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MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK – ROUND 2 – Race
Tooele, Utah – May 19, 2007… Esteban Gutierrez (Autotecnica), of Monterrey, Mexico won in his second-ever Formula BMW USA start taking the Round 2 victory today at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. Starting from the pole the 15-year old Rookie finished 1.420 seconds ahead of yesterday’s Round 1 winner Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) in the 17-lap contest. Steven Guerrero (HBR Motorsport Team USA) rounded out the podium, besting his eighth place finish in Round 1. Both Morad and Guerrero are returning drivers, but the story of the weekend has been the strength of this year’s Rookies with Gutierrez adding the win to his fourth place finish in Round 1. He also took both poles. Three Rookies finished in the top-10 today, three finished in the top-five in Round 1. The race began under hot and sunny skies with Gutierrez taking the lead from front-row starter Morad. As the duo pulled away from the field Guerrero hounded third place starter Jeffrey Petriello getting by him after a few laps. Petriello maintained fourth until he went wide in turn 14 on lap 4 allowing both Sebastian Saavedra (Eurointernational) and Rossi to get by. A quick caution on lap 11 for a stalled Julia Landauer (Team KMA) only briefly slowed the race. Morad got by Gutierrez on the restart, but the young Mexican executed a carefully calculated pass as the two headed into turn 1 on lap 14 to regain the lead. The battle between Rossi and Saavedra continued until the two came together with Saavedra spinning off the track. He continued to finish 11th, however was penalized 20 seconds post-race for violation of the 2007 IMSA Code 5.7 (unjustifiable risk) moving him to 16th place. As drivers farther back in the field fought for position on the last lap contact resulted in Mike Hill’s (Team KMA) FB02 somersaulting. He was taken to track medical and released. “Yesterday I made a mistake at the start, but today I did everything right,” said Gutierrez. “The team helped me understand what I did wrong and I corrected it. Morad made a very good pass on the restart. I got nervous, but I followed him closely until I had the right opportunity to get back by him.” A gracious Morad said, “Esteban made a great start so I stayed behind him, hoping for a yellow and the opportunity to get back by him on a restart. I was able to do just that, but we may have missed the setup a bit today. Coming into those last corners I picked up some understeer and Esteban was able to get back by me. Really, this was his day.” Guerrero said, “My car was understeering a little at the start, but came in as the tires heated up. The tires cooled before the restart and I got the understeer back. I thought that maybe I would still have the chance to get by Esteban and Daniel while they were fighting, but it was not possible.” The top-finishing Rookies were Gutierrez (P1), Favoretto (P5), Petriello (P6), Eric Morrow (P13) and Timothy Hollowell (P15). Morad leaves Utah with the Championship point lead, with Gutierrez just four points behind, but standing at the top of the Rookie points. Rossi holds a one-point margin over Petriello for third and Favoretto stands fifth. The Formula BMW USA Championship next races in support of the Canadian Grand Prix on June 8 – 10 and the United States Grand Prix on June 15 – 17. Courtesy of formulabmwusa.com MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK – ROUND 1 - RACETooele, Utah – May 19, 2007… BMW Junior Daniel Morad (Eurointernational) became the first race winner of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship by taking the Round 1 victory today at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. It was the second career Formula BMW win for the 2006 Rookie Champion as he bested the 20-car field in the 17-lap race. Starting from the second position, he finished .758 seconds ahead of fellow Junior team member Jeffrey Petriello (Team KMA). Alexander Rossi (Hearn Motorsports) finished third. Using his experience Morad got a good start and took the lead heading into the first turn. Polesitter Esteban Gutierrez (Autotechnica) followed in second. At the end of the turn 12 he dropped behind both Petriello and Rossi. He followed Rossi closely and tried a pass on lap nine, but ultimately had to settle for fourth. Ricardo Favoretto (HBR Motorsport Team USA) rounded out the top five. The top-finishing Rookies were Petriello (P2), Gutierrez (P4), Ricardo Favoretto (P5), Hollowell (P14) and Keenan Schmitke (P15). Courtesy of formulabmwusa.com MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK – ROUND 1 & 2 – QUALIFYINGRookie Gutierrez Starts Season with Double-Pole EffortTooele, Utah – May 18, 2007… It was a carbon-copy performance for the top-three drivers in the two qualifying sessions for opening Rounds of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship, at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah, as two Rookies sandwiched last season’s Rookie champion at the front of the 20-car field. Although the margin from first to second lessened to only .023 seconds in the Round 2 session this morning, it was still Rookie Esteban Gutierrez (Autotecnica) scoring the double-pole over second-place qualifier and 2006 Formula BMW USA Rookie champion Daniel Morad (Eurointernational). Gutierrez, 15, of Monterrey, Mexico, backed up his 1:29.585 minute time in yesterday’s Round 1 session with a 1:29.773 minute lap around the 2.242-mile East circuit. 18-year old BMW Junior driver Canadian Jeffrey Petriello (Team KMA) rounded out the top-three. The 20-car field mixes eight strong returning drivers with 12 new hopefuls. Gutierrez, Petriello, Ricardo Favoretto (HBR Motorsports Team USA), Eric Morrow (Hearn Motorsports), Keenan Schmitke (Gelles Racing) and Timothy Hollowell (TADD Motorsports) are all classified as Rookies based on their limited experience. Excepting Gutierrez and Schmitke all are members of BMW Junior team with Morad. “We decided to go out in the middle of the session as the track conditions were different than yesterday,” Gutierrez said. “I don’t have any long experience with open-wheel cars, but I know my years of karting will help me. I will try to race clean and not make any mistakes.” Morad, the only driver in the top-three with experience in the series and at Miller, noted, “I thought I would have the pole with the time I set, but we just missed it. I am confident as I know this track, I know how the start works, how the race pace goes and how to conserve my tires.” Petriello added, “We had a different setup then yesterday and went faster, but so did everyone else. I had a lot of understeer and oversteer at the end of the session, but we will go back, make our adjustments and I am confident we will be ready to race.” Courtesy of formulabmwusa.com Philip Major comes up one lap short!Ottawa driver just misses out on first top 10 of the year. MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK, UTAH Formula BMW USA driver Philip Major came up one lap short of his first top 10 of the year. After starting 11th, Major steadily made his way forward, up to ninth place. “Starting 11th was a big help today,” Major said. “I was able to settle in and start picking off drivers. It is very hard to pass here with all the fast corners you pick up a huge aero push.” Major was stuck in ninth, but had the pace to move up if he could mount a charge. He tried just that with time running out. Unfortunately, there was contact between the two drivers, with both going off course, and it regulated Major to an 18th place finish. “It’s definitely hard to take, but I look at the positives,” Major said after the race. “We were fast, and at Montreal, if we qualify well, we should be okay in the races there.” Major’s next race is at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on June 8-10. Source: Russ Bond Agency Philip Major rocks in round one!Ottawa driver gives it his all in round one.MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK, UTAH Ottawa Formula BMW USA driver Philip Major proved in round one why you never give up during a race. Major, from 16th on the grid dropped back to 20th after a mistake on the first lap, then rebounded up to 16th only to be the victim of an incident ahead of him that dropped him to the back again.
Undaunted, the Ottawa teenager, made his way back up after the restart to finish 12th Major went from 17th to 12th in the final green flag lap. “I had to work for this one,” Major said after the race. “It is very difficult to pass here with all the fast corners, and I just had to push really hard to get the positions back. I am happy with this result as we had good speed during the race. I am starting 11th tomorrow, and that will be a big help in continuing to move forward.” On his way to 12th, Major set the sixth fastest race lap, and was scored with the fastest lap on lap 4 and 6. “I am really pumped for tomorrow now,” Major added. Source: Russ Bond Agency |
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Formula BMW Rounds 1 & 2
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