BMW Racing News - BMWsport.net - BMW Racing News, Forums, Tech Articles and Race Photos

BMW Racing News, BMW Forums, BMW Tech Tips and Race Photos
forums | photo gallery | BMW Heaven | newsletters (new!)

BMWsport Home

BMW Racing News

2004 Archive | Formula 1

FORMULA BMW USA - ROUND 13 - LAGUNA SECA RACE

News | Press

Community

Sections

Games | Downloads

Site

Popular Articles
BMW 3 Series BMW 5 Series BMW M Series The new BMW M6 Schumacher and Berger test the BMW M3 GTR THE NEW BMW e60 M5 - BMW UNVEILS THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL PERFORMANCE SEDAN BMW 7 Series BMW Motorsport – 24-Hour Race Nürburgring Season Review 2005 1979 BMW M1 THE NEW BMW M5

Latest Comments
Jeff Seabrook Clear the decks for the race versio... Look out porsche... Jeff Seabrook login/logout disabled fixed Jeff Seabrook Kumho Tires 2 years later - these tires were put ... Jeff about the site lately remember the PIC'S Ilir about the site lately Well, the solution I gave you was abo...

Wednesday July 23, 2008

FORMULA BMW USA - ROUND 13 - LAGUNA SECA RACE

Written by Jeff Seabrook

Monday September 13, 2004

Wirth scores his fourth victory - Hinchcliffe clinches Rookie Championship.

Monterey, Calif. - Sept. 11, 2004. Andreas Wirth (HBR Motorsport) took a flag-to-flag victory in Round 13 of the 2004 Formula BMW USA Championship, moving ever closer to his first Formula BMW Championship. The season-long points leader held off a charge by teammate Jonathan Summerton to win the 15-lap contest by 1.284 seconds and now holds a 15 point lead heading into tomorrow's final round. Jonathan Summerton finished second, his sixth trip to the podium this season. James Hinchcliffe finished third and clinched the Rookie Championship.

The young Canadian BMW Junior driver has led the Rookie points from Round 1 and has had a stellar season, winning three times and finishing out of the top-five only once. 15 points behind Wirth, he still has an outside chance at the overall Championship in tomorrow's Round 14 race. Overall, the top-five in the Championship are Wirth (189), Hinchcliffe (174), Summerton (148), Matt Jaskol (141) and Billy Johnson (85)

The top-finishing Rookies were Summerton (P2), Hinchcliffe (P3) and Graham Rahal (P6). With the Rookie Championship awarded to Hinchcliffe with 215 points, the battle for the remaining top positions is between Summerton (193), Tom Milner (135) and Graham Rahal (132).

"I love driving these technical tracks so if I can win the Championship here at Laguna Seca it will be extra special," said Wirth. "If James wins the race tomorrow, I only need a sixth place finish to win the Championship. Of course, I will be happy with anything better than sixth, but I will race to win."

Summerton dogged Wirth race-long, making a strong move under braking for turn 11 on lap 10, but could not make the pass for the lead stick. "I think I should have waited longer to try for the lead, but I thought James and Matt were catching us quickly. It was a risky move and it almost worked. I thought I had another shot at Andreas a few laps later, but I lost a bit of momentum entering the Corkscrew and had to settle for second."

Hinchcliffe said, "The Rookie title, along with a top-three finish in the overall Championship, were my two goals this season. Four of the BMW Junior drivers are at the top of the Rookie points so we have proven ourselves to BMW. I still have a shot at the overall Championship so that will be my focus tomorrow."

The Round 14 race is scheduled to start at 3:15 p.m. tomorrow.

Race 13 - Results (15 laps) :
1. Andreas Wirth (HBR Motorsport) 22:21.697 (90.074 mph)
2. Jonathan Summerton (R) (HBR Motorsport) 22:22.981
3. James Hinchcliffe (R) (AIM Autosport) 22:24.692
4. Matt Jaskol (Team Autotecnica) 22:25.077
5. Billy Johnson (Team PTG Motorsport) 22.36.803
6. Graham Rahal (R) (Vitesse Farm Racing) 22:37.972
7. Kyle Herder (Atlantic Racing Team) 22:41.421
8. Brian Frisselle (PoleVision Racing) 22:42.006
9. Robbie Montinola (Jensen Motorsport) 22:47.045
10. Tom Sutherland (R) (Team PTG Motorsport) 22:50.975
11. Tom Milner (R) (Team PTG Motorsport) 22:54.657
12. Alexis Fenton (R) (Team Autotecnica) 23:13.163
13. Derek Burseth (R) (PoleVision Racing) 23:40.855
14. Lawson Aschenbach (Team PTG Motorsport) 4:42.386

Championship points after 13 of 14 races:
1. Andreas Wirth (HBR Motorsport, 189), 2. James Hinchcliffe (AIM Autosport, 174), 3. Jonathan Summerton (HBR Motorsport, 148), 4. Matt Jaskol (Team Autotecnica, 141), 5. Billy Johnson (Team PTG Motorsport, 85), 6. Brian Frisselle (PoleVision Racing, 66), 7. Graham Rahal (Vitesse Farm Racing, 55), 8. Tom Milner (Team PTG Motorsport, 49), 9. Lawson Aschenbach (Team PTG Motorsport, 34), 10. Kyle Herder (Atlantic Racing Team, 28), 11 Joey Hand (Team PTG Motorsport, 22),12. Dominik Jackson (Atlantic Racing Team, 20), 13. Federico Montoya (Atlantic Racing Team, 10), 14. Tom Sutherland (Team PTG Motorsport, 11), 15. Gerardo Bonilla (Jensen Motorsport, 8), 16. Robbie Montinola (Jensen Motorsport, 5), 17. Trevor Daley (Atlantic Racing Team, 4), 18. Daniel Herrington (Jensen Motorsport, 2), 19. Alan Sciuto (Team PTG Motorsport, 1), 20. Derek Burseth (PoleVision Racing, 1), 21. Alexis Fenton (Team Autotecnica, 0), 22. Morgan Spurgas (Jensen Motorsport, 0).

Rookies: 1. James Hinchcliffe (215), 2. Jonathan Summerton (193), 3. Tom Milner (135), 4. Graham Rahal (132), 5.Tom Sutherland (99), 6. Alexis Fenton (59), 7. Derek Burseth (50), 8. Federico Montoya (32), 9. Trevor Daley (26), 10. Alan Sciuto (16), 11. Daniel Herrington (14).

Comments

Only registered users can write comments!