Wayside, N.J. – A week after claiming the Ontario Formula Ford Championship, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver Trent Hindman travelled to northwest Connecticut and Lime Rock Park to try and wrest the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda championship from points leader Scott Anderson. While he earned Rookie of the Year honors, a second championship in as many weeks was not in the cards for the Wayside, N.J. driver.
Coming into Lime Rock Park Hindman’s task was simple; win both poles and both races, scoring maximum points while hoping that point leader Scott Anderson had at least one bad race. Hindman got the weekend off to a quick start. Being the only car in the 57 second bracket in Thursday morning’s Practice session, Hindman went out second in the afternoon’s single-car Qualifying session and set the quick time with a 58.208 sec. lap. Five cars later the closest anyone got was Sebastian Ordonez with a 58.579 and Hindman had his series leading sixth California Scents Pole Award and almost as important, the bonus point.
Due to the schedule idiosyncrasies of a Skip Barber Race Weekend, National drivers held their second qualifying session on Friday morning prior to completing their first race. Claiming changing conditions for the early morning qualifying session, Skip Barber officials opted for a 30-minute group qualifying session in lieu of the preferred single car format. Quick early, Hindman set the bar with a 58.247 sec. on his 15th lap. Five laps later, Hindman’s weekend took a left turn… literally. Heading into the Uphill on his 20th lap, Hindman attempted to carry too much speed, exiting the track and impacting the tire wall on the outside of the corner. Hindman immediately climbed out of his damaged car, climbed on top of the wall and watched the remainder of the session from the flagging station before being checked out and cleared by the track EMS.
“I just pushed a little too hard”, said Hindman after the session. “We knew that Sebastian has been quick in these group format qualifying sessions all season and that my .247 would probably not stand for pole so I was reaching for another tenth or two and reached a little too far.”
Apart from aggravating a sore elbow picked up during a qualifying crash a week earlier in Mosport Hindman was uninjured, but with the left front corner torn off and the frame damaged, his favored #11 was done for the weekend. To add insult to injury, both Sebastian Ordonez and Danilo Estrella both put in quicker laps after Hindman’s exit to take the front row.
For Round 15 Friday afternoon, Hindman started from the pole but now in the unfamiliar car #85. It was almost immediately apparent that the new car was down on power, as Hindman faded through the field after leading the first two laps, dropping behind Anderson on Lap 6 before the #85’s engine ultimately expired with three laps to go. Hindman’s first non-Top 5 finish of the season could not have come at a worst time; his eighth place finish combined with Anderson’s third place finish meant that the Skip Barber National Championship and the $200,000 USF2000 scholarship would go to Hindman’s Colorado teammate.
“I didn’t notice anything during the warm up, but the motor just didn’t have the pull the other cars did and eventually it just laid over. I knew it was going to be a long shot to win the championship but it doesn’t make it any less disappointing for it to end like this. I am happy for Scott; he’s had a great season and earned the championship.”
With the championship settled Round 16 became a race to settle second place in the final standings between Hindman and Brandon Newey, as a win by Newey combined with another bad result by Hindman would move Newey into second place in the standings. Now in the #57 car, Hindman dropped behind Anderson at the start and followed him around first Estrella, who struggled with car issues of his own and faded to a seventh place finish, and Ordonez, with whom Hindman battled for second for several laps before Skip Barber Cup driver (and 2005 National Champion) Gerardo Bonilla joined the fray.
With two laps to go, the lead pack of Anderson, Bonilla, Ordonez and Hindman were nose-to-tail at the start/finish line. After Bonilla’s attempted outside pass for the lead sent him into the grass at Big Bend, the order at the white flag was Anderson, Ordonez, Hindman and Bonilla. Going into West Bend for the final time, Ordonez stuck his nose in on Anderson, but lost momentum and second place to Hindman. At the finish it Scott and Trent scoring Jonatan Jorge Racing Development’s fifth 1-2 finish of the season, with Ordonez immediately behind in third.
“Sebastian tried a move in West Bend but it backfired. He basically parked his car and I was able to get the run going into the Downhill. Another lap or two and I might have been able to get Scott, but I know winning this race was important to him so I’m okay with second.”
Top 5 – 2011 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, after Round 16 of 16
1. Scott Anderson, 456 points
2. Trent Hindman, -22
3. Brandon Newey, -31
4. Sebastian Ordonez, -56
5. Shelby Blackstock, -84
Trent Hindman’s three wins, six pole positions and 15 top five finishes in 16 races earned him not only second place in the final Skip Barber National points but Rookie of the Year honors.
He may have lost the Skip Barber National Championship, but don’t feel too bad for Trent Hindman. As soon as the Race Series banquet ended Saturday night he was on his way home to New Jersey to rest and pack before jumping on a plane to England to begin his driving duties for Team USA Scholarship, starting with this weekend’s Formula Ford Festival at the Brands Hatch Circuit. Hindman also recently announced his plans for 2012; joining Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing for next year’s Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. And then there is the Ontario Formula Ford Championship. Not a bad year.
“I have so many people to thank for this year. MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development, Jonatan Jorge and my teammates at JJRD, the coaches and technicians at Skip Barber Racing School, Racelite Protection, Premier Woodcraft and Sparco for their support throughout the year, my teachers at Wayside High School, for allowing me the time to pursue my dream while continuing my education, and my parents, who’ve been supporting me since day one.”
Brands Hatch
At 1.53 miles, there are few road courses in the world shorter than Lime Rock Park. One of those is the 1.2 mile Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent, England. Less than an hour southeast of London, over the years the Brands Hatch Circuit has hosted everything from the British Touring Car Championship and DTM to Formula One and IndyCars and since 1976 has been the home to the annual Formula Ford Festival.
While Trent Hindman will see the track for the first time on Wednesday for testing with Cliff Dempsey Racing, he’ll have plenty of seat time there behind the wheel of his computer.
“Ever since I was selected for the Team USA Scholarship I’ve been running the Brands Hatch Indy and Silverstone Circuits on iRacing. If the elevation changes at Brands Hatch are anything like they appear online, I think I’m really going to enjoy this track.”
The weekend kicks off with Qualifying on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. local time. Follow the action, from the heat races through the final, with Live Timing and Scoring via TSL Sports Timing Solutions and look for updates throughout the weekend on Altemus Prime’s Twitter feed, @altemus_prime.
No comments:
Post a Comment