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Piscopo Takes Round 12 Victory Denver, Colo. – Aug. 14, 2005… Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational) raced his way to the top of the Formula BMW USA podium for the second time, taking the Round 12 victory today at the Grand Prix of Denver. The 17-year old from Rome, Italy and Round 10 winner finished fourth yesterday in Round 11 and led 19 of 20 laps today in taking the checkered flag. He finished 3.305 seconds in front of Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica). Philippe, with his third runner-up finish, in addition to his three wins, now takes possession of the Overall and Rookie Championship lead for the first time this season. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA) finished third. Johnson’s first career Formula BMW USA podium was a well-deserved one having started from the 18th position on the grid and only securing the podium with a last-lap pass of, then Overall point leader Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport). Round 12 provided Grand Prix of Denver fans with one of the most exciting Formula BMW USA races of the year. Piscopo moved up into second from his fourth-place starting spot with an excellent start. Polesitter Robert Wickens was called to the pits to serve a stop and go penalty for jumping the standing start. Piscopo inherited the lead and Philippe second. Wickens rejoined the race in the last position, moving to a fine fifth-place finish to retain third in Overall points and move to second in Rookie points. The turning point of the race came on lap 12 when Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team) made contact with the wall and Matthew Lee (Twintooth Racing/BRM Motorsports) and Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport) were unable to avoid his disabled car, putting all three out of the race. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA), having moved up from his 12th starting position to fifth, was also collected in the incident and retired. Stevens set the fastest lap of the race on lap 10 (1:15.607), to establish a new race record. Philippe, who had fallen to sixth, benefited from the crash and moved back to the second position. Lacroix moved to fourth and Johnson to fifth.
The Safety Car led the field for five laps and when the green flag waved on lap 17
Lacroix tried Philippe for second, but Michael Patrizi (Walker Racing) found the tire wall, bringing out a local yellow flag. With Piscopo firmly in control of the lead, Philippe held second while Johnson got by Lacroix for third on the final lap. Piscopo said, “I had an awesome car today and my team worked well. My aim was to pass as many people as possible at the beginning of the race and then to stay focused in order to increase and manage my gap like I did in Round 10 at Barber.”
Philippe said, “Today was probably one of the hardest fights I have had. The race was really a big challenge to stay in the front. I went back to sixth, but I was able to benefit from the lap 12 crash and came back to second. To finish second under these circumstances is good for the team and for me.”
Johnson said, “HBR gave me a great car today. I started 18th because the qualifying session was unlucky for me. I tried to move up one by one and thanks to the four car crash I moved to fourth. I passed Kevin on the last lap. We touched a little bit, but it was no big deal. I have been fast all weekend and being on the podium today is like a dream come true.”
Philippe takes over the lead in Overall points; Lacroix falls to second – two points in arrears. Wickens is third, Maxime Soulet fourth and James Davison fifth. The top finishing Rookies were Piscopo (P1), Philippe (P2), Johnson (P3), Lacroix (P4) and Wickens (P6).
Philippe leads the Rookie points by three over Wickens. Lacroix falls to third, Davison stands fourth and Stevens is fifth. The 2005 Formula BMW USA Championship deciding Rounds 13 and 14 will be held on September 28-30 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
Round 12 – Results (20 laps)
1 Edoardo Piscopo EuroInternational 30:24.209
2 Richard Philippe Team Autotecnica 30:27.244
3 Race Johnson HBR Motorsport Team USA 30:27.683
4 Kevin Lacroix AIM Autosport 30:27.783
5 Robert Wickens Team Apex Racing USA 30:27.886
6 Doug Boyer Jensen MotorSport 30:29.757
7 Tom Sutherland HBR Motorsport Team USA 30:29.822
8 Rob Bunker AIM Autosport 30:30.149
9 Justin Moon Gelles Racing 30:30.944
10 Maxime Soulet Gelles Racing 30:31.939
11 James Davison HBR Motorsport Team USA 30:32.401
12 Ryan Campbell Gelles Racing 30:37.591
13 Dan Abbale Atlantic Racing Team 30:41.453
14 Darin Marcus Gelles Racing 30:44.138
15 Michael Patrizi Walker Racing 17 laps
16 Jules Duc Jensen MotorSport 17 laps
17 Reed Stevens HBR Motorsport Team USA 11 laps
18 Adrien Herberts Atlantic Racing Team 11 laps
19 Daniel Herrington Jensen MotorSport 11 laps
20 Matthew Lee Twintooth/BRM Motorsport 11 laps
Championship points after 12 of 14 races:
1. Richard Philippe (Team Autotecnica, 128), 2. Kevin Lacroix (AIM Autosport, 126), 3. Robert Wickens (Team Apex Racing USA, 117), 4. Maxime Soulet (Gelles Racing, 96), 5. James Davison (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 92), 6. Edoardo Piscopo (EuroInternational, 76), 7. Reed Stevens (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 75), 8. Tom Sutherland (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 39), 9. Race Johnson (HBR Motorsport Team USA, 36), 10. Rob Bunker (AIM Autosport, 31), 11. Justin Moon (Gelles Racing, 25), 12. John Zartarian (Jensen MotorSport, 23), 13. Tobias Hegewald (Atlantic Racing Team, 22), 14. Jonathan Summerton (Walker Racing, 22), 15. Daniel Herrington (Jensen MotorSport, 20), 16. Matthew Lee (Twintooth/BRM Motorsport, 10), 17. Adrien Herberts (Atlantic Racing Team, 8), 18. Doug Boyer (Jensen MotorSport, 8), 19. Michael Patrizi (Walker Racing, 8), 20. Darin Marcus (Gelles Racing, 7), 21. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 1), 22. Derek Burseth (Burseth Racing, 0), 23. Ryan Campbell (Gelles Racing, 0), 24. Nathan DePagter (DRE Autosport, 0), 25. Jules Duc (Jensen MotorSport, 0), 26. Scott Harnell (SDH3 with Cinema Concepts, 0), 27. Ryan Phinny (Gelles Racing, 0), 28. Paul Rees (Walker Racing, 0), 29. Robbie Pecorari (Walker Racing, 0), 30. Dan Abbale (Atlantic Racing Team)
Rookies: 1. Richard Philippe (137), 2. Robert Wickens (134), 3. Kevin Lacroix (132), 4. James Davison (105), 5. Reed Stevens (89), 6. Edoardo Piscopo (84), 7. Race Johnson (58), 8. Rob Bunker (52), 9. Justin Moon (39), 10. John Zartarian (31), 11. Matthew Lee (23), 12. Tobias Hegewald (22), 13. Doug Boyer (21), 14. Darin Marcus (20), 15. Adrien Herberts (19), 16. Ryan Campbell (4), 17. Jules Duc (2), 18. Nathan DePagter (0), 19. Ryan Phinny (0)
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Thursday, 15 May 2008
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