|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
|
|
|
Danny Sullivan's Red Bull F.1 Driver Search |
|
Los Angeles, CA.- The Red Bull Driver Search for a future American
Formula One champion made the fourth and final regional stop
Tuesday, August 19 at Irwindale Speedway. The 8:00-6:30 competition
was open to family and friends of the 28 teenage kart drivers and
the media. Danny Sullivan, the 53-year old 1985 Indianapolis 500
winner, 1988 CART champion and F.1 veteran, presided over the Red
Bull testing, as he did during the 2002 debut of the Red
Bull-sponsored program that sent four Americans to Europe to race
this year. The 28 teens (age 15-19) competed for three West Region
positions to advance to the next stage of competition-the semi-final
round in Sebring, FL from Sept. 3-5. Red Bull 2003 contestants qualified for the West regional at Irwindale by their successful efforts in phase one at one of seven official IKA indoor karting centers from April 1-May 18 in Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Houston and Round Rock, TX or Orange, CA. Four teens from each site advanced to the Irwindale outdoor test phase two. The driver search used 26 indoor karting centers nationally and there were 104 winners-94 males and ten females. The Irwindale competition had 28 of the winners racing to gain one of the coveted three transfers to the Sebring round. Irwindale had driver orientation from 8:00-9:00 and practice sessions from 9:00-12:00 with two groups of 14 and two practice sessions for each group. A caterered box lunch for everyone took place from noon to 1:00. Qualifying sessions from 1:00-2:00 had five drivers at a time spaced around the course for five laps to log their fastest times. An AMB electronic transponder recorded each lap. Times got faster in each group (44 to 42 seconds). Times for each driver set grid positions for two 10-lap heat races with 14 drivers per heat from 2:00-3:00. Finishing positions determined starting positions in a 12-lap semi-final race slated for 3:30-4:00, followed by the 4:30-5:00+ 20-lap main event and podium ceremony on the front straight. Pace kart driver Alex Speed, 17-year old son of Red Bull racing director Mike Speed and brother of 2002 Red Bull winner Scott Speed, 20, laid out the kart course with 11-turns, including two chicanes. It used Irwindale's half-mile front straight and turns one & two and the infield and all four turns of the third-mile. Drivers ran clockwise F.1 style and raced under a Red Bull inflated arch at the starting line. Mike Russell, Irwindale's pace car driver, was the track-side starter and local yellow flaggers were in tricky corners. Dick Hindman, the track's timer/scorer, ran the timing/scoring system. Spectators watched from the main grandstand under the suites for shade on a hot 90+-degree day. Each driver was weighed earlier and they ranged from 98 to 195 pounds. The standard was 160 pounds to equalize competition, so lead weigh was bolted to the karts of lightweight drivers to bring them up to 160. Drivers all paid their own way to Irwindale, but Red Bull provided everything else, including rooms at the Sheraton 4-Point Hotel in nearby Monrovia. Drivers all used 25-HP Rotax JR Fr-125 gasoline-fueled non-shifter karts with CRG Racing bodies. Drivers picked out their karts from 32 available based upon how seats felt. Drivers were assigned one kart only for the day and were advised to take care of it to finish the main event. Half-second time penalties were added to 12 drivers after the qualifying heats for damaged karts. Spins into movable blocks (course markers) resulted in 12-16 broken rear axles, one steering shaft plus rods, spindles and wheels. Every kart received four new Bridgestone tires before the qualifying heats. An experienced mechanical crew serviced every kart under a large tent in the pits. RESULTS: Rolling starts were used. Steven Elliott (Norco, CA) and Dustin Courter (Englewood, CO) won the 10-lap heats with 14 karts in each. Courter also won the 28-kart 12-lap semi-main. Three karts received damage that kept them out of the 25-kart main. Two of the females missed the main for that reason. A multi-kart crash in turn one at the start of the main sidelined four karts, including that of the third female driver. Pole starter Courter (in # 8) fell to fourth on the restart as # 26 led over # 10 and # 7. Courter took third on lap 4, second on lap 6 and then set off after # 26--Billy Johnson, who had built a 40-yard lead. Courter made a third turn inside pass on lap 19 and won by 20-yards over Johnson (San Clemente, CA). Courter, 19, is 5'6" and 135 pounds and has nine years karting experience (sprint and speedway), ten track championships and several track records. He also has raced in RMMRA Midget races in Colorado. Courter ran the fastest lap of the day--42.671. Johnson said he conserved fuel at the end, but took second. Michael Mantel (Redondo Beach, CA) won the third and final advancement slot over Elliott in a 14-minute race. Fifteen drivers finished and 14 completed all 20 laps. Fifth and following finishers were Michael Umscheid, Michael Johnson, Chris Sheil, Alan Sciuto, Ryan Haring, Bradley Riethmeyer, Bret Galeger, Hector Sepulveda, Tyler Rogers, Chris Clark, and Robert Billson. ….DNF--Nathan Wrobel, Ryan Thompson, Michael Robertson, Yuniel Martinez, Trevor Ott, Jay Smith, Mike Bonneau, Cassandra Quaglerini, Nathan Thompson, Christopher Longfellow. ….DNS-Rusty Redden, Amber Martinez and Stacy Klyn. During podium ceremonies, Sullivan introduced and commended the top three finishers and addressed all 28 drivers and spectators. "This has been the wildest and woolliest of all four regionals. Maybe you knew it was the last one. We went through more rear axles and equipment than expected," Sullivan added. The 32 Red Bull karts are now for sale. Karts # 19, #26, #12 and # 8 won the four outdoor regionals. He thanked his Red Bull officials and support staff and then posed for a group photo with all 28 drivers. The top three West Region drivers-Courter, Johnson and Mantel-now join the top three drivers in the other three regionals for the next round at Sebring, FL in two weeks. In order of finish they are Tony Loniewski, Brandon Adkins and Adam Johnson (June 26 at South Bend (IN) Raceway Park); Alex Speed, Travis Firing and John Johnson (July 23 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Charlotte, N.C), and David Jurca, Tad Funakuski and Wesley Boswell (Aug. 13 at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA). The 12-karting drivers will compete at Sebring against 12 candidates selected by "undercover scouts" from traditional racing classes to comprise a 24-driver semi-final field. The three-day intense competition in Skip Barber two-liter Formula Dodge cars will pare the 24 drivers to ten finalists who will be introduced Sept. 25 at a press conference at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the days preceding the F.1 US Grand Prix at IMS. These ten finalists will be tested in Formula 3 cars Oct. 12 at Paul Ricard Circuit in France. From the final ten drivers between two and four drivers will be selected by Sullivan and his team of judges to advance their racing careers in Europe during 2004. The exact number of drivers selected will depend on how well the four young American drivers who won the inaugural Red Bull competition last year succeed in the European racing series they are racing currently. For additional details see www.redbulldriversearch.com. |
