|
|
 |
Champion Hildebrand and Top Rookie Cameron Share the Spoils at
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wis. (September 24,
2006) – The Florida-based Cape Motorsports team
completed
 a
clean sweep of this year’s Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000
Championship this weekend at Road America. Dane Cameron clinched
the Greg Moore Rookie of Year honors by virtue of a finely
judged victory – his second of the year – in appallingly wet
conditions on Saturday, while already-crowned champion J.R.
Hildebrand bounced back from a rare error in the opening race to
claim another convincing victory – his 12th in just 14 races –
on Sunday afternoon.
“I can’t say enough about this team,” said Hildebrand, 18, from
Sausalito, Calif. “They’ve just done an awesome job all year
long and I can’t thank them enough for all the hard work they’ve
put in.”
 Hildebrand
took the pole on Friday, his 10th of the season aboard the #2
Formotion/Spy Optics/Mockett.com Van Diemen, and set off
confidently into the lead on Saturday afternoon in the pouring
rain. The gifted youngster led by almost 10 full seconds at the
end of the first four-mile lap, but soon afterward made a
mistake at the treacherous Turn Five and fell almost to the back
of the pack.
Cameron took up the running in his #19 Finlay Motorsports/Jim
Russell Racing School/Red Line Oil Van Diemen and pulled out a
handy advantage before the race finished under a full-course
caution.
FULL STORY...
Cooper Series Champion J.R. Hildebrand to Do Double Duty at Road
America
Elkhart Lake , WI - September 21,
2006 - J.R. Hildebrand, newly crowned Cooper Tires
Formula Ford 2000 Series Champion for 2006, will not only be
contesting the final Cooper Series races at
 Road
America this weekend, but will also make his series debut in the
Champ Car Atlantic Series. Hildebrand completed a successful
test some three weeks ago with Newman Wachs Racing, and will be
driving the #36 Nuclear Energy car this weekend. J.R.’s sweep of
the Cooper Series races last weekend at the Mid Ohio Sports Car
Course have left him with both the championship and record for
most wins in a season with 11 of 12 thus far. Having
accomplished both of those feats, he’s now ready to make the
jump up to the Atlantic Series.
FULL STORY...
Hildebrand Clinches the Cooper Series Title with Two More
Dominant Wins
Lexington, Ohio (September 17, 2006)
– Rising star J.R. Hildebrand continued his dominance
of the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship by winning
both of this weekend’s races at the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports
Car Course. The 18-year-old from Sausalito, Calif., has now won
11 of the season’s 12 races with Cape Motorsports’ #2
Formotion/Spy/Mockett.com Van Diemen and has clinched the series
title with two races still to be run next weekend as part of the
Champ Car World Series event at Road America in Elkhart Lake,
Wis.
"We knocked the most wins [in a season]
record out of the way and got the championship all wrapped up,
so it’s been another good weekend," said Hildebrand modestly.
"I don’t think anybody expected us to be so
dominant this season," he continued, "but that’s what I had been
preparing to do all through the off-season. I’ve had a great
team behind me in Cape Motorsports and I’ve put a lot of hard
work in behind the scenes. I’ve done pretty much everything I
wanted to do and I hope to translate that into bigger and better
things for the future."
FULL STORY...
Hildebrand Wins, Miller Grabs Second
Lexington, Ohio ( September 17, 2006)
– J.R. Hildebrand captured another strong victory at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000
Series this Sunday afternoon.
 Hildebrand
started from the outside of row one for the second of two races
this weekend. His teammate Dane Cameron held the pole position
for today’s race but couldn’t hold off Hildebrand at the start.
J.R. told of the first lap, “It was really exciting going into
turn one, I didn’t want to go side-by-side (with Dane) and let
the others make a gain from it, but Dane slowed a little and I
got by him easily on the outside.” Cameron, running a close
second, made an error in the jump turn and went off. He retired
to the pits with damage to the front of the car. Hildebrand
said, “I am disappointed that Dane crashed, and we didn’t get to
have a close race. I just put my head down and tried to be
consistent after he retired.” Hildebrand, who has dominated this
year, clinched the Championship yesterday and now has a record
of eleven victories.
FULL STORY...
Hildebrand Clinches Championship
 Lexington,
Ohio ( September 16, 2006) – J.R. Hildebrand clinched
the 2006 Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship with his
record-setting tenth victory today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course.
Hildebrand, driving the Spy Optics/
Formotion/ Mockett.com/ Cape Motorsports Van Diemen captured his
victory from the pole in dominant fashion. “All year long our
goal was to win the Championship. We certainly didn’t expect it
to come this early or in this fashion, especially with the
history of the series. It has been a phenomenal year for me,”
told the articulate young driver. So far this year, in addition
to the record for most wins, J.R. has also set the record for
most consecutive victories with seven, all with three races to
go.
 This
admirable performance from J.R. gave Cape Motorsports their
fourth Championship in the series’ history.
Second place went to J.R.’s Cape Motorsports
teammate Dane Cameron. He drove a strong race, setting the
fastest lap by just twelve hundredths of a second, ensuring the
top starting position for race two tomorrow. Cameron explained,
“The car was pretty good for the first half of the race, but was
even quicker for the second part. I got hurt in traffic quite a
bit and let J.R. get away from me. Overall, it was a good race,
and I am happy to be starting from the pole tomorrow.”
FULL STORY...
Hildebrand
Sets a New Standard
Cleveland, Ohio (June 24, 2006) –
J.R. Hildebrand wrote another chapter in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford
2000 Championship record book this afternoon by snaring his seventh
consecutive
 victory
in the Cape Motorsports #2 Formotion/Spy Optic/Mockett.com Van Diemen
RF05. Hildebrand thereby surpassed the previous mark of six straight
wins accomplished by Chris Simmons in 1993 and then equaled last year by
Jay Howard.
The 18-year-old from Sausalito, Calif., qualified only second – to Cape
Motorsports teammate Dane Cameron – but took the lead with a bold
side-by-side maneuver through Turns Three and Four and was never again
seriously challenged.
“I can’t say enough about this team,” said Hildebrand. “I made a couple
mistakes this weekend [crashing in yesterday’s practice, in which he
completed only one lap, and then clipping a curb and tweaking his car’s
front suspension in qualifying] so I was able to benefit from these guys
[teammates Cameron and Chris Meredith] to get back up to speed and do
what I had to do in today’s race.”
Cameron (#19 Finlay Motorsports/Jim Russell School/Red Line Oil Van
Diemen) slipped behind both Meredith (#3MII Security/Bertil Roos
School/Primus Racing Van Diemen) and Ricardo Vassmer (#25 Meridiano
Television/Santa Barbara Airlines/JDC Motorsports Van Diemen) following
a fraught three-wide entry into Turn Four. The California youngster
battled his back to second before the end of the lap, but by then
Hildebrand was long gone and he had to settle for second place.
 “J.R.
got a run on me in Turn Two,” related Cameron, who earlier in the day
had taken his second pole of the season. “There wasn’t as much grip on
the outside as I was looking for, so he was able to sneak by. It was
looking a bit close there for a while but it was a good race and I’m
pretty happy with second.”
The results was enough to move Cameron back into the lead of the Greg
Moore Rookie of the Year standings over New Zealander Andy Knight, who
finished sixth in his #33 TRANE/Latimer Hotel/NAPA/G.FRO Van Diemen.
Meredith enjoyed a spirited battle with Vassmer for third in the early
stages before settling into a groove and earning his second podium
finish of the season.
Vassmer took fourth ahead of Jason Byers (#28 A&B Refrigeration/St.
Clair Motortsports Van Diemen), who battled back from a poor opening lap
to snatch fifth from Knight in Turn One with just a couple of laps
remaining.
French-Canadian Olivier Comeau (#65 Britain West Van Diemen) enjoyed his
best run to date, finishing seventh ahead of Slade Miller (#16 Kechi
Energy/Quantum Mechanics Van Diemen) and Clark Cambern (#52 Denison
Consulting/Adams Racing Van Diemen).
Yet another teenager, Cole Morgan, continued his domination of the
Cooper Gold Cup class, winning his eighth race in a row and finishing a
strong 14th in his Morgan Homes/Lee Racing Van Diemen RF01, which had
benefited from several tweaks since a difficult debut in the car at
Portland one week earlier.
Hildebrand posted the fastest lap in this afternoon’s race at 1:13.519 –
faster than Cameron’s pole for the first race – to secure the inside
front row starting position for tomorrow’s eighth round, which will be
green-flagged at 11:15 am.
Six for Six and Heading for History
Portland, Ore. - June 21, 2006
J.R. Hildebrand, of Sausalito, California, will look to
make history this coming weekend as he has now become one of just three
drivers to win six straight races in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000
series, and the only driver with the chance to make it seven. Another pair
of victories this weekend at the Portland International Raceway vaulted him
to this opportunity, and with two races coming up at the familiar Burke
Lakefront Airport road circuit in Cleveland, Ohio this weekend, it could
certainly happen.
“The chance to be the only driver in Formula Ford 2000
history to have won seven straight races is an amazing opportunity. Since
its inception in the states, this series has produced some of the world’s
best drivers, and to set any record, let alone the record for most
consecutive wins, would be quite a feat for myself and for the team.”
Following his dominance at Mid-Ohio just one month ago,
Hildebrand and his Cape Motorsports team had a much more challenging
situation ahead of them in Portland. None of the drivers, including J.R.,
had ever raced there, and the team had no experience either, putting them at
a slight disadvantage over some of the other competitors. Nonetheless,
Hildebrand posted the fastest time in both practice sessions, as well as
qualifying for the first race, as he worked with the team to sort out the
setup as quickly as they could.
“To be perfectly honest, I was a bit unsure what to expect
this weekend,” said a relieved Hildebrand at weekend’s end. “Many of the
Pacific F2000 drivers had been here just last weekend racing, where we
really had no time at all. My plan was to go out and put down fast time
right away, so there wouldn’t be any doubt that the win could be ours.”
The first race was fairly trouble-free, as just one full
course caution would appear partway through the race. That didn’t stop
Hildebrand from immediately putting a gap between himself and the rest of
the competitors once again, winning the first race, setting the fastest lap
of the race on the last lap to ensure the pole position for Race Two.
Race Two was marked with the carnage and mayhem that one
might expect from PIR‘s festival curves chicane, an uncommon occurance in
the Cooper Series. This changed the dynamic of the race from fighting for
the win, to fighting to survive, as there were accidents aplenty, and most
any driver was at risk. For what few green flag laps there were, Hildebrand
was pressured by 2005 Pacific F2000 rival, Robert Podlesni, but held him off
through each restart to claim the victory, as announced after the race was
finished under the red flag.
“That was the toughest race of the year so far,”
Hildebrand stated. “With such a long run down to the first corner on the
restarts, it was hard to fend off everyone behind me, and often times
drivers from further back in the field would short-cut the chicane, so I
would have to pass a bunch of guys anyway! I would have liked to finish the
race under green flag conditions, but I’ll take what I can get, and we’ll be
off to Cleveland.”
The Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship will race
with the Champ Car World Series for the next two events in Cleveland, Ohio,
and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Four Wins in Four Races;
The Perfect Season Continues
More on Formotion and Hildebrand from the Speed Channel
Click Logo Above
Mansfield, Ohio – May 24, 2006.
J.R. Hildebrand, of Sausalito, Calif., in the Formotion No. 2
car, took a commanding lead
in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship over the weekend with a
dominating performance at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to back up his
double wins at Road Atlanta just one week prior.
Snatching the pole early in qualifying, Hildebrand led every
lap of both races at Mid-Ohio, and was never seriously challenged for the
lead after his Cape Motorsports teammate Dane Cameron crashed out of the
first race. He finished both races some 13 seconds clear of the field on
the newly paved circuit, clearly setting himself apart as the one to beat
for the rest of the season.
“It was a tremendous weekend for me and for the team,” said
Hildebrand. “We worked very hard on the test days to get the setup right on
the new surface, and that’s paid off in a big way here in the races. I
don’t expect that we’ll be that much faster than the other teams once we get
to more familiar conditions later on, but I think that our success will
continue nonetheless.”
J.R. had been faced with far more adversity one week earlier
at Road Atlanta. He started only third on the grid after a miscommunication
in qualifying, but lost no time in heading to the front. Hildebrand took the
lead into Turn One on the second lap and went on to a comfortable win. He
also posted the fastest lap of the race, ensuring he would start on the pole
for the second race.
A slight rain fell as the field assembled on the grid for
Race Two, and everyone started the race in damp conditions with slick
tires. Hildebrand adapted quickly to the wet track, winning for the second
time in just two races.
J.R. now has four consecutive wins under his belt and intends
to carry that momentum into the coming races at Portland, Cleveland and
Toronto, where the Cooper Tires FF2000 cars will act as a support to the
Champ Car World Series.
“Racing in front of the Champ Car and Atlantic teams is a
great opportunity for me to solidify myself as a promising talent that can
get the job done. With the Atlantic Series as my goal for next year, I’m
really looking forward to the next few races on the schedule, and plan to
work toward continuing my success.”
Hildebrand and Morgan
Complete Mid-Ohio Sweep
Lexington,
Ohio (May 21, 2006) – J.R.
Hildebrand’s absolute dominance of the Cooper Tires
Formula Ford 2000 Championship continued on Sunday as he
won his forth race in a row. His win from pole also
marked a sweep for his Cape Motorsports team after Adam
Pecorari won both IMSA Lites races from pole at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington , Ohio .
As he did in the first
race, the 18-year-old American star displayed the
maturity of a veteran and checked out early from the
rest of the field with a series of lightning quick laps
on cold tires. After setting a best lap of 1:23.681 that
was more than 1.3 seconds faster than his closest
competitor, the California native eventually won by a
margin of 13.470 seconds over yesterday’s second place
finisher, Jason Byers.
But the drive of the
race belonged to Sonoma , California ’s Dane Cameron.
After crashing out in the first corner of race one, the
17-year-old Cameron was forced to start 26 th as the
grid was determined by yesterday’s results. Undeterred
by his starting position, Cameron made several bold
moves and worked his way up to eighth place halfway
through the 30-minute timed event, before it was
interrupted by the only full course caution period.
On the restart,
newcomer Andy Knight of New Zealand continued his nip
and tuck battle with Nick Haye for fourth place. Knight
was able to move into third after getting a great run
exiting turn one before slipping under his competitor’s
Van Diemen in the keyhole turn.
With three laps
remaining, Chris Meredith spun out of third place after
losing control at the exit of the high speed turn one.
That briefly moved Knight onto the final podium
position, but Cameron was able to work his way past Haye
and Knight with two laps to go, earning himself a much
deserved third place finish.
“I think that was the
farthest back that I’ve ever started in a race, but I
was still hoping for a podium,” Cameron said. “The car
was really good and the team did a terrific job, they
were here until 2 a.m. fixing the damage from the first
race. It’s always awesome to start at the front and run
well, but it was a lot of fun to come from the back and
pass all of those cars.”
Echoing his teammate’s
appreciation for his Cape Motorsports crew, Hildebrand
still hopes for more success this season.
“The team did an
awesome job this weekend; the car was perfect so we were
able to focus on race tactics. The rest of the season is
anybody’s bet, some of the teams struggled here (with
the new pavement) that I know will be tough at other
places. We just need to keep improving so we’ll be ready
when they get faster.”
In the Gold Cup, Cole
Morgan turned in yet another impressive performance in
his trusty Swift DB 6, earning his fourth victory in a
row.
“This is getting to be
pretty good,” proclaimed Morgan. “I got run over in the
first turn and it knocked the toe out of the car which
made it handle very weird. It did a lot of things that
it didn’t normally do, but I was still able to pull out
a good lead. My goal is for a perfect season of winning
every race from pole.”
or more details,
please go to
www.cooperseries.com or contact series coordinator
Sandy Shamlian at 301-698-9009. The Cooper Series will
be back on track June 16-18 at Portland International
Raceway in conjunction with the Champ Car World Series.
|
Pos |
No. |
Class |
PIC |
Name |
| 1 |
2 |
Zetec |
1 |
JR Hildebrand |
| 2 |
28 |
Zetec |
2 |
Jason Byers |
| 3 |
19 |
Zetec |
3 |
Dane Cameron |
| 4 |
33 |
Zetec |
4 |
Andy Knight |
| 5 |
44 |
Zetec |
5 |
Nick Haye |
| 6 |
10 |
Zetec |
6 |
Noah Bystrom |
| 7 |
29 |
Zetec |
7 |
Philip Metzger |
| 8 |
52 |
Zetec |
8 |
Clark Cambern |
| 9 |
5 |
Zetec |
9 |
Gerry Kraut |
| 10 |
20 |
Zetec |
10 |
Wladimir Genovesi,
Jr. |
| 11 |
16 |
Zetec |
11 |
Slade Miller |
| 12 |
11 |
Gold Cup |
1 |
Cole Morgan |
| 13 |
25 |
Zetec |
12 |
Ricardo Vassmer |
| 14 |
6 |
Zetec |
13 |
Scott Rubenzer |
| 15 |
22 |
Gold Cup |
2 |
Seth Ravndal |
| 16 |
18 |
Zetec |
14 |
Alexis Sabet |
| 17 |
51 |
Zetec |
15 |
Dan Denison |
| 18 |
42 |
Gold Cup |
3 |
Bill Jordan |
| 19 |
58 |
Zetec |
16 |
Chuck Lessick |
| 20 |
73 |
Gold Cup |
4 |
Brent Gilkes |
| 21 |
3 |
Zetec |
17 |
Chris Meredith |
| 22 |
83 |
Zetec |
18 |
Charles Finelli |
| 23 |
8 |
Gold Cup |
5 |
Mark Defer |
| 24 |
60 |
Zetec |
19 |
Dwight Rider |
| 25 |
31 |
Zetec |
20 |
Dominik Jackson |
| 26 |
7 |
Zetec |
21 |
Juliana Gonzalez |
| DNS |
13 |
Zetec |
22 |
Doug Kniffin |
| DNS |
64 |
Zetec |
23 |
Jim Hallman |
Mid-Ohio - Sunday May 21/06 Race 4 Results
Get the Real Deal!
Make Sure It Says
On The Dial!
|
|
