Thunderous Mazda Open Wheel Racers Descend on Thunderhill Raceway
Sugianto leads FS championship, Weaver leads in FM, and Carneiro lead in Pro FM
Willow, CA
April 18th, 2016
The FCC Mazda powered open wheel racers visited Thunderhill Raceway Park this weekend for the first of two double headers that will take place here during the 2016 season. Many of the drivers took advantage of the extra test day on Friday, and on Saturday morning headed out for an additional practice session before qualifying.
Round 3 Pole Positions:
Pro FM Bruno Carneiro – 1:42.52
FormulaSPEED Jonathan Sugianto – 1:47.04
Formula Mazda Bill Weaver – 148.85
Round three got off to a clean start, and the drivers who posted the fastest qualifying times also took the win. “It was a pretty conservative race,” noted Series Official Ben Hettema. “I think a lot of the drivers were thinking they would need to be conservative as a tire strategy for the following race.” FCC rules mandate that only one set of Goodyear Racing tires are used for both of the double-header races.
ROUND THREE PODIUMS
Pro Formula Mazda:
1st Bruno Carneiro
2nd Jim Mali
3rd Steve Burns
FormulaSpeed:
1st Jonathan Sugianto
2nd Carter Williams
3rd Tao Takaoka
Formula Mazda:
1st Bill Weaver
2nd Stew Tabak
3rd Dutch Shultz
On Sunday afternoon, the competitors hit the track for Round 4 qualifying.
Round 4 Pole Positions:
Pro FM Bruno Carneiro – 1:43.79
FormulaSPEED Jonathan Sugianto – 1:46.70
Formula Mazda Bill Weaver – 149.90
At the green flag Pro FM racer Jim Mali got a great start and passed overall pole sitter Carneiro. Bruno worked hard to make up the difference and eventually took back the lead and held it to the finish. In the FormulaSPEED class, Carter Williams got by Sugianto and had him on his tail most of the race. Late in the race Sugianto had minor contact with an FM and that gave Williams enough breathing room to take the class win. Weaver started on pole in FM, but within a few laps Stew Tabak was able to get by. Dutch Shultz kept close up on the Weaver/Tabak battle the entire race. Weaver and Shultz spun simultaneously during the battle. Shultz was able to continue, but Weaver had to make an unscheduled pitstop which gave the final podium spot to Derry O'Donovan.
ROUND FOUR PODIUMS:
Pro Formula Mazda:
1st Bruno Carneiro
2nd Jim Mali
3rd Steve Burns
FormulaSpeed:
1st Carter Williams
2nd Jonathan Sugianto
3rd Tao Takaoka
Formula Mazda:
1st Stew Tabak
2nd Dutch Shultz
3rd Derry O'Donovan
At every Formula Car Challenge event series partners provide additional awards to the competitors. Select drivers were awarded complimentary Goodyear Racing tires. Sugianto, Weaver and Carneiro were each presented with The Molecule Pole Award. The Molecule Pole Award is given to the fastest qualifier in each class. The award includes a selection of Molecule suit care products. Next up on the FCC schedule is a double-header with the San Francisco Region SCCA at Thunderhill Raceway Park May 14th and 15th.
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