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| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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DUSTIN COURTER, 19, WINS RED BULL FORMULA ONE DRIVER SEARCH WEST REGIONAL FINAL ROUND |
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IRWINDALE, Calif. - Dustin Courter, a 19-year old nine-year karting
veteran from Englewood, Colorado, won the West Region final round
Tuesday in Danny Sullivan's 2nd annual Red Bull Formula One American
Driver Search competition. Courter won his 10-lap heat, the 12-lap
semi and 20-lap main event on an 11-turn infield course at Irwindale
Speedway. Courter started on the pole based upon his semi-main finish, dropped to fourth on the first lap and charged back to first on lap 19. He won by 20-yard and set the fastest lap of the day at 42.671 during his charge back to the front. The 5' 6", 135 pound driver also has raced a Midget with RMMRA in Colorado. The all-day karting competition in Rotax 25-HP gasoline karts for 28 phase one teenage winners at seven indoor karting centers advanced the top three finishers to the semi-final round in two weeks at Sebring, Florida. Californians Billy Johnson and Michael Mantel finished second and third to advance to Sebring. They will be joined by nine other teenage winners who advanced from karting regionals in South Bend, Ind., Charlotte, N.C. and Sonoma, Calif. in recent weeks. There were 104 competitors--94 male and 10 female--in the four outdoor regionals. Twelve other drivers from various racing classes were selected by Sullivan and his "undercover scouts" to comprise a 24-driver semi-final field at Sebring where they will compete in Skip Barber two-liter Formula Dodge cars for the ten finalist berths. The ten finalists will be announced September 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the F.1 US Grand Prix at IMS. The ten finalists will compete October 12 in Formula 3 cars at Paul Ricard Circuit in France. Sullivan and his team of judges will select two to four of the ten drivers from the F.3 test in France 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 in which they are racing currently. For additional details see www.redbulldriversearch.com. |
