FCC Presented by Goodyear Visits Portland International Raceway For A Double Header
At season halfway mark Kaiser leads the Pro FM class, Carpenter leads FM, and Whelden leads in FormulaSPEED
The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear visited Portland International Raceway for a double header event July 13th and 14th. Portland is one of the fastest tracks on the schedule, and the weekend was run alongside the SCCA Super Tour. This allowed FCC competitors the ability to compete in four races over the weekend.
“This has historically been a great event for us as one of the series’ goals is to provide as much track time and racing experience as possible,” stated FCC Series Coach Scott Bradley.
After a morning warm up session the drivers headed out for qualifying. Pro FM points leader Kyle Kaiser clicked off the fastest time with a 1:10.85. Michael Whelden set the bar in FS2.0 with a lap time of 1:16.67, and Formula Mazda driver Mel Kemper scored a pole in his class with a fast lap at 1:17.44.
In race one Andy Brown and Andre Erikson tangled in the festival chicane. Brown continued but Erickson’s car was in pretty rough shape. Series officials penalized Brown post race, and Erikson and his team worked hard through the evening to get their car ready for Sunday. Series points leader Kyle Kaiser won the race from the pole position. Portland local Mel Kemper won the Formula Mazda class, and Michael Whelden continued his winning streak in the FormulaSPEED2.0.
Pole Positions for Round 7 – July 13th, 2012
- FM: Mel Kemper Jr.
- FS2.0: Michael Whelden
- PFM: Kyle Kaiser
Race Winners Round 7 – July 13th, 2012
- FM: Mel Kemper Jr.
- FS2.0: Michael Whelden
- PFM: Kyle Kaiser
Qualifying for race two of the weekend looked pretty similar except that TJ Fischer was able to out pace Mel Kemper at his home track. Fischer would battle Kemper most of the race but ended up still out front at the checkered flag. Whelden won in the FS2.0 class. Kaiser who started from pole pulled over on track with an engine issue, and the rest of the Pro FM field capitalized on it. In the end Andy Brown took the top step, followed by Andre Erickson, and Frank McCormick.
Erickson had this to say, “I couldn’t sleep Saturday, it (the turn-1 incident) just kept running through my head, but I was really glad to get back out Saturday after the guys worked so hard to get the car back together and to end up on the podium.”
McCormick who finished in the 3rd slot on the Pro FM podium had not been to a race all season, and missed all the practice sessions leading into the weekend which was equally impressive.
Pole Positions for Round 8 – July 14th, 2012
- FM: TJ Fischer
- FS2.0: Michael Whelden
- PFM: Kyle Kaiser
Race Winners Round 8 – July 14th, 2012
- FM: TJ Fischer
- FS2.0: Michael Whelden
- PFM: Andy Brown
“It was another great year in Portland, the weather held out for us and there was a lot of good racing, there was a little more turn one excitment than we needed in the Friday race, but everyone was ok and we were glad to see Andre back out Saturday to end up on the podium,” stated Series Official Ben Hettema
The next event on the FCC West Coast schedule is the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. This event will determine the National Champions, and is heavily supported by Mazdaspeed Motorsports.