June 2007

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – ROUND 6 – RACE

Gutierrez Wins Round 6 from the Pole, Collision Knocks Major Out Of Third Place

	Esteban Guiterrez

Indianapolis, Ind. – June 17, 2007… 15-year old Esteban Gutierrez (Team Autotecnica), of Monterrey, Mexico, took a commanding win today in Round 6 of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Taking the victory from his sixth consecutive pole, he finished 2.234 seconds ahead of Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) in the 15-lap race around the 2.605-mile Grand Prix circuit. Gutierrez continues to lead the Rookie point standings after his second win of the season and stands second to Morad in the Overall point standings.

Maxime Pelletier (HBR Motorsport Team USA) finished third after a wild race that saw him have a great start from the front row, lead briefly, go off in turn 1 - twice, fall back as far as sixth, and ultimately climb back to finish on the podium for the second time this weekend.

This morning’s race had the United States Grand Prix crowd cheering as the 18 young Formula BMW USA drivers put on a great show. Pelletier grabbed the early lead as the cars funneled into the infield after a clean start, but Gutierrez was soon by him. On lap 2 Pelletier ran off in turn 1 allowing Morad to take second as Adrien Tambay (Eurointernational) and Philip Major (Autotecnica) tangled. Alexander Rossi (Hearn Motorsports) moved to third, taking the second spot from Morad on lap 6. Gutierrez opened his gap to 2.6 seconds as Rossi, Morad and Pelletier, now back up to fourth, raced each other. Morad took second back on lap 9 as Pelletier went long in turn 1 a second time. By lap 13 Gutierrez and Morad were well clear of the field as Pelletier, Rossi, Favoretto and Saavedra battled for the last step of the podium.

The top-finishing Rookie drivers today were Gutierrez (P1), Favoretto (P4), Jeffrey Petriello (P8), Eric Morrow (P13) and Timothy Hollowell (P15).

Next on the Formula BMW USA schedule is an Official Test at Putnam Park on June 19. Rounds 7 and 8 will be held in support of the American Le Mans Series at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Conn., on July 6 – 7.

“I still need more experience with the starts to control the wheelspin,“ said Gutierrez. “Once I passed Maxime I then tried to focus on not making any mistakes and break the draft. That was the key to the win.”

Morad said,” I had a great start, but when Maxime moved over I had to swing to the outside of the track and lost some speed. Esteban opened a gap and as Rossi caught and raced me it opened up even a bigger gap. I got back by him and was catching Esteban, but the race was just not long enough.”

Pelletier added,”I had a good start. When Esteban got by me I drafted him into turn 1, but had lost the air on the front of the car and went long under braking. I did it again a second time with four laps to go, but focused on not getting angry with myself. If not for those two mistakes I know I would have done even better. This has been my best weekend ever.”

Round 6 – Results (15 laps)

1 Esteban Gutierrez (R) Team Autotecnica 24:58.866 2 Daniel Morad EUROINTERNATIONAL 25:01.100 3 Maxime Pelletier HBR Motorsport Team USA 25:05.396 4 Ricardo Favoretto (R) HBR Motorsport Team USA 25:07.265 5 Sebastian Saavedra EUROINTERNATIONAL 25:08.205 6 Alexander Rossi Hearn Motorsports 25:08.253 7 Jordan Dick JD Racing 25:09.311 8 Jeffrey Petriello (R) Team KMA Racing 25:10.036 9 Steven Guerrero HBR Motorsport Team USA 25:13.980 10 Yannick Hofman EUROINTERNATIONAL 25:21.264 11 Mike Hill Team KMA Racing 25:22.576 12 Julia Landauer Team KMA Racing 25:24.774 13 Eric Morrow (R) Hearn Motorsports 25:35.780 14 Lindsey Adams Team KMA Racing 25:43.887 15 Timothy Hollowell (R) Team KMA Racing 23:32.016 not running 16 Robert Thorne Team Apex Racing USA 23:32.547 not running 17 Philip Major Team Autotecnica 25:54.823 18 Adrien Tambay (R) EUROINTERNATIONAL 3:29.840 not running

Championship points after 6 of 14 races: 1. Daniel Morad (EUROINTERNATIONAL, 260), 2. Esteban Gutierrez (Team Autotecnica, 237), 3. Alexander Rossi (Hearn Motorsports,173), 3. Sebastian Saavedra (EUROINTERNATIONAL, 173) 5. Jeffrey Petriello (Team KMA Racing, 168), 6. Maxime Pelletier (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 151) 7. Jordan Dick (JD Racing, 150) 8. Steven Guerrero (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 149) 9. Yannick Hofman (EUROINTERNATIONAL, 148), 10. Ricardo Favoretto (Team HBR Motorsports USA, 134), 11. Robert Thorne (Team Apex Racing USA, 130) 12. Philip Major (Team Autotecnica, 103), 13. Tim Hollowell (Team KMA Racing, 94), 14. Mike Hill (Team KMA Racing, 92)15. Eric Morrow (Hearn Motorsports, 90) 16. Lindsey Adams (Team Apex Racing USA, 84), 17. Julia Landauer (Team KMA Racing, 60), 18. Adrien Tambay (EUROINTERNATIONAL, 32), 19. Felipe Polehtto (Team Apex Racing USA, 28), 20. Matt Ferris (Gelles Racing, 26), 21. Keenan Schmitke (Gelles Racing, 24), 22. Michael Vincec (Jensen Motorsports, 24)

Rookies: 1. Esteban Gutierrez (237), 2. Jeffrey Petriello (168), 3. Ricardo Favoretto (134) 4. Tim Hollowell (94), 5. Eric Morrow (90) 6. Adrien Tambay (32), 7. Keenan Schmitke (24), 8. Michael Vincec (24)

Courtesy of formulabmwusa.com