WSM drivers Hacquard and Freiberg Finish Ninth and Eleventh in Season Opener
World Speed Motorsports marked their return to Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear competition with team driver Chris Cumming in the #16 Inviro Medical Pro Formula Mazda capturing the Expert Series class victory at Sebring International Raceway as part of the 56th Annual 12-hours of Sebring race weekend. The team, which captured the 2006 driver championship with Adrian Carrio, also had solid performances from drivers Taylor Hacquard in the #15 Wolfe Auto Group Mazda and Eric Freiberg in the #14 CDE Collision Damage Experts Mazda in the opening round of the championship.
“It feels great to be able to climb up on the podium here at Sebring and give World Speed the class victory,” commented Vancouver, British Columbia native Cumming. “I was a little disappointed with qualifying as I had made a couple of mistakes that had me starting farther back in the field so I was focused on having a mistake free race. The standing start was pretty intense as a car had stalled a few rows ahead of me and I didn’t notice until the car directly ahead of me swerved. I was able to clear him and the car worked great. In the end it was a great way to start the season.”
Making his first race weekend at Sebring International Raceway, World Speed’s Rookie-of-the-Year challenger Hacquard recorded a ninth place finish to kick off the 2008 campaign. “I lined up twelfth on the grid and on the opening lap I was able to pick off one car in turn one and another before the opening lap had finished,” Hacquard explained. “I was racing hard with Billy Goshen and Kristy Kester for much of the race, I was able to get around Goshen and could close on Kester in places but would lose the air off my front wing and she would open the gap again.”
Finishing just outside of the top ten in his first appearance under the World Speed banner was Eric Freiberg who had high hopes after recording the fifth fastest time in this morning’s qualifying session. “I’m a little disappointed with the finish after the way we qualified but I have to thank my engineer Mike Doyle and my mechanics Jan and Ming, as well as the rest of the World Speed crew, for all their hard work this week,” the Homer Glen, Illinois resident commented. “I got hung outside on the opening lap and lost a couple of spots and just started overdriving the car. We still finished in the top half of the field and now I’ve just got to regroup and look forward to a better result at Miller Motorsports Park.”
Team Owner Telo Stewart was pleased overall with his driver’s efforts for the weekend. “The Star Mazda Championship is so competitive so a trip to the podium to start the season is a great feeling,” he commented. “Taylor drove a smart race and Eric was quick throughout the weekend so there’s a lot we can build on as we look towards the rest of the year.”
Round One of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be aired on Speed Channel on Sunday, March 30th at 3:00 PM Eastern Time.