Formula BMW-Americas 2008

[JOWT Blog]

Congrats to Ricardo Favoretto for taking the victory in round 3 of the Formula BMW-Americas event in conjuction with the Canadian Grand Prix. There is a lot of pressure on these young drivers to perform at this event with all the F1 teams and scouts on hand.

[META4]

have you got any complete results? how many cars entered this event

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by META4

have you got any complete results? how many cars entered this event

They had 16 drivers enter this weekend, which is better than the opening weekend. Although, since this race is held in conjunction with the F1 Race.....it's surprising there aren't more drivers.

Full Results

[kerrmanningjarv]

Is there a race 2 and/or 3 today?

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by kerrmanningjarv

Is there a race 2 and/or 3 today?

Here are full results from Race 2 in Montreal.

Congrats to Alexander Rossi (JOWT Top Prospect) for the victory. Apparently yesterday's winner Favoretto and Rossi made contact down the backstraight and Favoretto spun into the inside retaining wall.

[gomick]

Points after 4 rounds...

1. Gianmarco Raimondo -56
2. Alexander Rossi - 49
3. Ricardo Favoretto - 37
4. Giancarlo Vilarinho - 34
5. Jorge Goncalvez - 34
6. Alexandre Ruiz - 28
7. Maxime Pelletier - 26
8. Mikael Grenier - 21
9. Velibor Jovanovic - 20
10. David Ostella - 6

Some good American names there - i know it is Formula BMW America's...

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by gomick

Some good American names there - i know it is Formula BMW America's...

Alexander Rossi is the only American in the field. It's unfortunate they can't draw more North American drivers, as you stated this is the FBMW Americas.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by JOWT Blog

They had 16 drivers enter this weekend, which is better than the opening weekend. Although, since this race is held in conjunction with the F1 Race.....it's surprising there aren't more drivers.

Full Results

When I was at Miller Park in April they only had 12 drivers at the time. When you find out what the budgets are you'll know why they struggle for cars.

[gomick]

and what are the budgets for this year?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by gomick

and what are the budgets for this year?

$350,000 +/-

[Albeckinho]

Lol, add 50 000€ to that and you could do FBMW Eurocup pretty well. And who said that American open-wheelers are cheap and full of competition?

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

$350,000 +/-

Unfortunately, it's not really a surprise to see that kind of budget for FBMW, with that said, you could put together a decent Star Mazda program with those numbers. I'm not sure how accurate the $350,000 mark is though, ....I'm sure there are drivers spending that or more and there are probably drivers spending significantly less, hence the +/- (like any series). It is surprising however that you don't see some of these young American drivers putting together some funding for a one off, with the chance to run in front of the F1 community. Formula BMW is a good program, it's just too expensive for most. Especially with the state of the economy. Maybe this season will be a wake up call for FBMW Americas promoters.

I will say that despite the lack of numbers, the competition has been good. The series should not be overlooked.

[gomick]

thats crazy money for 15 year olds to race - do they want this series to last?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by gomick

thats crazy money for 15 year olds to race - do they want this series to last?

At the current rate, no. People pay for the spinning propeller, the hospitality and the shot at an F1 test. They also pay though the nose for parts!

I'm not a believer the economy is going to nosedive, but I think it will be flat for a while and this is a series propped up by daddy's hedge fund and real estate development money for little Junior to play racing driver. Therefore the number of drivers around with "budgets" is going to be smaller for a while.

[gomick]

Rounds 5 & 6 are at Mid Ohio this weekend - only 9 cars

Qualifying - Round 5

1. Alexander Rossi 1:26.589
2. Ricardo Favoretto 1:27.462
3. Maxime Pelletier 1:27.756
4. Giancarlo Vilarinho 1:27.829
5. Gianmarco Raimondo 1:27.871
6. Alexandre Ruiz 1:28.001
7. Mikael Grenier 1:28.117
8. David Ostella 1:28.533
9. Jorge Goncalvez 1:28.873

Qualifying - Round 6

1. Alexander Rossi 1:26.715
2. Giancarlo Vilarinho 1:27.019
3. Gianmarco Raimondo 1:27.484
4. Ricardo Favoretto 1:27.574
5. David Ostella 1:27.638
6. Maxime Pelletier 1:27.804
7. Mikael Grenier 1:27.885
8. Alexandre Ruiz 1:27.928
9. Jorge Goncalvez 1:27.997

[META4]

4 cars for Eurointernational,4 cars for APEX/HBR and 1 for Autotecnica

[gomick]

can this championship last

[gomick]

Alexander Rossi won both races comfortably at Mid Ohio from Ricardo Favoretto...

Points after 6 rounds...

1. Alexander Rossi - 91
2. Ricardo Favoretto - 67
3. Gianmarco Raimondo - 63
4. Giancarlo Vilarinho - 48
5. Maxime Pelletier - 46
6. Alexandre Ruiz - 44
7. Jorge Goncalvez - 44
8. Mikael Grenier - 37
9. Velibor Jovanovic - 20
10. David Ostella - 13

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by gomick

can this championship last

And to think the series just added three races to the 2008 calendar. Thankfully they just added three race days to existing events (minimizing travel expenses). Either way....it's still a bold move.

Rossi won both races yesterday by a combined 24 seconds. He won the first race by just over 14 seconds, setting a new series record for largest margin of victory.

[gomick]

Ricardo Favoretto & Alexander Rossi won the pole position's for the 2 races at Lime Rock - 11 drivers qualified... Was supposed to be Rounds 7, 8 & 9, but race 7 was cancelled as they dont race at this track on Friday's - You would've thought the series organisers would have known that...

[gomick]

Daniel Juncadella & Alexander Rossi shared the race wins at Lime Rock...

Points after 9 rounds...

1. Alexander Rossi - 122
2. Ricardo Favoretto - 103
3. Gianmarco Raimondo - 87
4. Maxime Pelletier - 67
5. Giancarlo Vilarinho - 54
6. Mikael Grenier - 53
7. Alexandre Ruiz - 50
8. Jorge Goncalvez - 48
9. David Ostella - 29
10. Velibor Jovanovic - 20

[JOWT Blog]

Originally Posted by gomick

Ricardo Favoretto & Alexander Rossi won the pole position's for the 2 races at Lime Rock - 11 drivers qualified... Was supposed to be Rounds 7, 8 & 9, but race 7 was cancelled as they dont race at this track on Friday's - You would've thought the series organisers would have known that...

One would think this would have come up before the weekend of the event. Congrats to Juncadella and Rossi. Rossi has really stepped up as of late, I fully expect him to wrap up the championship early.

[Alex K]

Originally Posted by JOWT Blog

Unfortunately, it's not really a surprise to see that kind of budget for FBMW, with that said, you could put together a decent Star Mazda program with those numbers.

I am currently breaking the deal for my driver at Star Mazda, and I'll tell you what mate, for that budget you can get a season in fully equipped team with bunch of extra private test days to back your campaign up to higher levels and fight for championship. Not to mention F2000...

With current $ exchange rate I am sure more drivers will look at American market to shop for drives in Star Mazda and Indy Lights. I mean it can be golden era for American open wheel ladder, but FBMWA costs to much for its value.

[gomick]

Alexander Rossi (2 wins) & Adrien Tambay took the race wins at Road America...

Points after 12 rounds...

1. Alexander Rossi - 165
2. Ricardo Favoretto - 133
3. Gianmarco Raimondo - 98
4. Mikael Grenier - 93
5. Alexandre Ruiz - 92
6. Maxime Pelletier - 77
7. Giancarlo Vilarinho - 77
8. Jorge Goncalvez - 74
9. David Ostella - 43
10. Velibor Jovanovic - 20

[gomick]

Alexander Rossi qualified on pole for both races at Thunderbolt Raceway...