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Message |
Tim G. (Tim)
Junior Member
Username: Tim
Post Number: 186
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 9:31 pm: | |
thats awesome Chris. please email me Grants email address so I may send him a congratulations.
how goes it with the tuning on the turbo's? |
Ernie Bonilla (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie
Post Number: 382
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 12:36 pm: | |
Chris that's great to hear. I got to meat Grant at Buttonwillow and he is a very nice and down to earth guy. I actually saw the segment they aired on ABC before the start of the U.S. Gran Prix. I hope he gets the driving spot in F1. |
Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator
Username: Rob328gts
Post Number: 2430
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 10:03 am: | |
I know you're very proud Chris, this should be an awesome feeling that you have been involved with his career before he was even the slightest bit famous. I think you might get good F1 access when Grant signs with Ferrari in several years. |
Cmparrf40 (Cmparrf40)
Member
Username: Cmparrf40
Post Number: 449
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 2:34 am: | |
By: SPEED Channel staff
Le Beausset, France, October 18
Grant Maiman, Joel Nelson, Paul Edwards and Scott Speed (left to right) are the four winners of the Red Bull F1 Search�s Driver Evaluation Shootout (photo by Sutton Images).
The inaugural Red Bull F1 Driver Search culminated today in the final selection of four young American racers to represent Red Bull�and the USA�in European racing ladder series next year, the first step on a journey that hopefully will take them to Formula 1.
Following nearly a week of assessment at Circuit Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in southern France. Paul Edwards, Grant Maiman, Joel Nelson and Scott Speed were chosen by Red Bull�s select panel after being judged the most likely among the 13 contenders to quickly advance to the world's top racing category.
"We had 13 tremendously talented American racers here," said judge and program manager Danny Sullivan. "All the boys were so good that it made our decision very, very difficult. Beside being among the fastest during the lapping sessions, we had to consider not only each driver's individual experience, but also the variety of the cars they've driven and the variety of the cars we utilized here at the run-off. To do this right, to find the drivers most likely to succeed in the extremely competitive European racing universe, the judges had to factor all of it in."
Edwards, 24, is from Santa Maria, Calif., and already has more than four years experience racing in Europe, including an impressive run in British F3 last year that was curtailed by a lack of finance. This year, he has been racing in the SPEED World Challenge GT series. Maiman, 24, from New London, Wis., has been racing cars only since 1999, but was the winner of this year�s Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER.
Nelson, 20, from Reno, Nev., is another comparatively raw talent, having gotten into a race car for the first time just about a year ago, while Speed, 19, from Manteca, Calif., has raced karts since age 10 and formula cars since 2001. Both are past winners of the Jim Russell Graduate Runoffs program. Nelson leads this year�s USAC Formula Russell championship and narrowly missed out on the Formula Palmer Audi title in England this year as well. Speed, the 2001 USAC Formula Russell champion, was a standout in the Formula Dodge National Championship this season.
Within the next 10 days, Sullivan and his team will decide which European series and teams each of the four drivers will be competing in.
The other nine drivers at Circuit Paul Ricard ("Each were utterly impressive and will likely be considered again for next year," said Sullivan.) were: Michael Abbate, 16, Las Vegas, Nev.; Phil Giebler, 23, Oxnard, Calif.; Joey Hand, 23, Chardon, Ohio; Patrick Long, 21, Oak Park, Calif.; Rocky Moran, Jr., 22, Coto de Caza, Calif.; Scott Poirier, 19, Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Boston Reid, 19, Kokomo, Ind.; Bryan Sellers, 21, Centerville, Ohio; and Bobby Wilson, 20, Oconomowoc, Wis.
Two other drivers had also been invited, but have elected to race in the U.S. in 2003: A.J. Allmendinger, 20, Hollister, Calif., and Ryan Hunter-Reay, 21, Boca Raton, Fla.
In addition to Sullivan, the judging panel was comprised of Skip Barber, Alan Docking, Dr. Helmut Marko, and Bertram Schafer. They represent a combined 200-plus years in racing experience, and are considered among the world�s top driving talent-spotters.
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Tenney (Tenney)
Member
Username: Tenney
Post Number: 263
Registered: 2-2001
| | Posted on Friday, October 18, 2002 - 10:54 pm: | |
He's a good guy. Hope he does well. |
Hubert Otlik (Hugh)
Member
Username: Hugh
Post Number: 263
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 18, 2002 - 6:25 pm: | |
Rob/Chris:
Just picked this up off grandprix.com:
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Red Bull Driver Search winners
The Red Bull Driver Search is over with Danny Sullivan and his crew having picked the four young American drivers they think have the best chance of making it to Formula 1 in the future - after a series of tests at Paul Ricard.
The decisions have been something of a surprise with some of the favorites for the prizes having not been chosen. The four winners are Paul Edwards, Grant Maiman, Joel Nelson and Scott Speed.
Edwards is the oldest but also has a lot more European experience than some of his rivals. The 24-year-old Californian driver has been competing in Europe for six years, having started out in British Formula Ford in 1997. He has won races in Formula Ford, Formula Vauxhall, Formula Palmer Audi and in the British F3 Scholarship class but this year has not been racing because of a lack of money. The Red Bull award should enable him to land a decent Formula 3 drive in Britain next year.
Maiman, a 23-year-old from Wisconsin, who comes from a background of Skip Barber National Formula Dodge (he won the title this year) but has no European experience but appears to have impressed the judges with his desire to be successful.
Joel Nelson was one of the men who was expected to do well as the 21-year-old from Reno, Nevada, has been impressive in his racing efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, winning races in Formula Palmer Audi in England and in Formula Russell on the West Coast.
The final winner is 19-year-old Scott Speed from Manteca, California, who has emerged from karting and Formula Russell (he was the 2001 champion). He then moved into Formula Dodge this year and was beaten to the title by Maiman. Speed has already sampled the power of a CART car, having tested a Team Rahal Lola as part of CART "Stars of Tomorrow" program at the end of last year.
Although the choices are somewhat controversial, Danny Sullivan will be hoping that he is right and that one of his charges will become the first American to make it into F1 for almost 10 years. For those who have not been picked the motivation will now be to prove that Sullivan is wrong...
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Cmparrf40 (Cmparrf40)
Member
Username: Cmparrf40
Post Number: 446
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 18, 2002 - 6:11 pm: | |
Rob, of the original 16 picked, 15 went to europe for testing.
Only the top 4 were asked to join Team Redbull.
All of the original 16 drivers picked are excellent drivers, and while not everyone made the cut, I think it is a huge honor to have been asked to go to France for testing.
I wish all of them well! |
Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator
Username: Rob328gts
Post Number: 2429
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Friday, October 18, 2002 - 5:49 pm: | |
Chris, that's great! How many from the 16 or so actually made it to Europe? |
Cmparrf40 (Cmparrf40)
Member
Username: Cmparrf40
Post Number: 445
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 18, 2002 - 5:43 pm: | |
Just a quick note to those of you who have met or have been coached by Grant Maiman with Skip Barber Racing.
Dana and I have had the pleasure of knowing Grant for the last 3 years and he has been my driving coach during that time. Grant has helped with FCA driving school in Texas last year.
I am proud to announce he was earned a ride with Team Redbull in Europe next year, the series he will drive in has yet to be determined, but the ultimate goal is Formula 1.
It is great to see a nice guy finish FIRST!
Chris
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