NA-F2000 round one VIR preview

F2000 Series Set to Open 2010 at VIR

New York, NY The F2000 Championship Series heads to VIRginia International Raceway this weekend for the opening rounds of the 2010 championship. More than 30 cars are entered for the double-race weekend representing four different chassis manufacturers and two different engine configurations. A field of young hopefuls and established veterans make up an ultra competitive grid.

Coming into the weekend, 2007 F2000 Champion Cole Morgan is one of the favorites to win the event, back for the first time since he won the championship. Alongside Morgan in the odds pool is Remy Audette, the quick Canadian contesting his third season in the series.

Fabio Orsolon and Victor Carbone return for their sophomore year with Alegra Motorsports, and as the 2009 season went on, they continued to move up the time sheets. With the same team and same drivers, the Alegra duo should be fast.

"The goal for me is to win the championship," said Carbone who returns in his #23 Nevoni Van Diemen/Zetec, surrounded by a familiar cast of mechanics and engineers. "Last year was tough, but we made a ton of progress throughout the season, and I think we'll be going into 2010 even more competitive."

American Jonathan Scarallo is driving for R-Sport in his sophomore campaign and commented that, "there is certainly going to be no lack of competition at VIR this year. There are a lot of us that are capable of winning."

Established veterans like Phil Lombardi and Tim Minor are sure to be in the hunt for the overall title as well. Both return for a full-season after partial campaigns in 2009 that saw both men win outright races; Lombardi at Watkins Glen and Minor at Summit Point.

As for as the rookie class, Billy McLaughlin is driving alongside Cole Morgan at K-Hill Motorsports and stands to benefit from the guidance of a past champion.

Rookie team SMR adds two cars to the mix, one for midget and sprint car driver Timothy Paul, and one for Blake Teeter, starting his sophomore F2000 season alongside Paul.

Teeter commented: "2009 was my rookie year in the series and it was a learning year. To transition from karting to cars was difficult. This year I'm only going to focus on this series instead of the karting. In 2010, I really want to stay on the limit and get everything out of the car and myself that I can."

Vaughn Horvath and Chris Livengood will also be in the hunt for the Taylor Race Engineering Rookie of the Year award, and the two represent the only two Pinto-powered cars on the grid.

Jesse Yorio will debut his Piper DF5C in the VIR paddock, making him the owner of the newest F2000 car on the grid and the only Piper chassis in the field.

Christopher Gumprecht returns to St. Clair Motorsports for his fourth season in the series. Gumprecht said that his focus in 2010 will be on being consistent, and added he wouldn't mind a podium finish or two either.

A late entry from Primus Racing pushes the field to 35 cars for up-and-coming Australian driver Daniel Erickson. Last year, Erickson was named the Australian Motor Sport Foundation 2009 International Star, and scored one win and seven podiums in the British Formula Ford Championship.

The season unofficially gets going on Thursday April 8 with a test day for the F2000 Series, Friday features official practice sessions, while Saturday and Sunday both have a morning qualifying session followed by an afternoon 30-minute or 14-lap race. Fans and competitors can follow live updates, news and photos on www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com or on Twitter
F2000.

-source: f2000