FAIRFIELD, N.J., Sept. 22 - Andersen Walko Racing, which topped the team point standings for 2004 in the Formula Ford Zetec championship, will field two Star Mazda cars in the latter series' race Friday as a support event to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta Motorsports Park in Braselton, Ga.
The cars will be driven by 17-year-old rookies Jonathan Klein of Long Grove, Ill. and Robbie Pecorari of Aston, Pa., the younger brother of one of AWR's Formula Ford Zetec drivers, Adam Pecorari. Klein has competed in all but one of the Star Mazda races held this year and has been doing extremely well. He is currently in ninth place in the overall point standings out of 39 drivers. To date his best finishes are a fourth at Lime Rock Park and a fifth at Mosport. Pecorari will be making his first start ever in the Star Mazda series this weekend. In July he stepped into an AWR entry in a Formula SCCA doubleheader at Lime Rock, and although he'd never been in one of those races either he finished second in the first race and won the second one. The Star Mazda car that Pecorari will drive at Road Atlanta is owned by Doug Prendeville, another one of AWR's Zetec drivers and the brother of the AWR driver who finished second in the Zetec championship this year, Andrew Prendeville. "I've never raced in the Star Mazda series before, but the cars are some of the best cars out there for the price and Road Atlanta is definitely a fun track," said Robbie Pecorari, a senior at Garnet Valley High School in Concord, Pa. "It's a driver's track; it'll take a good driver to win there. I enjoy racing with Andersen Walko. We'll just try our best and see how it goes." The 45-minute race, which will be taped for broadcast on SPEED at noon Eastern time on Oct. 10, is one of three remaining events on the 2004 Star Mazda schedule. It is scheduled to get the green flag at 1:35 p.m. Eastern time on Friday. After Road Atlanta the series, which is presented by Goodyear, travels to Phoenix for a race on the oval at Phoenix Int'l Raceway Oct. 2 and then on to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. for the season finale on Oct. 16. Klein, who is sponsored by Kalfact Plastics; Fettes, Love and Sieben; Nexus Distribution Corp.; Midwest Steel & Services; Ironclad and ProStar, recently participated in a two-day test on the Phoenix oval in his Star Mazda car. "There were 11 cars testing there, including mine," Klein reported. "We were second-quickest throughout the two days. "We had some gearbox problems on the first day and we had some engine overheating problems and broke a half-shaft on the second day," he continued. "Luckily that happened when I was coming out of the pits and wasn't up to full speed. "Unfortunately the second day I did end the day with a crash in turn one when one of my tires failed," he continued. "We weren't on Goodyears, and the tire went down and I went into the wall." Although the right side of Klein's car was damaged, luckily he wasn't hurt. "It was the biggest oval I've ever been on," Klein added. "John [Walko, team co-owner and chief engineer] and Eric [Langbein, an engineer] did a great job setting up the car. To post the second-fastest time before we made any changes whatsoever shows how good our team is." This weekend's Star Mazda schedule shows practice today at 10 a.m. and 2:50 p.m. Tomorrow (Thursday) practice is slated for 9:15 a.m. followed by qualifying at 4:25 p.m. The race time is 1:35 p.m. Friday. Andersen Walko Racing's office is in Fairfield, N.J. and its shop is in North Versailles, Pa.
0 Comments
2004 Star Mazda Series North American Championship presented by Goodyear - Round 3 at Lime Rock7/3/2004 American Le Mans at Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park - Lakeville, CT July 2 - 3, 2004 2004 Star Mazda Series North American Championship presented by Goodyear - Round 2 at Mid Ohio6/26/2004 American Le Mans at Mid Ohio The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio June 24 - 26, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FAIRFIELD, N.J., May 3 - As if fielding multiple cars in the Formula Ford Zetec series and the Formula SCCA series weren't enough, Andersen Walko Racing (AWR) announced today that it will also enter the Star Mazda pro series starting with the next race, which is slated for June 26 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Although he missed the season opener, Jonathan Klein of Long Grove, Ill. will switch from the FSCCA series and represent AWR in the nine remaining Star Mazda events on that series' 2004 schedule. The team's other two FSCCA drivers, Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md. and Danny Abbale of Northport, N.Y., will continue to compete in the FSCCA series. Klein cited the Pro Mazda series' attractive TV schedule, stable schedule and its proven car package for his change of plans. His new Star Mazda car is scheduled to arrive in AWR's shops in North Versailles, Pa. later this month. Prior to that, the team will take delivery on another Star Mazda race car that will be driven by a variety of the team's Formula Ford Zetec drivers. Adam Pecorari of Aston, Pa.; Doug Prendeville of Morristown, N.J. and Mike Andersen of Green Pond, N.J. all plan to drive it in one to three Star Mazda races this year as their FF Zetec schedules permit. The Star Mazda series is sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), and most of its events are run as companion races to American Le Mans Series (ALMS) events. "We're excited about adding this terrific pro championship into our schedule, and we plan an aggressive testing program in May and June to prepare for the end-of-June ALMS weekend at Mid-Ohio," said Dan Andersen, the team's co-owner. "They have a great TV package, purse and schedule, and we will have at least one driver in all the remaining races this year." The Pro Mazda races are broadcast on the SPEED Channel in the United States and on the Sky Sports World Motorsports program internationally. The series, which is presented by Goodyear, carries a total prize package of approximately $500,000. The cars use a Mazda rotary engine called the Renesis that is also used in the Mazda RX-8 sports car. Nexus Distribution Corp, Midwest Steel & Services, Ironclad Performance Wear, ProStar Group, Kalfact Plastics and Fettes, Love & Sieben will sponsor Klein's Star Mazda. After round two at Mid-Ohio, the Star Mazda pro series moves to Lime Rock Park in Lime Rock, Conn. on July 3; Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. on July 17; Portland (Ore.) Int'l Raceway on July 24 and Mosport Int'l Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario on Aug. 7. The circuit appears at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. on Aug. 21; Road Atlanta on Sept. 24; on the oval at Phoenix Int'l Raceway Oct. 2 and at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. on Oct. 26. |
Develop
Here you can find out about our developments and experiences in coaching and engineering Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|