Formula Car Challenge Racers Invade Thunderhill for Championship Rounds Five and Six
Willow, CA
May 18th, 2016
The FCC Mazda powered open wheel racers visited Thunderhill Raceway Park this weekend for the second of two double headers that were schedule during the 2016 season. Many of the drivers took advantage of the extra test day on Friday, and on Saturday morning 28 Group 2 cars headed out for an additional practice session before qualifying.
Round 5 Pole Positions:
FormulaSPEED (FA Class) Carter Williams 1:46.936
Formula Mazda (FM Class) Bruce Carpenter 1:50.528
Carter Williams took the green flag from FormulaSPEED pole position and was able to keep it there for the duration. Pierre-Paul Baradat, who was in his first FCC event, had an early attempt at passing Williams for the lead, and battled with both VMB team drivers for the duration of the race. Sugianto eventually was able to pass Baradat for second. Baradat rounded out the top three, and secured his first series FormulaSPEED podium in his very first race.
In Formula Mazda, pole-sitter Bruce Carpenter got a great start and held on to an early lead. Mid race Stew Tabak was able to get by Carpernter. Meanwhile, multi-year champion Bill Weaver had to start from the back and was gaining position after position. He eventually made it up to second, but did not have enough for eventual race winner Stew Tabak.
ROUND FIVE PODIUMS
FormulaSpeed:
1st - Carter Williams
2nd - Jonathan Sugianto
3rd - Pierre-Paul Baradat
Formula Mazda:
1st – Stew Tabak
2nd – Bill Weaver
3rd – Bruce Carpenter
On Sunday afternoon, the competitors hit the track for Round 6 qualifying.
Round 6 Pole Positions:
FormulaSPEED (FA Class) Jonathan Sugianto 1:48.207
Formula Mazda (FM Class) Bill Weaver 1:50.389
When the green flag dropped the VMB drivers, along with newcomer Baradat, battled to take the lead. Sugianto held them off and secured another win, which gives him the championship lead by just two points. In Formula Mazda Weaver, Tabak, and Carpenter raced hard with Weaver taking the win. Weaver is now leading the championship over Tabak by just one point!
ROUND SIX PODIUMS:
FormulaSpeed:
1st – Jonathan Sugianto
2nd – Carter Williams
3rd – Tao Takaoka
Formula Mazda:
1st – Bill Weaver
2nd – Stew Tabak
3rd – Kevin Rogers
At every Formula Car Challenge event series partners provide additional awards to the competitors. Select drivers were awarded complimentary Goodyear Racing tires. Sugianto, Weaver, Williams and Carpenter 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. Bill Weaver received the first Redline Oil Hard Charger Award of the season. Next up on the FCC schedule is a double-header at Sonoma Raceway with the NorCal NASA Park June 18th and 19th.
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