Bleacher Report - Articles by Maximo Garate

Formula BMW International World Finals: Brook Johnston Wins Championship!

Maximo Garate — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:50:54 -0400

Sunday's Formula BMW International Championship came to an end after 10 rounds by finishing up in Valencia, Spain, at the Circuit de la Comunitad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo.

The event saw perfect track conditions and a huge crowd, as Red Bull fever ran amok all through the weekend.

Sauber Red Bull Racing's prized possession, Brook Johnston, took the world championship Sunday with an overall win, and finished the season with a dominant 68 points in the standings.

On top of his expected championship, Johnston had taken the weekend's pole and ran a solid race without relinquishing the lead to take the checkered flag.

Cole Collier of Eurointernazionale Racing finished second in the points standings with a total 58 points, 10 behind Johnston, whose teammate, Matt Jaskel, finished in third with 50 points.

The 20-year-old Johnston has recently finished testing for Formula One's Scuderia Toro Rosso program over at Red Bull's Valencia test track.

However, there is much speculation as to whether he will be joining the 2009 Formula One season as a test driver for the Red Bull Racing program headed by Dietrich Mateschitz.

With a solid season in the Formula BMW International series, this is looking like a definite possibility.

The ending of the 2008 Formula One season should see an announcement regarding his status on that roster. He would be the first American to have a shot at Formula One since Scott Speed.

Bruno Senna and Sebastian Buemi have been battling for the Toro Rosso position as well and they seem to be nearing the drivers seat for the 2009 season.

Collier will be joining the Formula BMW International season once again in 2009 to take another shot at the championship.

Johnston has yet to announce his position for next season, yet I doubt he will be joining the Formula BMW International program another time.

With several great offers and possibilities lying around, don't be surprised if we see Johnston in the likes of IRL or possibly Formula One.

Red Bull Racing has certainly taken a keen liking to the youngster and I expect they will keep him under their wing for 2009 after a great season like this one.

By taking six wins this season and seven podiums, the Formula BMW International champ is expected to turn more heads in a much larger series next season.

Brook Johnston Takes the Pole in Rio De Janeiro: A Force to Be Reckoned With

Maximo Garate — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:59:32 -0400

Racing through the streets of Brazil's famous beach city of Rio de Janeiro on Saturday for Round Eight of the Formula BMW International Championships, Brook Johnston showed complete ease and talent once again taking the pole position for Sunday's race.

Posting a lap time of 1:26.58, the American from Sauber Red Bull Racing took the top position on the grid battling a strong Cole Collier of Euronazionale Racing who posted second with a time of 1:26.77. The two drivers continue their duel from a grueling series in Europe where Johnston won two of the three races and Collier took the win at Monza.

Johnston's fatal crash at the Monza circuit has certainly shown no weakness, for the American driver has not let down a single bit.

Sauber Red Bull has shown off their talents in Johnston and teammate Matt Jaskel throughout the week here in Rio de Janeiro by doing several Red Bull energy events: posting a Red Bull energy center on the main beach, public displays, and a Red Bull Club Zet Dance which will happen Sunday night after the race.

Sauber Red Bull Racing certainly seems to be doing the series some good and continues to be the crowd favorite due to the success, talent, and events they put on for the public.

"We are just trying to get the International series introduced. We have some of the best two drivers in open wheel racing here and we certainly want to convey that to the world," said Sauber Red Bull manager Mark Spire on Saturday.

Italy's Alain Sciuto had an excellent run as well on Saturday grabbing a third place starting position on the grid followed by Sauber Red Bull's Matt Jaskel in fourth.

It has certainly become a battle between Sauber Red Bull and Euronazionale in the season's championship thus far. Both teams have continued to show their strengths and their drivers have most definitely shown some brawn.

Cole Collier has just recently announced that he will be competing for another season with Euronazionale and has declined other offers in order to win a Formula BMW International championship.

With Sauber Red Bull's Brook Johnston out of the way, that could very well be possible for the young Canadian who has accumulated 43 points thus far this season. Johnston, however, will be testing this following week in Valencia, Spain with Formula One's Torro Rosso program.

Little has been said as to whether he will be a lead driver or a test driver for the 2009 season. It seems Buemi and Senna have taken the eye of Torro Rosso officials as well, and there could be a strong possibility that Johnston may take the test driver position if offered.

However, with his strong talents and ability, there is still no doubt of him filling the shoes of Sebastian Vettel. Race coverage starts Sunday at 12:00 PM here in Rio de Janeiro where Round Eight of the Formula BMW International Championships will take place.

Brook Johnston Makes A Strong Comeback To Win In Germany!

Maximo Garate — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:49:31 -0400

Sauber Red Bull Racing driver Brook Johnston won Round 7 of the Formula BMW International series in Nurburg, Germany.

Considered one of the world's most difficult circuits, the Nurburgring displays a tremendous amount of terrain change and corner variations, giving the track a high speed death threat that Johnston handled with ease.

The 20-year-old American driver made a significant comeback after a huge accident just two weeks ago before the Italian tour to Monza.

Starting from the pole position acquired in Saturday's close qualifying session, Johnston managed to prove the European crowd wrong once again.

The American, who plans on testing for Scuderia Toro Rosso's Formula One program in late August, was heavily downplayed due to the injuries and talk of an unfinished season at hand.

However, just as he as done before, Johnston put out a fantastic drive, posting the race's fastest lap times to pull away from second-place finisher Cole Collier of Team Euronazionale.

This win solidifies Johnston's chances at the Formula BMW International Championship, yet he is closely followed by Collier, who is just six points behind due to a tremendous win at Monza.

Third place finisher was Sauber Red Bull teammate Matt Jaskel, who remains in third in the championship standings.

Earlier this week, Jaskel broke the Valencia Circuit track record for the fastest lap time recorded in a Formula BMW car, which was previously held by Johnston.

Sunday's race at the Nurburgring consisted of perfectly warm weather with a slight breeze, just enough to enforce some extra wing adjustments on the cars for the high-speed straights.

The race started off with Johnston, Collier and Jaskel and finished with the same results. That is the same position of the driver's standings. Could this be an omen?

With three races left in the series and the change of events that's been occurring, anything can happen at this point.

Although the race didn't produce any position changes in the top five, there was a constant battle all race long for seventh and eighth from Hideki Mato and Carlos Gutierrez.

They gave the German crowd an assortment of lead changes all race long. Gutierrez placed seventh, with Mato running into suspension problems later in the race to place with a DNF. The fastest lap time of the race went to Johnston , who posting a time of 2:33.44 on lap 28.

While the German Grand Prix marks the last event held in Europe this month before heading over to Brazil, the support for the series has grown tremendously as expected.

The chase for the championship also remains very close, giving the fans some very sensational racing and an opportunity to witness some up and coming drivers from each country.

Johnston's win put him into a very secure position going into the Brazilian race for Round 8, although he still has some very severe injuries to deal with according to Sauber Red Bull Racing.

The Autobahn Racing News of Germany had asked Johnston whether or not the injury had affected his performance in any way at the race today.

Johnston responded with a smile, "I definitely felt the injuries, and it was much tougher than usual to drive the car. I think I managed just fine, though, wouldn't you say? I took home the win and the fastest lap time today. Not a bad day's work!"

The very confident American couldn't have put it any better, and his aggressive talent has taken Europe by storm in many open-wheel series.

While the public keeps its eye on Johnston's efforts, there are still plenty of points to be dealt with. With Canada's Cole Collier looking eager for a championship, Sauber Red Bull Racing told the press that they must focus very hard on getting Johnston back to 100 percent health-wise and motivating Jaskel to go after the points.

As the championship winds down, there is still much work to be done and much to defend for Johnston going into Round 8.

Brook Johnston, Cole Collier Duel In Qualifying At Germany's Nurburgring!

Maximo Garate — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:33:34 -0400

Round 7 of the Formula BMW International series takes place at the Nurburgring Circuit in Nurburg, Germany this weekend.

With an extraordinary race by Canada's Cole Collier in the last race at the Monza Circuit in Italy, there appears to be a tight race for the championship lead.

Current series points leader Brook Johnston of Sauber Red Bull Racing was involved in a very serious accident during a practice session at the challenging Italian course, but he has since made a dramatic appearance for this weekend's race at the Nurburgring.

After enduring harsh injury, a concussion, and hospitalization, the Sauber Red Bull driver means business and is ready to take on the Nurburgring this weekend.

Cole Collier of team Euronazionale, remains second in the points and will be knocking on the door to challenge Johnston for the championship in this weekend's race.

Also making large pushing efforts are Sauber Red Bull Racing teammate Matt Jaskel and Ital Speed's Alan Sciuto. The two drivers have made a tremendous improvement in each race and should prove to be championship contenders this weekend as well.

Drivers Nicholas Reizen and Jan Duhmuine will both be racing in front of their home crowds this weekend and expect a large German fanbase of over 5,000 people at this weekend's event.

The Formula BMW International series has shown a tremendous amount of growth since its introduction in January of this year and this weekend's chase for the championship should show one of the largest crowds yet.

Today's qualifying session brought out a close series of contenders, with a large battle going on between Sauber Red Bull Racing and Euronazionale throughout the day.

The cool weather brought about a perfect running condition for the cars, allowing the drivers to qualify with some very fast laps for the day.

However, Johnston proved that injury would not affect his championship lead posting a blistering lap time of 2:33.27 to take the pole position for this weekend's race.

Collier posted a 2:33.76 lap to take second, and Jaskel took third with a 2:33.98. Tensions have been rising in both camps all week long. As the races wind down, it becomes more competitive between each driver and team.

Making his miraculous comeback for this weekend's race has put Johnston back into the favorites to win this weekend's race and the overall championship. While this weekend's race will be the last of the European tour races, the series heads over to South America for the next round of racing after a short one-week break.

Team Euronazionale is expected to be unveiling a new chassis during Round 8 that is said to be a much improved addition to the team to help them further their championship hopes.

The German press had asked Euronazionale if this move was based upon Johnston coming back to race in Germany. Euronazionale responded that it has caused them to think about some more serious changes and that they are on a mission to take this season's crown.

This weekend's race should show some very competitive racing and much aggressiveness before the series heads back to Brazil for Round 8.

The race takes place on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Nurburgring and should be showing some of the best racing yet from the Formula BMW International series.

Cole Collier Wins At Monza To Close The Gap On Brook Johnston's Lead!

Maximo Garate — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:05:03 -0400

Formula BMW International's Round 6 race at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy proudly waved the Canadian colors for Cole Collier with a much anticipated win on Sunday.

The week in Monza proved to be a very disastrous time for many teams, with the exception of a solid Euronazionale team. The week's events started with a terrible crash by championship points leader Brook Johnston of Sauber Red Bull Racing on the previous Sunday's testing session, hospitalizing the American driver with critical injury.

That same testing day, Pierre Antwon of Italy's Pagiuni Racing team also sustained several car problems, hitting the wall soon after Johnston, yet he ended up walking away from the accident with no injuries.

While things were starting to look terrible for Sauber Red Bull Racing, American Matt Jaskel stepped up to the plate with a terrific qualifying session to take the pole on Saturday, followed by Sciuto and Collier.

Sunday's race was quite exciting with the absence of points leader Brook Johnston, and there was much opportunity in the air for many of the teams in the points standings.

The race started out with Sciuto overtaking Jaskel on the first lap of the race, dropping the Sauber Red Bull driver and giving the Italian crowd something to cheer about.

Hideki Mato of Japan spun his car in turn 4 on lap 32, bringing out the first caution flag of the day. On the restart, Cole Collier passed Matt Jaskel for second place and worked his way up, battling Sciuto for the lead.

Collier made a crisp pass after a short mistake in turn 5 by Sciuto on lap 47, leading Collier all the way to victory. Collier took home a much-needed 10 points, with Sciuto and Jaskel following in second and third place.

Things are looking much stronger for the pre-season favorite, team Euronazionale, with a much needed dominance by Collier.

After his win, Collier told the press, "Things were very lucky for me this weekend and the team did an excellent job. I really wanted to win and I look forward to fighting again for the championship lead."

This week's interesting changes have put Cole Collier in second, just ahead of Matt Jaskel in the points at 39 points to Jaskel's 38. However, injured Sauber Red Bull driver Brook Johnston still remains in the championship lead with a total 43 points.

However, Johnston is losing his hope of winning this year's championship due to severe injury. Sauber Red Bull had no comment to the press as to whether their injured star would be coming back to race in Germany in a few weeks.

Instead, Sauber have put much more hope into Matt Jaskel's championship drive. Sauber Red Bull's Mark Spire told the Italian press, "We are still here to win a championship! We are working very closely with Brook on easing him into the car again, however we are going to be heavily reliant on Jaskel's efforts at the moment."

Germany awaits the Formula BMW International series next, where we will see if there is any fight left in the American points leader. Will Canada's Cole Collier be flying the red and white banner over Sauber Red Bull's head?

With a tighter race for the championship, Germany may well decide who makes it or breaks it for this year's crown!