Jensen MotorSport took to the streets of San Jose California this past weekend for competition in both Champ Car Atlantic and Formula BMW USA.
Tom Sutherland, who is a resident of nearby Los Gatos, gave something for the local fans to cheer about qualifying and finishing in a strong 2nd position in Race #9 of the Formula BMW USA championship. This was Tom's first ever podium finish in a professional car race. He followed up his 2nd place with a 7th position finish in Race #10 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Frankie Muniz fought hard for something of a break-out weekend at San Jose. People often forget that Frankie is only in his 6th month ever of race driving. Unlike all of the other rookie drivers in Formula BMW USA, Frankie also never participated in any karting or school race series. Frankie has consistently improved his position during the season, and was having a very strong run in the Sunday race fighting for 10th position (out of 26) when he whacked the wall on the exit of turn 3. Muniz was disappointed, but excited to know well now that he can challenge for points for the rest of the season.
Epson Team Jensen also had a strong showing with Tim Bridgman finishing in 4th position. Tim never put a wheel wrong, and gained valuable points to improve his standing in the overall points chase.
The team also welcomed Ricardo Vassmer this weekend to drive the #22 Atlantic car. Vassmer, who hails from Caracus Venezuela, is currently 3rd in the championship points in the Zetec championship with two races remaining. However, with view to getting a head start on his 2007 Atlantic campaign with our team, Vassmer will be in the car for the remaining races of the 2006 season. Team owner Eric Jensen states, "Ricardo did a very professional job. He is naturally quick, and also showed a ton of maturity keeping his nose clean all weekend as he learned to drive the Swift. We didn't have a chance to test with Ricardo in the Atlantic car before coming to San Jose, but he still challenged for a top 10 finish on Sunday before unfortunately overcooking the braking zone close to the end of the race". The team is planning 2 days of testing with Ricardo before the Denver Grand Prix, which should hopefully help Ricardo considerably in his quest to move up the grid.
For more details, contact Graeme Young at team@jensenmotorsport.com |