By Chris Rhoad on May 30, 2010Add Comments
As any 15- year-old, Annabeth Barnes is thrilled to have a learner’s permit that lets her drive on the road with proper supervision. Her driver’s ed teacher said she was one of the best drivers he’d met. There’s just one problem: the road is not a track. She’s been racing go-karts since age 7, taking the ultra-low-riders around asphalt and dirt at 70 miles per hour.
“I have a bit of a speeding problem,” the North Carolina teen admits. “Just a tiny bit.”
Barnes is featured in the award-winning documentary “Racing Dreams,” which opened in Georgia this week. It also follows 12-year-old Josh Hobson, a disciplined student and driver who wants to maintain his champion status and move up in the world of racing. Then there’s 13-year-old Brandon Warren, a fast racer with a hot temper and the desire for a big win after he was disqualified a year before.
In the film, they’re transitioning away from childhood and deciding whether racing is a hobby or a career. They consider the school they’ll miss, the sports they won’t play, family and finances. For Annabeth, who was 11 when the movie began filming, it was a decision between the “girlier” lives her friends lead and spending 48 out of 52 weekends racing. Here’s what Annabeth had to say about racing and the film.
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By Chris Rhoad on May 30, 20101 Comment
Liz Halliday enjoyed a hectic few days featuring two very different types of horsepower last week as she made her return to the race circuit and continued her British 3 Day Eventing season.
The week began with the California-born dual sportswoman attending the Silverstone Classic media day where she had a first opportunity to put her father’s 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca through its paces.
The car, a rare ‘cropped tailed’ version and one of just 29 ever made, will be raced by Liz at the Monza Coppa Intereuropa and the Silverstone Classic this summer. It has been expertly prepared by race car specialist John Danby Racing and ran perfectly throughout the day as well as attracting plenty of media interest.
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By Administrator on May 18, 2010Add Comments
After a much improved weekend at the VIRginia International Raceway Justine took on Race 3 of the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series at the New Jersey Motorsports Park and kicked it off by finishing 13th in practice. Unfortunately with that 13th place also came a damaged car as she ran off track coming out of corner 6, lost the rear of the car and hit the guard rails, “I was pushing pretty hard during practice and luckily I was able to follow Andy Lee for much of it, but I guess I pushed a bit too hard went straight off on the exit of turn 6 and lost the back of the car and couldn’t avoid hitting the guard rails, but I was really excited and surprised to here that I was 13th fastest.” Despite the damage, the Volkswagen Mechanics worked really hard to get Justine’s car back on track for qualifying.
By Administrator on May 4, 2010Add Comments
Sportscar racer Liz Halliday will make her long awaited return to racing when she appears on track at the Monza Coppa Intereuropa and the Silverstone Classic this summer at the wheel of a rare Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca owned by her father, Don.
Halliday, the most successful female driver in American Le Mans Series history and the only woman to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006 and 2007, hasn’t raced since appearing with Creation AIM at the Nurburgring 1000k LMS race, and the Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca ALMS races at the end of the 2008 season.
Instead, the California-born, British-based dual sportswoman has concentrated her efforts on a burgeoning career as an international 3-day eventer which has seen her register a succession of strong results in top-level competition across Europe.
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By Administrator on May 4, 2010Add Comments
19 April 2010 | Thames’ driver Cassey Watson managed to pull out the stops and drive through the pain barrier to finish a highly creditable 9th at the infamous Silverstone grand prix circuit last weekend in the second round of the Zing Trofeo Abarth 500 GB series.
The highly rated 18-year-old Worcestershire driver, who was suffering from a high fever prior to the race, qualified 13th on the grid, but performed heroics to complete both races in 9th position – let alone fend off other drivers in the chasing pack. Read More
By Administrator on May 2, 2010Add Comments
6 April 2010 | Thames’ driver Cassey Watson helped make history at Oulton Park over the bank holiday Easter weekend, when she took part in the first ever Abarth 500 race series in Great Britain.
The highly anticipated series, which also listed the British Formula 3 and the British GT on the same billboard, saw 18-year-old Watson qualify 10th of the grid (5th row) on Saturday (3 April) in a time of 201.403. Leading the pack was former Clio Cup champion Ben Winrow, who notched up a best time of 156.394.
Despite Watson’s limited testing in the Abarth, she was quick to demonstrate her driver-talent early on in the first race (round 1) after managing to claw back six places to take up forth position during the third lap. However, she eventually finished eighth, with clear signs that both driver and car have more to give, which bodes well for the season. Read More
By Administrator on March 30, 2010Add Comments
The Motor Racing season has finally begun and Andover racer Dawn Boyd was on track at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The official event program had Dawn’s photograph and a mention as an 8valve racer to watch out for, would this prove to be a good omen?
The Golf Gti Racing Championship has joined the MSVR package and will join some great high profile races this season, including the Britcar 24 hour races at Silverstone.
Sunday was a packed day with 19 races, and with the threat of rain the organisers tried to pull all races forward where ever possible to make the most of the dry weather; all eyes were on the clouds.
Dawn’s Golf’s were on track at 10.30 for qualifying. This was the first time the car had been raced since a full engine replacement over the winter, and JMS Motorsport had done a great job. Dawn qualified 4th in class in amongst a pack of faster 16valve cars.
Race 1 wasn’t until 3pm. The weather was still dry and Dawn made a good start but the pack bunched up at Paddock Hill and she lost a place, with no contact the capacity grid of 32 Mk2 Golf’s streamed round the track, an awesome spectacle. The new engine was performing superbly and Dawn had a great race overtaking and dicing with both classes.
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By Administrator on March 29, 2010Add Comments
Duno’s Second Race Ends Early with Handling Issues
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 29, 2010) – IZOD IndyCar Driver Milka Duno was out early due to handling issues after only seven laps in today’s rescheduled Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race, originally scheduled for Sunday, March 28, 2010, was postponed due to heavy rains and rescheduled for a start today at 10am EST.
Duno had improved from the first practice to qualifying by over three seconds in lap time – which is one of several goals on her street and road-course learning strategy. Her first four races of this year’s 2010 schedule are on street and road courses that she has not been on previously in an Indy car.
“This weekend was an incredibly challenging and frustrating experience for me,” said Duno. “To start the season with four consecutive races on tracks new to me in an Indy car, compounded by the change in the track conditions here due to the rain yesterday and the track still being wet at the start of the race today, proved difficult to overcome.”
“I know that I’m on a steep learning curve with regard to road and street courses in an Indy car – and I understand that,” added Duno. “I’m competing in this series with drivers that have more time and experience in an Indy car on these types of tracks and in these types of conditions. It’s just going to take me some time. Our intention was to do quite a bit of testing before the start of the season, but our program came together too late to accomplish this. We will be doing this testing – but we’ll now need to fit it in between the races on the schedule.”
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By Chris Rhoad on April 21, 20091 Comment
Amy Ruman scored another top ten finish in her #23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette in round 2 of the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series this past weekend at VIRginia International Raceway. Ruman started 9th in the 20-car grid for the 28-lap, 91.56-mile race on Sunday afternoon.
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By Chris Rhoad on April 20, 2009Add Comments
Coming off her third place podium finish in the first round of the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am at Road Atlanta, Amy Ruman and the Ruman Racing team are headed to Virginia International Raceway for Round 2 of the Trans-Am Series. Ruman will take to the track starting Thursday April 16 for a test day. Friday and Saturday afternoon sessions will be practice, followed by one qualifying session on Sunday morning at 8:50. The Trans-Am race will start approximately at 3:15 pm Sunday, the last race of the day.
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