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2007 Formula Mazda Challenge/Mazdapalooza
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Round 5 Results |
Round 6 Results
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Fullerton and O'Neill split Formula Mazda Challenge victories at Infineon Raceway April 22, 2007. Sonoma, CA. On a weekend with constantly changing weather in Northern California Richard Fullerton, of Aspen, Colorado, and Patrick O'Neill, of San Francisco, California traded victories in Rounds Five and Six of the 2007 Formula Mazda Challenge while Bill Weaver, of Fresno, California, drove his Standard Formula Mazda to victory in both Saturday's wet race and Sunday's sunny event. Drivers were greeted on Saturday morning with clear skies and mild temperatures for practice and qualifying but the weather turned for the worse in the early afternoon as rain swept across the region, creating a very slick racing surface and turning the event into a battle just to stay on course. Fullerton, driving the #55 RBF Capital World Speed Motorsports Mazda, would survive a spin on the final lap in turn two to take the top spot ahead of Michael Guasch in the #91 Molecule Phenom Racing Group Mazda, who started the final lap with the lead before suffering a spin of his own in turn four. "I've never run this track in the rain before and I had planned to sit back and follow some of the other drivers around but early on found myself out front when they spun," Fullerton explained. "Michael was able to get around me earlier when I spun in turn six, and I didn't think I had a chance when I spun on the final lap, but he spun a few corners later and made the pass for the win." Guasch was able to recover from his spin to hold off Larry Schnur in the #3 Schnur Racing World Speed Motorsports Mazda for second place. While Fullerton, Guasch and Schnur were racing to the podium in their Pro Formula Mazdas, Weaver was leading the field of Standard Formula Mazda drivers gathered for the event in his #67 James G Parker Insurance Mazda. In a race that had 49 reported spins, Weaver was one of the the only drivers to never put a wheel wrong as he claimed the top spot ahead of Shawn Westerhoff in the #31 Verus Technology Solutions Mazda and Derry O'Donovan in the #77 Cygnus Dynastar Mazda. The storms lasted throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning but the track was dry by the time of the first morning practice session and would remain dry throughout the day despite the occasional threatening cloud. With a clear surface Patrick O'Neill in the #64 O'Neill Construction Mazda would rise to the top, taking the pole position and leading every lap on his way to his fifth victory of the season ahead of Fullerton and Dave House, who finished on the podium for his second consecutive weekend in the #86 Brocade World Speed Motorsports Mazda. "Yesterday was a tough race for me after starting on pole only to spin out of the lead at the start and have my win streak snapped so it was nice to get back on top today," O'Neill said. "Richard gave me a good fight and I had to be on my guard when the field got bunched back up behind the pace car with a few laps to go but it worked out well today." While the caution was cause for concern for O'Neill it provided relief for Weaver as all of the other Standard Formula Mazda drivers had been lapped by O'Neill while he was able to move to the tail end of the lead lap when the pace car collected O'Neill after Tom Brady collected Michael Gesser in turn seven, forcing both drivers to retire from the event. Weaver would cruise to his second victory of the weekend as O'Donovan would take the second spot ahead of Craig Smith in the #69 Mastermind Racing Mazda. Rounds Seven and Eight of the Formula Mazda Challenge and Mazdapalooza Championship will be held at Infineon Raceway on May 10-13.
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