Formula BMW USA - Richard Philippe

[FormulaReporter]

Round 1 & 2 @ Laguna Seca
"keep an eye on Richard Philippe. He won the pole for both races, set fastest lap for both races, won the 2nd race flag-to-flag, and would have won the first race had he not been taken out in an accident. This 15-year old kid was driving that car in perfect 4-wheel drifts. I predict he is a star in the making....." from AR1.

Any one who knows about this kid Richard Phililppe? Or his team Autotecnica?

[Kicking-back]

He's the brother of French ChampCar driver Nelson Philippe, I believe.

And probably more talented than him too.

[Gelles Racing]

Richard is a very nice young man with talent. He respresents Formula BMW USA very well as one of the six scholarship drivers in 2005. To clarify, he spun completely on his own on the first lap in Round 1 and caused evasive action on the part of drivers behind. He drove a very nice race in Round 2, congratulations on a drive well done!

[FormulaReporter]

See the following link for sequence of the crash
http://photos.yahoo.com/formulareporter

It's clear to me the No. 2 car took out No.1(Philippe car).

Not true whatever Gelles Racing said "To clarify, he spun completely on his own on the first lap in Round 1 and caused evasive action on the part of drivers behind. "

Gelles Racing..... fact first before posting......

[Gelles Racing]

Your photographs are very nice but obviously you were on the outside of the track. I was on the inside of the circuit from a different vantage point. Regardless, we can agree to disagree. Why then would there be so many cars ahead of him when he was on pole. Richard is a very talented driver and obviously you are a strong supporter of his, enough said. That's racing.

[nitrous]

Hey FormulaReporter

It is clear to me that you need to get your facts correct and not rely on what you think you saw or heard before posting. Gelles is 100% correct and here is a quote directly from Philippe "It was a well-deserved victory for Team Autotecnica," said Philippe. "Yesterday, I made a mistake and I paid for it. I may pay for it in the points for a long while, but that's racing. Today, I came back to the top and am happy."

While Philippe is a talented driver he also has the advantage of a ton of pre-season testing. Watch what happens after a few races. Lacroix and Soulet are very quick and in my opinion, are the guys to beat.

[FormulaReporter]

Hi Nitrous,
As a reporter, I did get the fact from the Driver himself, Formula BMW official and marshal who is at inside turn 2;

"I made a mistake at the start with too much wheel spin, fell back to third....but soon got taken out at the hairpin and punctured my rear tire..." said Philippe.


"...Phillippe got taken out at the first lap..." from FBMW press release.

"No. 1 & 2 car touched in turn 2....." from corner marshal.

In my opinion the fast guys are Lacroix, Davidson, Soulet and Moon; I was just a little surprise how well Philippe did. And I was looking for more info about Philippe and his team for my story.

[Gelles Racing]

Dear Formula Reporter,
Thanks for working so diligently in covering the Formula BMW USA championship. Anthony Wei is the owner of Autotecnica. Maybe you could go to their website and get his contact information for additional information for your story.
In the future, you are most welcome to contact me anytime regarding any news articles about Gelles Racing or any of my (4) drivers. email bob@gellesracing.com or telephone (703) 926-2474. The team website is www.GellesRacing.com Again, thanks for all your efforts.

[optical]

I think at a first race there is always going to be controversy and mistakes. Whats important is that the drivers learn and improve on Laguna and go forward at Mid Ohio. It appears the top 5 are Philippe, Davison, Soulet, Lacroix and Moon. Between these drivers some had misfortunes at Laguna however these 5 will be the guys to beat.