WEST COAST REGION: Double Header Opening Weekend At Infineon Raceway
Sun comes out and drivers compete on multiple configurations over two days

Sonoma, CA
March 3rd, 2010

After a week of heavy rains and ominous clouds, the Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear drivers expected inclement weather for the opening double header. What they found instead was a dry track, and great racing.

On Saturday Jorge Goncalvez, who was not running for points in the series, posted the fastest time his Team Apex Racing PFM over former Star Mazda Series Masters champion Chuck Hulse. In the Standard Mazda class, Cameron Parsons was the early man to beat, turning the quickest FM time.

On the start Goncalvez and Hulse rapidly pulled away from the rest of the field. Stan Kohls moved into the third position by the end of lap two and from that point forward the order remained unchanged among the top five.

In the battle for Standard Mazda top honors, Derry O'Donovan quickly established himself as the man to beat, passing Parsons for the lead on lap one. From that point forward, he never looked back, extending his advantage virtually every lap en route to the win. In what was a race-long battle for the runner-up spot, Parsons held the position until lap three, when Todd McAllister found a way past. While the order remained the same until the checkered flag waved, the duo were only separated by a tenth of a second at the stripe.

On Sunday Goncalvez was immediately up to speed in the morning qualifying run, posting a lap of 1:30.055, to narrowly edge Hulse for the PM pole position. Bill Weaver, having missed the opening race of the weekend, did not take long to shake off the cob-webs, securing the standard pole position over Donovan via a fast lap of 1:38.774.

When the green flag waved a few hours later, it immediately became apparent that Hulse was not just going to hand Goncalvez the race win. Getting the jump on his younger counter-part, Hulse passed for the lead on the opening lap. While able to initially able to hold off the hard charging Venezuelan, Hulse eventually relinquished the lead to Goncalvez on lap three. From that point forward Goncalvez owned the top-spot. Kohls once again joined the duo on the podium, leading Juan Piedrahita and Max Maxedon to the stripe.

As expected, the fight for the final Standard Mazda class win of the season featured Weaver and Donovan dueling during the opening stages of the race. Unfortunately, Donovan's chances at the win vanished on lap five, when he fell to the rear of the field with a gearbox issue. With a sizeable lead over second place, Weaver ran mistake-free the remainder of the race, earning yet another class victory. The order behind the race winner was however not decided until the checkered flag waved. The trio of McAllister, Carpenter and Parsons regularly swapped places in the final third of the race, with McAllister and Carpenter eventually earning the podium positions.


More information:
http://www.formulacarchallenge.com/NewsItems/westcoast/WESTCOAST-PR-March3-2010.pdf