Kovacic On F/BMW Podium - But No AKA Nationals Start

Aussie karter James Kovacic has finished on the podium at his first Formula BMW race of the season. His strong showing places him second in the Formula BMW Americas driver championship and top of the Rookie Cup tally - see press release below.

Kovacic will not be competing at the upcoming AKA Nationals as his entry was knocked back. The Kovacic team is now looking at the possibility of racing at the New Zealand Karting Nationals which is held over the same Easter long weekend.

 

press release

Team Apex Racing driver James Kovacic emerged from his first-ever Formula BMW Americas race weekend second in the driver championship after taking 3rd place in round one and backing that up with a hard fought 4th place in round two at Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico.

Above: James Kovacic (right) on the podium with Giancarlo Vilarinho (L), Gabriel Chaves

Round 1 race report.

Gabby Chaves (EuroInternational) led from start to finish to win the opening round of the 2009 Formula BMW Americas Championship in Puebla, Mexico, but the afternoon’s race was nowhere near as easy as the opening sentence makes it sound.

Polesitter Chaves paced all 14 trips around the 2.09-mile Miguel E. Abed road course, but he had to go hard the entire way as his EuroInternational teammate Giancarlo Vilarinho filled his mirrors on every lap. Vilarinho started second and made life difficult for Chaves as the two EuroInternational drivers pulled out to a bit of a gap over a hard-charging James Kovacic (Team Apex) who had moved to third after starting sixth.

Kovacic made a strong move from the third row on the grid to vault into third place on the second lap of the race as the Australian poured past the inside of Michael Lewis (EuroInternational) into Turn One. Lewis fought back valiantly in his pursuit of the Team Apex machine, coming agonizingly close on a number of occasions, but Kovacic was equal to the task to earn his first podium finish.

“This is a great result for our team and for me coming to Formula BMW Americas and I am very happy,” Kovacic reported. “I really like these cars. They are very challenging and demanding to drive and Michael was really pushing me. I’m tired, but glad we were able to get on the podium.”

Round 2 was held the following day at the 2.09-mile Miguel E. Abed road course.

Starting from pole, Chaves made a strong launch from the standing start. Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica) earned a solid second place, but could not challenge the Colombian-American Chaves for the win. Raimondo came from fifth on the grid to score his first podium of the season, getting past his teammate Alex Ellis and Jensen Motorsport’s Freddy Zebede in the first two laps.

Ellis made a strong late-race run to score his first Formula BMW Americas podium finish, to battle with James Kovacic (Team Apex) on the final lap. In Turn 14 Ellis dove under Kovacic to just snatch third. Kovacic climbed to third on Lap Seven, after starting from grid 6 and held Ellis at bay for the next seven orbits of the Puebla road circuit, and seemingly had the spot clinched when Ellis fell off the pace with three laps to go. The Canadian stormed back to close the gap on the final lap , running the fastest race lap to do it.

Round 3 and 4 will be held in April at Virginia International raceway.

Formula BMW Americas Drivers' Standings. Pos. Driver Team Points 1 Gabby Chaves EuroInternational 42 2 James Kovacic Apex - HBR Team Racing 22 3 Daniel Vela EuroInternational 16 4 Giancarlo Vilarinho EuroInternational 15 5 Gianmarco Raimondo Autotecnica 15

 

Formula BMW Americas Rookie Cup. Top 5

Pos. Driver Team Points 1 James Kovacic Apex - HBR Team Racing 22 2 Daniel Vela EuroInternational 16 3 Alex Ellis Autotecnica 14 4 Michael Lewis EuroInternational 13 5 Joao Victor Horto Apex - HBR Team Racing 10

 

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