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James
Hinchcliffe
(Photo Courtesy-Peter Brock) |
June 02, 2004
Seventeen-year old James Hinchcliffe competed in his first event in
the Formula BMW (FBMW) USA Championship this past weekend at the
2.258 mile Lime Rock Park race course in Lakeville, CT. The talented
Canadian steered his AIM Autosport / Franczak Enterprises #56 entry
to two top five finishes on the demanding race course.
Hinchcliffe started the weekend Friday morning with the fourth
quickest time in the opening
practice
round for event weekend #1 towards the championship. Competing under
wet conditions and a malfunction with the
gearbox,
Hinchcliffe was still able to set some quick laps. Qualifying
scheduled for Friday afternoon was postponed after the morning
session as series officials opted to give the championship
competitors a full
practice
session on a dry race course before putting them in the middle of
official competition.
The Saturday morning
qualifying
session provided some trouble for Hinchcliffe as he was only able to
turn the sixth quickest time among the 16 car
grid.
We had a little trouble this morning, expressed the Oakville, ON
resident. The car was good but a lot of my fellow competitors
picked up time over night. I am not worried though as we showed the
speed yesterday and I will look to take the AIM Autosport BMW to the
front.
Hinchcliffe was on a charge from the drop of the green flag as he
sliced and diced his way towards the front of the field. Making some
bold passes, Hinchcliffe was showing series officials, the media and
fans that he is looking to be the first series champion and Canadas
next open
wheel
star. Before the lap 11 caution, Hinchcliffe battled his way to P2
and slotted his car behind the leader. While following the pace car,
the leader suddenly slowed and pulled off the race course handing
the lead to the Rookie of the Year candidate. Hinchcliffe would
assume the point until the restart when he was passed by eventual
race winner Andreas Wirth.
These Formula BMW machines are great to drive and AIM Autosport has
done a great job in preparing my FB2. I had a clean race, kept my
head down, and moved up one car at a time. I focused on getting a
good run down the hill, popping out of line going into turn one, and
getting my passes done under braking. Hinchcliffe also added, I am
very happy to be on the podium in the first ever event for the
Formula BMW Series in North America. This is a day that I will
remember for a very long time.
Hinchcliffe had very little time to enjoy his podium finish as the
cars hit the track again Saturday afternoon for Monday afternoons
second round. Circuiting Lime Rock Park with confidence, the
Oakville Trafalgar Secondary School student qualified his entry in
P4 after sitting second for most of the session and was once again
intent on battling for the win.
Hinchcliffe managed to move into third place at the start of round
#2 as he was
wheel
to
wheel
with several veteran car racers. As the lead quintet began to pull
away from the rest of the field, James had a big off at the bottom
of the West Bend hill. Onto the grass and sideways, James managed
to saw on the
wheel
and get the car straight and back onto the track without losing a
position. The duo behind the young Canadian saw the miscue and
drafted by Hinchcliffe on the next straight away and into corner
one. Just outside the top five, Hinchcliffe regained his composure
and moved up one spot and came home 5th in the final standings.
It was a great race explained Hinchcliffe. I had bad
understeer
on the downhill section and at West Bend went off trying to keep
up with second place but managed to keep the car away from the wall.
I believe we had a top five car today and overall the whole AIM
Autosport team is happy with finishing fifth but we will refocus and
be ready for Montreal. I would like to thank Franczak Enterprises
for their support and the guys at AIM Autosport for the hard work
and great racecar that they gave me all weekend.
After the first weekend of competition, Hinchcliffe currently sits
second in the series overall championship with 23 points. The
talented
rookie
also leads the BMW Rookie Cup points by 13 with a total of 40
points. James next on-track action will be in two weeks time for
rounds number three and four in the Formula BMW USA Championship.
Competing at the Montreal Grand Prix, Hinchcliffe will look to take
home the victory on home soil. For more information on the Formula
BMW USA Championship please visit
http://www.bmw-motorsport.com.
For more information and sponsorship opportunities on James
Hinchcliffe please contact James at 905-337-2450, via e-mail at
[email protected]
or visit him online at
http://www.jameshinchcliffe.com.
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