Formula BMW

AMER: Team Apex Racing VIR Saturday notes

Team Apex Strong in VIR Qualifying Alton, VA --Team Apex Racing's James Kovacic scored a front-row starting spot in qualifying for Sunday's Formula BMW Americas round 4 race at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday with a fast lap time of ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:52 PM

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Team Apex Strong in VIR Qualifying

Alton, VA --Team Apex Racing's James Kovacic scored a front-row starting spot in qualifying for Sunday's Formula BMW Americas round 4 race at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday with a fast lap time of 1:56.613-seconds. All three rookie Team Apex drivers continued to make impressive gains in their first visit to the 3.27-mile natural terrain circuit.

The first qualifying session of the weekend was held on Friday, where Kovacic also led the Apex effort in qualifying for race 3, taking 5th on the grid as Joao Horto took 8th, one spot ahead of Martin Sala in 9th. On Saturday, the team came back even stronger. Using a new team strategy and making the most of the second pit box position the team earned by being 2nd in the championship, the trio of internationally-based rookies netted the best team qualifying results of the season to date.

The effort paid off, as Kovacic's front row was just one of three different success stories as Martin Sala improved to take 4th on the grid, with Joao Horto also besting his Friday effort to score 6th.

"I'm really happy with the improvement that all three guys made in the second qualifying," said Team Apex Director of Commercial Development David Hunt. "We sat down before the session and talked about how we could work together in the draft, and even though our guys were mixed with other team guys, they did a great job. They came out of the session with a lot more confidence, and for a team with three rookies, it's great to see this kind of progress through the weekend. We know we are up against tome teams that have tested here, and some drivers with thousands of miles in these cars, so we're really pleased with how things went in qualifying and hopefully we can be just as successful in the races."

With the young driving roster, one team resource that's key for the racers is the experienced engineering and driving coach support that Team Apex offers.

"The draft is really important here and the boys did a really good job of driving smart, and driving fast, this morning," said Apex Racing driver coach Rod MacLeod. "Hopefully they will take some of the lessons they learned in qualifying into the race, and move up at the start. They are learning a lot, every time out, and this session was another step in their learning curve."

-credit: teamapexusa.com

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