This will help us because we must fight back. We need to get poles and victories to win the Championship."
Piscopo said, "I started seventh and I had to catch up a lot. I am really happy that I finished second. I am sure that if yesterday I didn't waste the opportunity maybe I had repeated this result. Yesterday we had some problems with the hot temperatures. Today it was a bit cooler and this helped us. I am looking forward to Montreal. I am sure we will continue to improve."
Moon added, "I want to thank Gelles Racing for giving me an awesome car. I wouldn't be here right now without them. I had a good start, coming from fourth to second, but it was a fight with Maxime. I need to get more points to be in top-three. I am looking forward to the next races."
Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2005 Formula BMW USA Championship will be held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada on June 10 - 12 in support of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Round 4 - Results (15 laps)
1 Richard Philippe Team Autotecnica 21:54.8822 Edoardo Piscopo EuroInternational 21:59.3503 Justin Moon Gelles Racing 22:01.2004 Robert Wickens Team Apex Racing USA 22:01.6395 Maxime Soulet Gelles Racing 22:02.1746 Race Johnson HBR Motorsport Team USA 22:03.0207 James Davison HBR Motorsport Team USA 22:04.2008 John Zartarian Jensen MotorSport 22:04.6329 Doug Boyer Jensen MotorSport 22:07.47610 Adrien Herberts Atlantic Racing Team 22:09.13011 Rob Bunker AIM Autosport 22:09.64012 Daniel Herrington Jensen MotorSport 22:10.83413 Tom Sutherland HBR Motorsport Team USA 22:19.93514 Kevin Lacroix AIM Autosport 22:21.80815 Nathan DePagter DRE Autosport 22:23.00216 Matthew Lee Twintooth/BRM Motorsport 22:29.23317 Darin Marcus Gelles Racing 22:47.13818 Ryan Campbell Gelles Racing 22:49.84719 Jules Duc Jensen MotorSport 23:02.40720 Derek Burseth Burseth Racing 19:47.56721 Reed Stevens HBR Motorsport Team USA 11:52.034
Championship points after 4 of 14 races:
1. Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport, 52), 2. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing, 47), 3. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 41), 4. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 35), 5. Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 30), 6. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 24), 7. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 8. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing, 18), 9. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 15), 10. Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 10), 11. Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 8), 12. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 8), 13. Matthew Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport, 5), 14. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 5), 15. Doug Boyer (Jensen MotorSport, 2), 16. Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team, 1), 17. Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing, 0), 18. Ryan Campbell (Gelles Racing, 0), 19. Nathan DePagter (DRE Autosport, 0), 20. Jules Duc (Jensen MotorSport, 0), 21. Scott Harnell (SDH3 with Cinema Concepts, 0), 22. Darin Marcus (Gelles Racing, 0), 23. Ryan Phinny (Gelles Racing, 0),
Rookies: 1. Kevin Lacroix (55), 2. Richard Philippe (44), 3. James Davison (41), 4. Robert Wickens (38), 5. Reed Stevens (29), 6. John Zartarian (28), 7. Justin Moon (22), 8. Rob Bunker (19), 9. Race Johnson (16), 10. Edoardo Piscopo (15), 11. Matthew Lee (9), 12. Doug Boyer (4), 13. Adrien Herberts (3), 14. Darin Marcus (1), 15. Ryan Campbell (0), 16. Nathan DePagter (0), 17. Jules Duc (0), 18. Scott Harnell (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 230km/h and exceeds by far 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 the chance to test a BMW WilliamsF1 Team car.
