Auto Club Speedway to Host 12th Season Opener
Buttonwillow, Calif. (January 15, 2015) – The Pacific Formula F1600/F2000 Championship begins at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California when the series takes to the track this weekend, January 16-18. This season, the 12th of the series, will begin with a non-points two-race weekend run with Cal Club as part of the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour to be followed by events at Thunderhill Raceway Park (SCCA Majors, April 11-12), Buttonwillow Raceway Park (SCCA Majors, May 1-3), Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (SCCA Regional, June 5-7), Buttonwillow Raceway Park (VARA, September 5-6) and Auto Club Speedway (Cal Club PCRRC, October 17-18). All events will be double race weekends with the remaining five race weekends to count for full points and include both FF (F1600) and FC (F2000) classes.
This weekend the series drivers will again be competing within run groups made up of several different classes due to a revised series format designed to get competitors qualified for the SCCA Run-Offs at the end of the year. The run groups will be determined by the sanctioning club and therefore vary from region to region. This weekend when the drivers take to the 2.88 mile infield road circuit, the Formula 1600 group will be running in FF trim and included along with FE, FV, and F500 while the Formula 2000 group will be running in FC and grouped with FA, FM and the sports racer groups P1 and P2.
Several drivers are returning again this season to compete in both the F1600 and F2000 classes and include in F2000, Robert Armington; #11 Cypress Lane Racing, Hoosier Tires, Premium Power Systems, Inc. Van Diemen, Harin DeSilva; #96, DFR Van Diemen, Tom Hope; #18, H+M Racing Van Diemen, Bill Kincaid; #46, La Curva Van Diemen, Yufeng Luo; #6, DFR Van Diemen, and Peter West; #99, Racing Optics, Ken Partch, Frank Monise Motors, DFR Van Diemen. The F1600 competitors include Ed Erlandson; #8, Artwork by Eli, Porter Racing Swift/Honda, Chuck Horn; #54, Porter Racing Swift/Honda, Alex Kirby; #81, LA Prep Inc., Fast Forward Components, Piper Race Cars, Piper/Honda, Les Phillips, #89, Swiss Motorsports, Porterfield Brakes Mygale/Honda, Dave Zurlinden; #31, Pro Pack Systems, Fast Forward Piper/Honda and new to the series Daniel Swanbeck; #27, BigWheels.com Piper.
Racing begins on Friday, January 16th with Practice in the morning and Qualifying in the afternoon to be followed by Qualifying and Sprint Races on Saturday the 17th and Warm Up and Races on Sunday the 18th.
The single-seat, open-wheel F2000 cars are powered by 2-liter Ford Zetec engines and are capable of speeds in excess of 140 mph. The F1600 cars will be powered by either the 1500cc Honda Fit engine or the venerable 1600cc Ford ‘Kent’ engine.
The series can be followed at facebook.com/pacificformulafracing and twitter.com/PacificF2000.
For more details go to www.pacificf2000.com or contact Peter West at 310-363-9444, or by email, pacificf2000@hotmail.com.