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Los Angeles, CA - April 8, 2005- The
fourth year of the Red Bull-sponsored Formula 1
Driver Development Program had a media day Tuesday, April 5 from
1:00-5:00 p.m at
the Dromo One Indoor Karting Center in Orange, near the Arrowhead
Pond Arena,
Anaheim. Danny Sullivan, the 1983 Benetton Tyrrell-Ford Formula 1
driver, 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1988 CART driving champion,
came from his Naples, FL home to oversee the event. Danny, 55,
retired from full-time racing after a 1995 crash at Michigan in
which he broke his pelvis. He has 171 CART starts (1982-1995) in
which he won 19 poles and 17 races, ranking him in CART's top ten in
both categories. Danny became head of Red Bull's Driver Search
program in 2002. He welcomed teens from ages 13-17 and explained the
Red Bull program. Dromo One provided all safety equipment-helmets,
driving uniforms, head socks and gloves.
A No. 36 Dan Gurney Eagle CART Champ Car was on
display on a raised platform in the middle of the Dromo One layout
for motivation. Three of the four Speed Freaks TV show
principals-Kenny Sargent, Lugnut and Crash Gladys-taped interviews
of Sullivan and program participants for airing on an upcoming
broadcast. The seven-turn course had five right and two left
turns. Gasoline-powered karts turned the layout in the 26 to 32
seconds bracket with nine karts on the track at the same time. They
ran eight-lap staging "races" that set the lineup for
15-lap electronically-timed actual races. Each driver received a
printout showing his or her time for every lap of the 15-lap
official race.
Present to observe the action April 5 was Red
Bull-sponsored A. J. Allmendinger, a 23-year old Hollister, CA
driver and a competitor in the nearby Champ Car World Series Long
Beach Grand Prix April 8-10. A.J competed in part of the 2002 Red
Bull Formula 1 driver search program before he got his break with
the Russo RuSport team in the Formula Atlantic series. He drove the
yellow No. 4 car to the 2003 championship, tying the Atlantic record
for poles and setting a rookie-record seven victories. A.J and
RuSport jumped to the CCWS in 2004. Allemendinger drove the No. 10
Lola-Ford to sixth in final points and was voted rookie of the year.
He finished a career-best third twice, at Mexico City and Montreal.
As a point of reference, eight Red Bull staff and Allmendinger,
wearing his Red Bull helmet, ran an eight-lap race. A. J. got faster
each lap on the unfamiliar track and turned best laps of 27.809,
27.634, 27.511, 27.327 and 27.383. He advanced from third in the
nine-kart race on lap five to second, where he finished.
The Red Bull F.1 driver search has open
qualifying at more than 60 indoor and outdoor karting facilities
across the country from April 1-May 1, 2005. Teens between 13-17 who
dream of becoming professional race-car drivers are eligible to
compete. Drivers may run as often as they like during the month-long
open qualifying period. The top three drivers from each qualifying
location (almost 200 drivers) will earn a place in the run-offs, two
steps away from the Red Bull Driver Search final and a Red Bull
driving scholarship.
Following the local facility open qualifying, the
top three drivers at each site will compete in 125cc Rotax-karts
prepared by SSC Racing at one of two outdoor runoff sites. The East
Coast runoff will be July 19-21 at F1 Outdoors, East Bridgewater,
MA. The West Coast runoff will be August 9-11 at Infineon Raceway,
Sonoma, CA. The semi-final round for up to 20 competitors will use
2-liter Skip Barber Formula Dodge race-cars on September 13-15 at
Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Sullivan and a panel of
European racing experts will preside over the event and select the
2005 finalists. The final round, in 2-liter European Formula Renault
cars, will be October 3-4 at Autodromo
Fernanda Pires Da Silva Circuit, in Estoril, Portugal. A panel of
judges will select the 2005 winner. For program information and
karting sites participating in the Red Bull program check the
website-www.RedBullDriverSearch.com.
Red Bull F.1 Driver Search winners in the first
three years have been: 2002-SCOTT SPEED, 22, 5"10"-140
lbs, from Manteca, CA. In 2003 he raced in British Formula 3 for
Alan Docking Racing. Last year he won the 2004 Eurocup and German
Formula Renault Championships and became the first ever American to
win a European junior series. During 2005 Scott is competing for
British-based iSportInt'l in the GP2 series, just one step away from
Formula 1. 2003-COLIN FLEMING, 20, 5'11"-150 lbs, from
North Hills, CA. Last year he ran in the Eurocup Formula Renault
where he finished third in the championship, and in the German
Formula Renault series, where he finished second in the championship
and won rookie of the year honors. During 2005 Colin is competing in
the Renault World Series for Swiss-based Jenzer Motorsports.
2004-JOHN EDWARDS, 14, 5'3"-117 lbs, from Little Rock, AR.
During 2005 John is competing in the Italian Karting Championship
for CKG Kart Team. He is the youngest licensed driver in Skip
Barber Racing history.
Among the 13-17 year old drivers who raced at
Dromo One April 5 were the two older sons of 2004 USAC/CRA sprint
car champion Rip Williams, of Yorba Linda. Cody, 16, used Rip's
current white helmet that had "Rip" painted in red on the
right side and still had dirt on it from the last sprint car race at
Perris. Cody was fresh from his first ever TQ-Midget race
April 2 at Ventura Raceway where he raced from 14th to finish
seventh in a 25-lap main event aboard Greg Edenholm's Hart chassis
with 760cc Suzuki power. Austin Williams, 14, also raced a Dromo
kart. The boys ran ten races at the bargain rate of $10 per race for
the Red Bull program contestants. Rip's youngest son, Logan, 9, was
in
school. Rip's wife Becky came to Dromo One with her two sons at 1:00
as did her older sisters, Vicki, Patti (wife of sprint car great
Bubby Jones), Lisa and their father Don Smidt, of Garden Grove.
Patti said she, Bubby and their three teenage daughters have moved
into their new home in Avon, IN and Bubby is tutoring a sprint car
driver.
Taylor Atchison, 15-year old friend of the
Williams boys, also competed in the Red Bull program April 5. He is
the son of retired 1981-86 CRA sprint car No. 30 owner/driver Mark
Atchison. Mark is president of AMA Plastics, a 300-employee custom
injected molded plastic products manufacturer in Corona. The firm is
one of the current sponsors of Rip's No. 3 John Jory sprint car. Rip
works for Mark's firm as maintenance supervisor and supervises six
employees. Mark and Rip arrived from work at 3:00 to watch
their sons compete. All three boys kept getting faster times during
each 15-lap race. At 2:45 Taylor's best was 27.635, Austin's 27.692
and Cody's 28.087 ranked 1-2-3. Ten minutes later
competitors used different karts and Austin's best lap was 27.526.
Taylor ran a 27.548 and Cody 28.241.
Switching karts again at 3:10, Austin was first
with a 27.219, Taylor had a 27.223 and Cody a 27.799. At 3:30 Austin
ran a best lap of 26.815, Taylor a 26.933 and Cody a 27.559. Ten
minutes later they again ranked 1-2-3 with consistent laps from 26.9
to 27.3. At 3:50 Taylor ran 27.307 and 27.145, Austin had 27.626,
27.307 and 27.065 (fastest lap in the nine driver race), and Cody
had best laps of 27.935 and 27.635 in traffic. Shortly after 4:00
Austin turned a blistering 26.791 and Taylor was next fastest at
26.913. Cody turned a best of 27.519 in traffic. "Pacman",
an experienced Dromo course employee in the race, had a best lap of
26.945, which both Austin and Taylor topped. In fact the two boys
beat CCWS (ex-CART) professional driver Allmendinger's best lap of
27.327.
Each karting facility used in the Red Bull
program has a Red Bull "Top Three Times Board" in the
lobby. The fastest three times during the month of qualifying by Red
Bull registered competitors are posted on the board daily and are
updated each morning. The Red Bull top three board at the Dromo One
site listed the fastest times from April 1-4 as 1. B. Janca-26.276,
2. J. A. Rollin-27.275 and 3. R. J. Larrieu-28.258.
Mark Atchison was voted CRA's 1984 Most Improved
Driver when he finished 12th in final points. Mark enjoyed a best
CRA feature finish of third on July 4, 1986 in the Firecracker 50 at
Ascot Park, Gardena, CA. A month later Mark flipped his sprinter
through Ascot's first turn and suffered a broken shoulder and
serious eye injury that forced him to retire from racing and
concentrate on his AMA Plastics career. He sold his engine to Cary
Faas and the chassis was a write-off. It seems that both Rip and
Mark have passed their racing talent and genes on to their sons. At
the end of the day Austin Williams and Taylor Atchison ranked second
and third overall at Dromo with their 26-second laps.
They trailed only the leader's 26.276 with three weeks remaining to
lower Dromo's best Red Bull participant time and win a place in the
regional runoffs.
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