TRAFFORD, PA (May 4, 2006) – It has been a long two months since the opening round of the STAR Mazda Championship Series. However, the John Walko Racing crew has not been letting any of that down time go to waste. With three new drivers for the 2006 season, two of which are rookies, preparation, testing and coaching has been in full swing.
Team owner John Walko indicated the testing sessions serve a much greater purpose than just the track time alone. “Our drivers completed over 3000 trouble free miles of testing in total over the last few sessions. The momentum just builds and builds the more you run.” Walko also noted that the benefits aren’t just relegated to the drivers, “When the guys on the crew see the cars run mile after trouble free mile and watch their drivers improve with each session, it inspires confidence. It is an intangible value that should help the whole team climb to the next level.” Most recently, the JWR hauler rolled out of the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course following two more days of intensive testing. All three drivers participated in the test on the newly repaved 2.25 mile track alongside drivers from AIM Autosport and Phenom Racing. Newcomer to the team Kevin Lacroix set the pace for the JWR trio with Ross Smith close behind. Smith’s confidence and speed is as high as it has ever been thanks in part to the rapport he is building with his crew, “I love working with my engineer Eric, we are really meshing well and the communication between he and I and Scott is getting better and better.” Charles Anti has also shown tremendous strides in the last two tests, particularly at Mid Ohio where the Series races in just two weeks. Success at Mid Ohio is not new to Anti however, “I've run this course in the Skip Barber cars and have won three races there previously.” Adding to the momentum the team is building on their own, JWR has been fortunate to acquire the services of much sought after driver coach Mike Zimicki. Zimicki has a long history as a coach with everyone from the Skip Barber Series to his current role as a driver coach to Rahal-Letterman Racing and Graham Rahal. Walko is ecstatic about the addition and feels the impact will be realized immediately, “It is a real feather in our cap that Mike chose to work with us. He will be invaluable in helping to sharpen the learning curve, particularly with our rookie drivers.” This slate of testing culminates with a stretch of three races in four weeks starting with the Grand Prix of Houston May 13-14 followed by a return trip to Mid Ohio the following weekend. A much needed weekend off is then followed by the lone oval on the schedule at the fabled Milwaukee Mile. The street race at Houston is new to all three drivers but each has had a degree of experience in similar situations. Anti likened his experiences at Watkins Glen, where he is a two time race winner, with the tight quarters racing that is expected at Houston, “The closest thing I've done to a street race is running Watkins Glen where the walls are just a few feet from the track. The competition level is elevated in this series though and the track time is limited so we have to be up to speed right away. That is one thing I have been working on in testing.” Smith ran Montreal last year and anticipates the same feel to the event, “This should be very similar, concrete barriers and not much run-off. I expect a lot of traffic and probably a lot of yellows so getting up to speed quickly and qualifying well are going to be very important.” While he has just one street race under his belt, last season’s Formula BMW race in Denver, Lacroix is looking forward to his first race with JWR, “I think we learned a lot last year in what to expect at these events and I know what I need to work on. I’m excited about my first race with the team in Houston.” All of the hard work recently hopefully will pay dividends soon according to Walko, “The miles and miles of testing our drivers have turned, the solid cars are crews continue to turn out and the addition of Mike Zimicki as driver coach should help us move up the charts in the coming events.” Contact john@johnwalkoracing.com for more information regarding testing programs available for the 2006 season.
0 Comments
TRAFFORD, PA (April 20, 2006) – To be successful in the STAR Mazda Series, and contend for the Championship, requires much more than participating in twelve races. John Walko Racing is keenly aware of the challenge at hand and as such continues to strive for every advantage.
All three cars and drivers participated in a three day test at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex, including the latest addition to the team, Canadian rising star Kevin Lacroix. Lacroix joined JWR drivers Charles Anti and Ross Smith on the 1.8 mile road course that is essentially the “home field” for John Walko Racing. Plano, Texas driver Smith set the pace early, eclipsing the quickest time’s ever run at BeaveRun in a STAR Mazda machine. This was particularly impressive considering the drivers who have tested at this facility under the guidance of John Walko as the engineer for Andersen-Walko Racing including 2005 Series Winners Graham Rahal, Robbie Pecorari and Pablo Donoso along with Indy Pro Series driver Jonathan Klein. “Today we beat the track record so we are ecstatic obviously.” Ross noted though that these tests involve much more that just a search for fast time, “Eric, Scott and I are working on chemistry still but really the setups for this track and Mid Ohio are very similar so it is important in that aspect as well.” Anti, who got his start in racing driving karts just a few hundred yards away at BeaveRun’s Wilson Circuit, was striving to work through his rookie learning curve at this test. “Right now we are working mostly on track time as a team but something I am working on myself is improving the mental aspect of getting up to speed. Usually it takes a few laps to do so and I want to minimize that.” John Walko concurred with Ross Smith regarding the application of testing at BeaveRun, “We find this is a really good test track for Mid Ohio which is just two races away. Sometimes we'll even stop here on the way to Mid Ohio as a shakedown.” Walko also utilized the time to promote the team’s interest in the local karting program at BeaveRun by providing track time to select up and coming racers. “I'm always glad to help promote the karting program here at BeaveRun. As we are seeing with Charles signed on this year in our program, there is the potential to work with more local drivers to help develop the talent in this area.” Walko continued, “With a start at a world class facility like BeaveRun, young racers can see there is a ladder that can be climbed in their racing careers.” Two previous Champions in the BeaveRun Karting Series enjoyed this incredible opportunity including Sam Hanley, the 2004 ICA Champion and Stephen Sokol who dominated the 2005 TaG class. Sam commented, “I can't imagine this going any better. Working with John's team has been excellent. I have only been in a full size race car one other time and that was whole different world than this car and this team.” “I have to thank John for the opportunity. I really like this group of people and I'm thrilled to be part of this experience,” exclaimed a smiling Sokol. Next on the schedule for drivers Charles Anti, Ross Smith and Kevin Lacroix is testing at Mid Ohio followed by the second race of the season, the Grand Prix of Houston. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TRAFFORD, PA (April 19, 2006) – John Walko Racing has added highly touted Kevin Lacroix to their stable of drivers. The young Canadian driver will make his debut at the Grand Prix of Houston, the second race on the STAR Mazda Championship Series schedule.
Lacroix joins JWR fresh off of a successful Rookie season in the Formula BMW Series where he finished second in the Championship standings. Four race wins at venues such as Laguna Seca, Montreal, Mid Ohio and Barber Motorsports Park along with two additional podium finishes at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis Motor Speedway kept Kevin in the title hunt until the closing laps of the final race of the season. Prior to his sensational entry in to formula car racing, Lacroix was a karting star winning several Quebec Championships as well as rounds in the Stars of Karting and the WKA Manufacturers Cup. A strong showing at the BMW School in Valencia, Spain in 2004 earned him a scholarship for the following season’s successful outing in the Formula BMW USA Series. According to team owner John Walko, the deal to add the Quebec native came together quickly after Casey Neal’s one race stint in a JWR machine at Sebring came to an end. Mutual friends in the racing business helped put the parties together as Walko noted, “Kevin comes to us highly recommended, and we were highly recommended to him, by our friends at AIM Autosport and team manager Ian Willis. Kevin placed second in the Formula BMW Championship with AIM and when Kevin expressed interest in the STAR Mazda Series, Ian told him we were the ones to call.” The new partnership wasted no time hitting the track as Lacroix joined JWR for a test at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex. The young driver was thrilled to take the next step in the open wheel racing ladder. “It is a good car, a lot more power and more grip also compared to anything else I have driven. It is very fast and very good too drive. It took a while to learn it but everything is going well now.” Walko was pleased with his new driver’s debut, “I couldn't be more impressed with his performance, he ran nearly 500 miles here in the last two days and only had the car off track three times which is quite good. JWR will provide Kevin with every chance at success according to Walko as well. ”We will partner Kevin with Caleb Streem as the lead mechanic, who was the STAR Mazda Crew Member of the Year in 2005 as Robbie Pecorari's mechanic.” The team will take their three car effort to Mid Ohio next for a round of testing followed by the second race of the season, the Grand Prix of Houston. Drivers Charles Anti and Ross Smith will be Kevin Lacroix’s teammates with JWR. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TRAFFORD, PA (March 8, 2006) – STAR Mazda Championship Series veteran Ross Smith has signed with John Walko Racing for the 2006 season. This will be the third year of competition in the series for the Plano, Texas driver.
Smith scored 10 podium finishes including 5 victories in the Southwest Formula Mazda Series after scoring dozens of wins and multiple championships in karting. He then moved to the STAR Mazda Championship Series in 2004 for a partial season followed by a full season in 2005, posting four top ten finishes. Ross is excited about the prospects of getting the season rolling with a team like JWR, “I’m very happy to be part of a well organized team like John Walko Racing. I think I can do well here and I’m really looking forward to Sebring.” After watching the nineteen year old driver’s progress over the past few seasons, team owner John Walko is looking forward to having Smith as part of the team. “We are thrilled to have Ross join our team. Having him on board will put both our team and Ross in a situation to perform well.” Ross has been working with JWR in pre-season testing, including a stint at Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, Georgia where they have just concluded final preparations for the season opening race at Sebring. According to Walko, the testing has been a success, “He’s done really well in the testing. Right now it’s all about the car and the setup. He knows what he wants the car to be able to do.” Smith will join series Rookie Charles Anti at JWR as part of a multi-car effort to challenge for the STAR Mazda Championship. Walko believes that adding a veteran will be a benefit to the entire team, “It’s good to have an experienced driver like Ross. He’ll be a good teammate for Charles. John Walko Racing, along with drivers Charles Anti and Ross Smith, kick off their STAR Mazda Championship season with the opening race at Sebring International Raceway from March 15th - 17th in conjunction with the 54th Annual Twelve Hours of Sebring and the American Le Mans Series. The team is seeking interested drivers to join JWR for the STAR Mazda series. Testing programs and full or partial race seats are available for the 2006 season. Contact John@johnwalkoracing.com for more information. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TRAFFORD, PA (January 25, 2006) --John Walko Racing is pleased to announce the signing of Charles Anti as a driver to compete in the 2006 Pro STAR Mazda Championship. The Pittsburgh, PA driver has competed in the Skip Barber Series the past two seasons, winning the Eastern Regional Series and finishing 3rd in the Midwest Regional Series in 2005.
Anti will compete in the same car that brought Graham Rahal to victories last year and will work with Steve Dreizler and Sebastien Jubelin, who had proven themselves capable with young drivers, leading both Rahal and Adam Pecorari to race wins the past two seasons. "I am very excited to be a part of the reformed John Walko Racing team," said Anti. "The team is so knowledgeable and enthusiastic that I am looking forward to learning as much as I can. JWR knows how to make the cars go fast and have a good time in the process, which is what racing is all about." Team owner, John Walko, has high hopes for the rookie driver. "Charles started calling me a few years ago and we have stayed in touch over the years as he was a local talent looking for advice," said Walko. "We finally put him in a car recently and he was great. He is an incredible learner, has no temper and no ego and was picking things up very quick. One of the most refreshing things about Charles is he lives locally and wants to spend a lot of time at the shop learning as much as he can. That will no doubt help him down the line." The car will carry the familiar Pittsburgh sports team colors of yellow and black, honoring the fact that the driver, teams and sponsors are all Pittsburgh based. Photos of the new car will be available soon. John Walko Racing will begin testing in February 1-2 at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC and is seeking interested drivers looking to enter the STAR Mazda series. JWR has put together a rigorous testing schedule that has them visit Kershaw, VIR (Feb. 23-24), Mid-Ohio (April 26-27) and do private oval track testing (TBA) to prepare for the upcoming season. 2006 season testing programs and full or partial race seats available. Contact John@johnwalkoracing.com for more information. TRAFFORD, P.A., Jan. 5 - Andersen Walko Racing's owners Dan Andersen and John Walko announced today that the team is splitting up into two race teams: A newly formed Andersen Racing and John Walko Racing effective Feb. 1.
The change was made to better reflect the team's ownership. Andersen Racing is based in a new, 7,000-square-feet, state-of-the-art shop in Fairfield, N.J. John Walko Racing will remain in the former AWR and JWR facility in Trafford, PA. AWR fielded cars for Robbie Pecorari, Graham Rahal, Pablo Donoso and Jonathan Klein in 2005. They posted four victories, 17 podium finishes, 22 top-five finishes and four poles. Pecorari finished second in the championship and earned its Rookie of the Year award. Rahal finished fourth for the season, while Donoso was ninth and Klein was 13th. John Walko Racing will begin testing in February 1-2 at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC and is seeking interested drivers looking to enter the STAR Mazda series. JWR has put together a rigorous testing schedule that has them visit Kershaw, VIR (Feb. 23-24), Mid-Ohio (April 26-27) and do private oval track testing (TBA) to prepare for the upcoming season. 2006 season testing programs and full or partial race seats available. Contact John@johnwalkoracing.com for more information. Andersen Walko Racing's four full-time drivers from the 2005 season have some exciting plans for 2006.
The team’s two drivers with the best results in the Star Mazda Championship, presented by Goodyear, last year will both advance to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship presented by Yokohama in 2006. Yesterday Robbie Pecorari of Aston, Pa., who finished second in the Star Mazda championship last year and earned its Rookie of the Year award while driving for Anderwn Walko Racing(AWR), said “As of now we have made the decision to run the Champ Car Atlantic series for 2006. We have not signed anything yet, but hope fully in the next few weeks we should be able to announce which team we’ll be running with and all of the details.” Pccorari broke the track record at Arizona’s Firebird Int’l Raceway in November while testing an Atlantic car with Brooks Associates Racing. Graham Rahal, who finished fourth in the Star Mazda Championship last year driving for AWR, has already announced his plans to compete in the Atlantic series. The New Albany, Ohio driver will run with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing, and yesterday he announced the car would be sponsored by Gehl, the Wisconsin-based light construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer. Last year, Rahal became the youngest driver ever to win a pro StarMazda race when he was victorious at Portland lnternational Raceway at the age of 16. He’ll revisit that track this year in the Atlantic series. The Atlantic SeaSon opener is April 9 on tbe streets of Long Beach, CA. Rahal will start his first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Jan. 28 too. The 17-year-old is one of four drivers of the Tafel Racing Porsche GT3 Cup No. 74 that set the fastest time for the GT class in testing at Daytona earlier this month. Another ex-AWR driver, Adam Pecorari, Robbie's brother, who ran with the team in the Formula Ford Zetec series in 2004, is also expected to compete at Daytona. He drives a Rehagen Racing Mustang Cobra SVT in the Grand-Am Cup Series. Pablo Donoso of Santiago, Chile has moved on to the new-generation USAC Silver Crown division. He is the driver of a Cristal Beer-sponsored Riley for Racing Teams Inc.,which is owned by Eliseo Salazar and Johnny Vance. His 2006 season opener is this weekend at Phoenix InternationalRaceway. He finished ninth in Star Mazda points last year with AWR. AWR's Jonathan Klein of Long Grove, Il. will drive in the lndy Racing League's Indy Pro series (formerly the Menards IInfniti Pro series) in 2006 as a member of the team that won the lndy Racing League lndy Car championship for the last two years, Andretti Green Racing. Klein drove for AWR in both 2004 and 2005. He was the Star Mazda series' most improved driver of 2004, and he finished 13th in that series last year. His best finish was second in the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California in October. His 2006 Indy Pro season opner will be March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. "We're proud of all of our drivers, and we hope that the lessons they learned while running with us have been instrumental in their success" said AWR's Dan Andersen, "Our drivers for 2006 - Brad Jaeger, Gerardo Bonilla and Ramiro Scuncio - have some pretty big shoes to fill, but we'll help them as much as we can.'' The 2006 Star Mazda seasont opener is March 17 at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 18 - Andersen Walko Racing's Dan Andersen is pleased to announce that he has signed Ramiro Scuncio of Argentina as the team's third full-time driver for the 2006 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.
Scuncio, 16, joins Brad Jaeger of Cincinnati and Gerardo Bonilla of Orlando, Fla. on the driving squad for the Fairfield, N.J.-based team for all 12 races in 2006. Other drivers are expected to race for the team, widely regarded as one of the best in North American formula car racing, in selected events. Scuncio comes to American racing from the Chilean Formula 3 series, where he won a race last year in his rookie season. He is managed by former IndyCar and Formula One driver Eliseo Salazar, who also arranged to have Pablo Donoso drive for Andersen Walko Racing last year. Donoso, of Santiago, Chile, was victorious at one of the Star Mazda races at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. in 2005 while driving for AWR, posting two other podium finishes and three poles last year too. He is competing in the USAC Silver Crown series in 2006 in the hopes of catching the eye of a NASCAR team owner. "It will be a big step for Ramiro to follow in Pablo's footsteps this year because the Star Mazda series is quite different than what Ramiro has done in the past, but both he and his family are very committed to the effort," said Salazar, who was at Phoenix International Raceway with Donoso for this weekend's USAC Silver Crown season opener at the Copper World Classic. "We expect for Ramiro to run in the top 10 this year, and learn enough so that he can contend for the Star Mazda championship in 2007. He's looking forward to our next test at Road Atlanta very much." "Relationships are very important in racing, as they are in all other businesses, and it's nice that Eliseo is again endorsing the work we do by bringing another driver to our team," noted Michelle Kish, team manager. Scuncio's signing followed a successful test at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla. recently. That track will hold the 2006 Star Mazda season opener March 17 as a support event to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race. "We were all very impressed with Ramiro at the test, and we're looking forward to an exciting season," Kish added. Rossella Manfrinato will be Scuncio's engineer. She was Jonathan Klein's engineer last year for his second season with AWR. Klein will drive for Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Racing League's Indy Pro Series this year. Robbie Pecorari won this year’s Racing for Kids®/ Star Mazda Pro Series Driver Performance Award. The award goes to the top performing Racing For Kids® racer in the Star Mazda Series races at Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway tracks.
Racing For Kids®, founded in 1989 in Detroit, is an international charity dedicated to using motorsports to focus public attention and funding on the health care needs of children and the institutions that care for them.
As part of the program, Racing For Kids ® drivers visit sick children in children’s hospitals wherever they race. These driver celebrity visits are an important part of each child’s recovery therapy. The Racing for Kids®/ Star Mazda Pro Series Driver Performance Award is given to the driver who earns the most points from the aforementioned two races: Sept 30 at Road Atlanta and Oct. 15 at Mazda Raceway (Monterey, CA). For those two races, points were awarded on a sliding scale for first to 15th place finishers. Winners received 20 points, second place 18 with two point intervals to sixth place where the intervals declined by one point. A 15th place finish received one point. Pecorari took the award when he won the Road Atlanta race and finished third in the Mazda Raceway event. Rahal took second in both races. Hinchcliffe won the Mazda Raceway event, but took fifth at Road Atlanta. Pecorari and Hinchcliffe also won $1000 each for their race wins, receiving $500 of that personally with $500 going to the Children’s Health Care of Atlanta (formerly Scottish Rite) and Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. BRASELTON, Ga., March 27 - Andersen Walko Racing had a first, a second and a third in SCCA national events at Road Atlanta Motorsports Park over the Easter weekend.
Sunday morning Graham Rahal had the perfect tune-up for the Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta April 17 when he won a SCCA national event on the same course. That race featured both Formula Continental cars and Formula Mazdas. Tim Dunn finished second in the Formula Ford race. He had to deal with a broken third gear, but he still managed to bring the car home second. Scott Willard was in the same race as Rahal but in the Formula Continental class, not Formula Mazda. He ran second in his class for most of the race, spun, and then worked his way back up to third in his class. Rahalís victory came in the Andersen Walko Racing No. 12, the same car he'll drive at Road Atlanta in a few weeks in the Star Mazda pro event. The car is sponsored by The Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, Bosch and Norwalk Furniture. The 16-year-old son of Bobby Rahal had a perfect weekend, as he also won the pole on Saturday. His qualifying time was some 1.3 seconds faster than the lap Ryan Justice ran to earn the second starting spot. Sunday's race had its issues, however. "I led right from the start, but three laps from the end I spun," Rahal related. "There was a guy right on my tail when I spun. I shot through the grass; it was damp and I was on slicks. I went through a gravel trap but I kept on going, and when I got back on the track the guy was about four seconds ahead of me." "The guy" was veteran Jacek Mucha in a Formula Atlantic car. "I just kept trying," Rahal continued. "I caught up with him in Turn 10, and I was able to pull underneath him and win." "It was good!" he added enthusiastically. "With this victory and the podium finish at Sebring, it gives me more confidence going into the Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta in a few weeks." There were 41 entries in the group and 15 in Rahal's class Sunday. |
Develop
Here you can find out about our developments and experiences in coaching and engineering Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|