USA: AIM Autosport Lime Rock race notes

Hinchcliffe Second at Inaugural Event

Lime Rock Park, Con. May 31, 2004 - AIM Autosport's James Hinchcliffe finished in second place at the inaugural Formula BMW USA Championship event in round one at Lime Rock Park. He covered 21 laps in the 22-minute contest, finishing 0.443 seconds behind the winning car of Andreas Wirth. Joey Hand finished third after starting from the back of the field.

The exciting race got underway with pole sitter Matt Jaskol leading the field into turn one. With 15 eager competitors behind him, Jaskol began to pull out a substantial lead as the race unfolded. Jonathan Summerton, James Hinchcliffe, Andreas Wirth and Gerardo Bonilla fought amongst themselves in the top-five.

Alexis Fenton drove off the track in the downhill and brought about the race's only caution period on lap eleven, changing the outcome of the contest. Under the yellow, leader Jaskol's car stalled on lap 15 and he was forced to watch the field pass him. He rejoined the race, but at the end of the pack. On the lap 18 restart Wirth passed James under braking for turn one and held on to take the victory three laps later.

James Hinchcliffe (AIM Autosport/Franczak/#56)
Race One: Qualified: 8th Finished: 2nd

"These Formula BMW machines are great to drive and AIM Autosport has done a great job in preparing my FB02. I had a clean race, kept my head down, and moved up one car at a time. I focused on getting a good run down the hill, popping out of line going into turn one, and getting my passes done under braking." Said the Oakville ON native.

Race 1 Results:
1 Andreas Wirth
2 James Hinchcliffe (R) AIM Autosport
3 Joey Hand
4 Jonathan Summerton (R)
5 Billy Johnson
6 Brian Frisselle
7 Gerardo Bonilla
8 Tom Milner (R)
9 Trevor Daley (R)
10 Graham Rahal (R)
11 Alan Sciuto (R)
12 Matt Jaskol
13 Tom Sutherland (R)
14 Derek Burseth (R)
15 Kyle Herder
16 Alexis Fenton (R)

Starting the second race of the weekend from fourth place on the grid James made another good start holding position and even moving up one place when Jonathan Summerton fell off the track in turn one. However James became embroiled in a battle with hard charging Brian Frisselle and Joey Hand, eventually coming home in fifth- again leading the Rookies home and extending his lead in the Rookie points chase.

Race 2 Results:
1 Andreas Wirth
2 Matt Jaskol
3 Brian Frisselle
4 Joey Hand
5 James Hinchcliffe (R) AIM Autosport
6 Billy Johnson
7 Gerardo Bonilla
8 Tom Milner (R)
9 Trevor Daley (R)
10 Alan Sciuto (R)
11 Kyle Herder
12 Graham Rahal (R)
13 Tom Sutherland (R)
14 Alexis Fenton (R)
15 Jonathan Summerton (R)
16 Derek Burseth (R)

"What an exciting race to start Formula BMW USA," said Alex Schmuck, Formula BMW USA Manager. "Our congratulations every one of our competitors. If this first race is any indication of what to expect from our season we will have a very exciting year."

AIM Autosport Notes:

- After two rounds in the Championship, Hinchcliffe sits in second place in the overall driver standings, trailing Formula BMW Germany veteran Andreas Wirth.

- Hinchcliffe was the top placing rookie in both races and has a thirteen point advantage over Tom Milner in the Rookie Championship.

- AIM Autosport's Formula BMW USA team now readies itself for the next round- its home race at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

- AIM Autosport continues its incredible streak of season opening round podiums:
2004- Hinchcliffe (FBMWUSA), Wilkins (FRenaultNA),
2003- Ranger (Fran-Am), Burchill (Formula Ford),
2002- Dumoulin/Taws (Formula Ford),
2001- Schreiber (Formula Ford),
2000- Macri (Formula Ford),
1999- Asaro (Formula Ford)
1998- Povoledo (Formula Ford)
1997- MacDonald/Simone (Formula Ford)
1996- Veilleux (Formula Ford)
1995- Bordin (Formula Ford)

Established in 1995 with a mandate to identify, train and manage emerging motorsport talent AIM operates multi-car teams competing in the canadian formula ford championship the Formula bmw usa championship and the formula renault north america championship. Among those drivers who have graduated from AIM autosport are former Canadian Formula Ford champions Andrew Bordin, Jean-Francois Veilleux, Jonathan Macri and, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, Along with Ashley taws and current rookie of the year dan burchill. Formula renault north america graduates include 2003 champion andrew ranger and mark wilkins.

-www.aimautosport.com