- Remy Audette
(photo: F2000 Championship)
Canadian driver Remy Audette has confirmed that he will return to the F2000 Championship for his third season. At this time, he plans to run a partial season but still has hopes of winning the overall championship.
“Right now the plan is to improve upon last year,” explained Audette in a press release. “We want to lower our track records, and as of today we are not planning on running the full schedule, so we may try to win the championship on a partial season.”
Last season, Audette finished third in the final F2000 Championship standings. He had 1 win, 6 podiums and 11 top-five finishes. Watch for Remy to be a front runner again in 2010.
This is good stuff. Other people are actually creating junior formula quizzes on Sporcle… which means I can just post a Time Killer quiz on Friday’s without taking the time to actually set up the quiz.
You can thank F2000 Championship standout Matthew Inge for today’s quiz. The quiz is entitled 2009 F2000 Championship Final Standings.
This edition is pretty tough as Matthew is looking for the top-20 drivers from the 2009 F2000 Championship final standings. I made it through the top-five easy enough but it starts to get pretty difficult as you get past the top-ten.
Make sure to let me know (via the comment section) if you get all the answers correct. The time limit is only five minutes, so in order to get 100% you’re going to have to be fairly quick. Last names are acceptable but remember, spelling counts. Good luck.
You can take the quiz here.
Karting standout Chris Livengood is currently preparing for the 2010 F2000 Championship. He has teamed up with Works Racing and together they are prepping a Van Diemen for testing at Texas World Speedway in March. Chris has already submitted his F2000 Championship registration.
SMR Motorsports has announced that they will field two Van Diemens in the 2010 F2000 Championship. The team has signed 24-year-old Timothy Paul to drive one car. They plan to announce a second driver in the coming months.
Timothy has an extensive background in both sprint car and midget racing, but is looking forward to trying something new in 2010.
“The biggest changes between the two cars are pretty obvious: right turns and a gearbox. Am I particularly worried about either of these things? The answer is no. I am however aware that I’m wet behind the ears, and just prepared to keep my eyes and ears open and learn as much as I can as fast as I can.”
“There are some benefits too. I’m comfortable in traffic; I’m comfortable racing at wide open throttle or wheel to wheel. I enjoy it. There’s really no feeling like getting out of the car after a back and forth battle completely exhausted. After using every little trick you know and seeing what the other guy has. I love it.” Paul stated in a release.
It sounds like the team is looking to field another driver from the midget/sprint car niche. Watch for an update shortly. SMR plans to run a few midget races throughout the season during F2000 Championship off-weekends.
Victor Carbone
It was announced this morning that Victor Carbone has re-signed with Alegra Motorsports for his sophomore season in the F2000 Championship.
It’s good to see Victor return to the F2000 Championship for another full-season of development. I have a feeling that we will see a lot more poise and consistency out of Carbone in 2010, an area where he struggled at times in 2009. His average finish during the first half of the 2009 season was 20.5, his average finish during the second half of the season was 8.4. I expect that we will see even more improvement out of the 18-year-old Brazilian in 2010.
Related Reading: Unsung Hero- Victor Carbone (F2000 Championship)
Group-A Racing is taking a very innovative and creative approach to signing drivers for the 2010 season. The team, which is partnered with Auto Trend Tire & Wheel Company, will be offering a very lucrative prize fund for their 2010 drivers in the F2000 Championship.
Prize Fund/Requirements
In order to qualify for the year-end prizes a driver must complete a full-season with Group-A Racing in the 2010 F2000 Championship and finish inside the top-ten in the final standings.
- The Champion (1st overall) will be awarded $10,000 or a free test day in an Atlantic car (as well as $3,000 USD).
- If a driver finishes 2nd-5th overall, they have the option of a free test day in an Atlantic car or $5,000 USD.
- If a driver finishes 6th-10th overall, they have the option of a free half-day test in an Atlantic car or $2,500 USD.
This is a really solid incentive program. As long as Group-A Racing is able to follow through with everything, this is a tremendous opportunity for drivers looking to compete in the 2010 F2000 Championship.
I’m hopeful that other teams will follow suit and help their drivers progress up through the motorsport ranks.
You can read more about Group-A Racing and their incentive program: HERE.
Bobby Caldwell
Bobby Caldwell has announced that he will return to the F2000 Championship in 2010. The 25-year-old Indiana native will drive for Caldwell Racing under the guidance of Liberty Motorsports.
This will be Caldwell’s third year with the F2000 Championship. In 2009, his best finish was 7th–which occurred in Race-2 at Mosport International Raceway.
Caldwell ran a few races with Liberty Motorsports in 2009, but this will be his first full season with the team. He’s looking forward to making some big improvements in 2010:
“It couldn’t be much worse than what happened in 2009 so anything will be an improvement. We would like to be in the top five consistently. To do that I need to get my qualifying together so I am not stuck in the middle of the pack. We had lots of problems last year being in traffic at the back. At the front I can worry about me more. It’s about starting fourth, not 14th.”
Caldwell had a pretty tough year in 2009 but I expect we will see some better results in 2010 now that he’s teamed up with Brian Belardi and Liberty Motorsports on a full-time basis.
The F2000 Championship has updated their 2010 schedule— which was originally released early this month. The original schedule had New Jersey Motorports Park pegged as the season finale. The new schedule adds Mid-Ohio as a season finale replacement. The NJMP event conflicted with the 2010 SCCA National Championship (Road America).
It’s unfortunate to see NJMP removed from the schedule, but Mid-Ohio is certainly a very solid replacement. You can view the updated schedule here.
The F2000 Championship released a tentative 14-race 2010 schedule earlier today. The schedule looks pretty solid as they’ve lined up some of North America’s top road course venues. I’m glad to see them return to Road America in 2010 and I’m sure I’m not alone.
2010 Calendar (updated):
April 9-11 Virginia International Raceway (VDCA)
May 6-8 Road Atlanta (Formula Drift)
June 12-14 Mosport International (NASCAR Canadian Tire Series)
July 2-4 Watkins Glen International (IndyCar Series)
July 23-24 Lime Rock Park (ALMS)
August 6-8 Road America (Trans-Am)
September 3-5 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Victor Carbone
Name: Victor Carbone
Born: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Year of Birth: 1992
Website: None
Current Series: F2000 Championship
Final Standings: 10th
Average Finish (1st Half of Season): 20.5
Average Finish (2nd Half of Season): 8.4
Previous Experience:
Started Karting: Age 8
Karting Experience: 8+ years
Car Experience: 2 years (FBMW, Skip Barber, F2000)
With a knack for karting and a pretty decent debut in cars via Skip Barber in 2008, Victor entered the 2009 F2000 Championship with fairly high expectations. Not just his own, but from those of us who follow junior formula racing. The season started off pretty shaky with the 16-year-old posting two DNF’s and one DNS in his first three starts. He followed that up by finishing 22nd at Lime Rock Park. The dismal start was due to both poor rookie decisions and mechanical problems. In early June, at Mosport, he really turned things around by finishing inside the top-ten in all but one race to close-out the 2009 season. In Round 5, he earned the co-hard charger award (along with his teammate Fabio Orsolon) for improving the most positions. His best finish of 2009 was 4th, which occurred at Mid-Ohio… the last race of the season.
He was persistent during his 2009 campaign and focused on improving every race. Another season of F2000 Championship competition would likely serve him well and I expect we will see a completely different driver behind the wheel if he decides to return.
Related Reading: Unsung Hero Awards
