J.R. Hildebrand Wins, Gustavo Yacaman Charges...

J.R. Hildebrand took his second win of the season, moments ago, in the Corning 100 at Watkins Glen International. The 21-year-old American had a really solid car and managed to improve 3 spots in today's race.

James Davison had a great run to finish 2nd after putting the car on pole in yesterday's qualifying session. Felipe Guimaraes was perhaps the most impressive driver in the field as he made a last lap pass on Sebastian Saavedra to finish 3rd in his first Indy Lights race after qualifying 6th. The Brazilian driver definitely turned some heads today, it will be interesting to see if he can come up with the necessary funding to run a few more races with Bryan Herta Autosport. Charlie Kimball had a breakthrough day by finishing fourth, his first top-five in the Indy Lights series. The track seemed to really suit his driving style and his performance today was rewarded by a solid finish. Sebastian Saavedra narrowly rounded out the top-five after losing two spots on the final lap, following a restart. He was lucky to have finished fifth after turning into Kimball (in an effort to avoid being passed) heading up-the-hill on the last lap. Saavedra is incredibly fast, but needs to learn to settle down in the car and make better decisions. As he develops his race-mode maturity, he will be nearly unstoppable. Saavedra set the quickest lap of the race with a 1:37.6704.

The hard charger of the day was Gustavo Yacaman, who improved 11 positions. The eighteen-year-old Colombian put in an incredible drive to finish 8th after starting 19th.

**update** Richard Philippe was promoted to fifth after Sebastian Saavedra was penalized 30 seconds for his move on Kimball during the last lap of the race. The penalty moves Saavedra to 18th in the final standings.
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Indy Lights
Corning 100
Complete Results
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(photo: Ron McQueeney/ indycar.com)

Tandy Leaves BF3 for Formula 3 Euro Series

After making what many assumed was a one-off debut with Kolles & Heinz Union in last weekend's Formula 3 Euro Series event at Norisring, Nick Tandy has signed a contract with the team to compete in the remaining 2009 F3ES events. The catch is, he will be dropping his British F3 efforts with JTR. Tandy was currently in third place in the British F3-International Class after 8 Rounds. He claimed his first BF3 win just over a month ago at Rockingham.

JTR has announced that they plan to continue their 2009 British F3 campaign and are actively looking for a replacement driver. Many are wondering if American Josef Newgarden, who drives a JTR entry in the British Formula Ford series, will step-in and fill the seat.

Chris Miller Victorious at Watkins Glen

Chris Miller has had a tremendous start to a big weekend in his racing career. The F2000 Championship drivers are not only racing at the world famous Watkins Glen International this weekend, they are also racing alongside the Indy Car series. Miller did exactly what he set out to do by qualifying on pole---setting a new track record in the process--- and winning Race #1 at Watkins Glen. The win marks his third victory of the year and his sixth podium in seven races.

Phil Lombardi had a great race and finished 2nd, 5.774 seconds behind Miller. Remy Audette kept his championship hopes alive with a solid third place finish, rounding out the top-three. Matthew Inge wasn't so lucky... as contact with Audette knocked his front wing off, causing him to drop a lap down. He ended the race in 30th position.

The hard charger of today's event was Masters driver Rob Nicholas who improved 13 positions. Nicholas finished 13th after qualifying 26th. Honorable mention should go to Tyler Hunter, who made his F2000 Championship debut at the Glen and improved 10 positions. Hunter qualified 30th and finished the race in 20th position. Other hard chargers include Masters drivers Chris Camadella (15th-5th) and Charles Finelli (28th-18th) who both improved 10 positions.
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F2000 Championship
Round 7- Watkins Glen
Complete Results

(photo: Janice Eakin/F2000championship.com)

Video of the Day

I've yet to post an onboard video from a Formula BMW car, so today seemed like a good time to do so. Today's video of the day features an onboard ride with Barrett Mertins at Miller Motorsports Park. Enjoy.

Felipe Guimaraes Signs with BHA

Bryan Herta Autosport has signed Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes to drive the #29 BHA Indy Lights car at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Guimaraes drove the Brazilian A1 car this season in A1GP. His best finish was 2nd after starting 8th at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. His previous experience includes karting, South American F3, and Formula 3000.

His name might be familiar to a few karting fans as Guimaraes won the 2008 Florida Winter Tour Rotax championship in dominant fashion by topping the timesheets in every session. He led every lap of the final event to become the 2008 champion, despite missing the opening rounds in Homestead. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to a Indy Lights car this weekend.
(photo: http://www.a1gp.com)

Joel Milller Joins Andersen Racing

American Star Mazda driver, Joel Miller has left JDC Motorsports and will join Andersen Racing for the remainder of the 2009 SM season. He tested with the team yesterday at Autobahn in Joliet, Illinois.

The move may have something to do with Andersen Racing's recent success in the Indy Lights series. Miller has made it quite clear that he hopes to run in the IndyCar feeder series for 2010. His latest press release indicates that we may even see him in a Andersen FIL car later this year...

Just as a point of interest, Miller did test an Indy Lights car with Andersen Racing at Sebring last November.

McDonough Replaces Yorio

The 2006 F2000 Championship 'Champion', Matt McDonough, will be competing in this weekend's F2000 race at Watkins Glen International Raceway. The former champ will be filling a seat vacated by Jesse Yorio.

The F2000 Championship will be racing alongside the IRL this weekend at Watkins Glen. You can read the series' preview here>>.

Alguersuari Replaces Hartley

Spanish driver Jaime Alguersuari (World Series by Renault) will replace Brendon Hartley (F3 Euro Series, World Series by Renault) as the Red Bull Formula One reserve driver for the German Grand Prix.

It's not really a surprising move by Red Bull as Hartley hasn't been producing the results that many had hoped for. The lackluster performances are quite likely due to the diversified focus between being a F3 Euro Series driver, World Series by Renault driver, and the all encompassing Formula One reserve driver position. Alguersuari, on the other hand, has been able to focus exclusively on the World Series by Renault and has finished inside the top-ten in 71.4% of his 2009 race starts. It's likely that Alguersuari will finish out the season as the Red Bull test driver, which should prove beneficial to Hartley's results.

Karting Prospects Sample FBMW Car

A few aspiring race drivers had the chance to test a Formula BMW- FB02 race car last week at Putnam Park. Team Apex and Team Autotecnica spent the day at the track working with 7 drivers total. The three drivers who tested with Team Apex are: Brandon Newey, Jimmy Simpson, and Jody Gara. Team Autotecnica put Luke Johnson, Eric Batt, Kyle Ludwick, and Jack Manley in their car.

According to Randy Biggs 'Series Manager of Formula BMW-Americas', the test was basically designed to give these young drivers an introduction to the Formula BMW series and car. There wasn't a timing system set up---meaning no lap-times were taken. (at least not formally)

Team Apex
Brandon Newey has been very impressive in karts. The 16-year-old (almost 17) used the offseason to transfer his skills to the car ranks by attending a 3-Day Skip Barber racing school in Sebring, Florida. With the Formula BMW test behind him and an active karting schedule planned for this summer, the Indiana native would be a solid prospect for Team Apex. It would be nice to see Newey get back in the car for a few more tests with the team and perhaps run a few Skippy car races before making the jump.

Jimmy Simpson is arguably the best prospect of the bunch. Simpson has been extremely impressive in karts. Last year, he had a very solid drive in the RoboPong 200 (partnered with Eric Batt's brother Evan Batt). The duo crossed the stripe in first, but were eventually given a post-race penalty and had to settle for 2nd place. At the 2007 RoboPong karting event, partnering with CJ Linter, Simpson found his way to the front and finished 3rd. Along with his karting endeavors, Simpson has also been participating in Ford Focus midget races this season. He won his first event on May 27th at Illiana Motor Speedway by leading every lap.

I'm not as familiar with Jody Gara but that doesn't mean much....except that I haven't personally seen him drive. Gara reportedly comes from a racing family as his father ran both stock cars and karts during his youth. Jody is currently developing in the karting ranks, but hopes to move up the motorsports ladder in the future. Away from racing, he is planning to pursue an accounting degree at Sinclair Community College.

Team Autotecnica
Luke Johnson of Minnesota has done very well since being introduced to karting at a local indoor center in 2007. He has moved up the ranks very quickly but his results haven't dropped off which is a really good sign. After spending the last two seasons developing his smoothness in a lower horsepower kart, Luke has jumped to the higher horsepower stock shifter class for 2009. The 15-year-old race driver is hoping to move into the car ranks for 2010. If he is able to spend enough time in a car, testing and developing his skills, he will likely continue to impress.

Eric Batt is another example of a driver who has moved up the ranks fairly quickly. He has done quite well and is also competing in a stock moto kart for 2009. He hasn't had the best luck so far in 2009, but he has been quick at every stop. With a year or two of development time, Eric should be really impressive. He is also a very good tuner, which bodes well for a career in motorsports.

Kyle Ludwick hasn't been racing long, but has produced some very impressive results. This season he is competing in the KRA Yamaha Sr. Pipe class at New Castle Motorsports Park. He will likely need a few more years in karts before making the jump to Formula BMW, but adding a FB02 test to his resume is very positive.

Jack Manley is currently running in the World Karting Association (Yamaha Jr. & HPV Jr. classes). Manley is still relatively young and is spending time in the Manufacturer's Cup running several classes, which is probably the best thing for him right now. Like Ludwick, a campaign in Formula BMW is probably a few years off, but adding seat time in karts and cars is the right step.
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It will be interesting to see if these drivers take part in the Formula BMW Licensing courses this summer. The licensing programs will be held at Miller Motorsports Park on July 8-10 and August 17-19, 2009.
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In other Formula BMW Americas news, the 2009 competitors completed their own Putnam Park test last weekend. You can view the results of the test here>>.

Tuesday Morning Reading

Patrick Buganski of the Daily Journal spent some time with Atlantic Championship driver Markus Niemela at the recent New Jersey Motorsports Park event.

You can follow Markus around the paddock here.

Formula 3 Euro Series: Hard Chargers

The Formula 3 Euro Series drivers spent last weekend at the Norisring circuit in southern Germany. Jules Bianchi and Christian Vietoris claimed the race wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. There were a few other drivers who managed to put in some incredible drives and deserve some press.

Johnny Cecetto Jr. earned the hard charger award on Saturday by improving 9 positions. The 19-year-old Venezuelan driver finished 17th after starting 25th.

Round 5- Full Results

On Sunday, Brazilian driver Tiago Geronimi put in the drive of the weekend by improving an astonishing 22 positions. The 20-year-old rookie finished 5th after starting 27th.

Round 6- Full Results
(photo: http://f3euroseries.com)

Guillaume Moreau to SG Formula

Italiaracing.net is reporting that Guillaume Moreau has signed with SG Formula for the World Series by Renault. The 26-year-old Frenchman is currently driving a Corvette in the FIA-GT1 series. He spent the last two years in the World Series by Renault. In 2008, he ran nine events for KTR. His best finish was 3rd at Spa after starting 9th. In 2007, he finished 14th in the WSR points championship after claiming one victory and two podiums.