Race goes down to the wire as team drivers battle it out at Thunderhill Finale
This past weekend was the double points single race SCCA finale at Thunderhill Raceway. Sean Prewett in his rookie year of competition in the San Francisco Region not only won the final race of the season, but took home the coveted Formula Atlantic championship.
“The FA class here in the SFR region is really competitive as there are many good drivers in some really fast equipment,” stated World Speed Team Manager John Olsen. “Sean had his work cut out for him day one, and he just kept at it.”
Prewett had to keep at it as his team mate Kevin Woods went into the weekend leading the championship. Woods has been qualifying ahead of Prewett the last few events that they participated in, so he was also considered the favorite as the two drivers headed to Willows California for a duel.
POST RACE QUOTES:
SEAN PREWETT: “After a difficult weekend at Laguna my goal going into Thunderhill was to have a strong showing but more importantly to work on eliminating mistakes on the track. During the race my teammate and competitor for the championship, Kevin Woods, made a rare error and I knew to have a shot to gain points on him I needed to capitalize by winning the race. I was able to pass Frank in turn 9 on the lap after the restart and after that just concentrated on keeping a gap and hitting my marks. We all struggled for grip on the new surface and John Olsen made a number of changes to the car during the weekend making it much easier to handle, so I have to thank him for his efforts. I would like to thank everyone at World Speed for a great year, in particular my mechanic Adrian for keeping the car in top shape and also my Standing Start coach Ron White for helping me improve on the track.”
KEVIN WOODS: “I got a good start to maintain second and both the leader and I were pushing hard on cold tires. I pushed a little too hard exiting the cyclone though and spun on the exit. I was able to roll out of the way and avoid contact from the train of cars coming over the blind turn, but unfortunately I wound up high centered and could not get going again without help. This put me a lap down and out of contention. Despite the result I had a great time driving back through the field trying to get my lap back. Sean drove a great race and did exactly what he needed to do. Congratulations to him on his first SCCA win and the SFR FA Championship. Also congratulations to Frank Cusack on a terrific result in his first race with his Pro Mazda.”
The World Speed Motorsports team is now gearing up for the Molecule Formula Mazda Challenge Finale November 8th and 9th at Infineon Raceway. That weekend is also the opening weekend for this year’s Formula Mazda Winter Series.