F1000 Pro Series Latest News

JR Osbourne Goes 2 for 2 at Portland Raceway

JULY 4, 2010 (Portland, Or) – JR Osbourne in his Stohr swept the series winning both events at Portland in the 2010 F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires and Jongbloed Racing Wheels. Kyle Oberdorf in a Stohr finished second with Dave Palmer making it a podium sweep for Stohr as the manufacturer took all three of the top positions.

JR Osbourne takes Victory in Round 13 at Portland Raceway

July 3, 2010 (Portland, Or) – JR Osboune took first place honors in round 13 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires and Jongbloed Racing Wheels. Dave Palmer finished second with Russ Werner in a Phoenix rounding out the podium in third.

Belling Best the Field in Round 12 at Pacific Raceway

May 31, 2010 (Seattle, Wa) – Nicholas Belling showed his mastery in the rain to take victory during round 12 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires and Jongbloed Racing Wheels.

Belling dominated the wet qualifying session in his Firman RFR-010 to take pole at a time of 1:28.56, followed closely by Lucian Pancea in his Stohr at 1:28.80. Third on the grid went to David Palmer with a best time of 1:33.87, following him in fourth was Taylor Archer at 1:44.12. Kyle Oberndolf started at the back after having all his qualifying times disallowed with a sound violation.

With the rain falling steadily the race started under wet conditions. As the field came around after lap one the order was Pancea, Oberndorf, Palmer, Belling, and Archer. Belling having fallen down the field after a mis-step in turn three which allowed both Pancea and Oberndorf to get by. He continued to fall back on next lap finishing about fifteen car lengths back from the nose-to-tail duo of Pancea and Oberndorf up front.

On lap four while entering the tricky downhill turn three Pancea lost control under braking and ended up high sided in the dirt on the outside of the turn. The car was deemed to be in too dangerous a location for the safety crew to attend to it which caused the race to be black flagged.

After the car of Pancea was removed the race was restarted with Oberndorf leading Belling, Palmer and Archer. As the F1000 field jockeyed around the other formula type cars in the SCCA group Belling got hung up by slower traffic which allowed Oberndolf to blast off into the lead.

After finally getting around the slower cars Belling took off after Oberndorf, slowly reeling him in which each passing lap. On lap thirteen entering turn 9 Belling made his move, passing Oberndorf for the lead. Belling continue to extend his lead out during the remaining laps to take the win with Oberndorf second. Palmer took third with Archer finishing in forth. Pancea, who managed to take the restart after his car was removed from the dirt in turn three finished last a lap down.

Lucian Pancea Splashes to Victory at Pacific Raceways in Round 11

May 30, 2010 (Seattle, Wa) -Lucian Pancea steered his Stohr F1000 to victory in Round 11 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires and Jongbloed Racing Wheels.

The morning qualifying session run on a dry track saw Kyle Oberndorf in his Stohr take pole position with a 1:20.66. Lining up along him was Lucian Pancea in a second Stohr clocking a time of 1:21.08. Nicholas Belling qualified his Firman RFR-010 third with a time of 1:21.39 followed by Taylor Archer 1:22.23 and Dave Palmer 1:22.65.

As the race started under threatening skies lead the field on the first lap with Pancea some four car lengths back, Belling a further five cars lengths behind Pancea followed by Archer and Palmer. Just before half distance the skies finally opened up and the race quickly turned wet. The track remained wet for the remainder of the 20 lap event even after the rain had stopped a couple of laps after it had started.

Pancea immediately took advantage of the wet conditions to pass Oberndorf for the lead making a wide pass through turn eight. As he exited the corner he had already built up a three car lead on Oberndorf. Belling a ways back in third spun in the wet conditions exiting turn eight but managed to resume and managed even to mount a late race challenge to Oberndorf in second before the flag finally decended on his challenge.

Taylor Archer in his first ever F1000 race finished in fourth followed by David Palmer in his Stohr finishing fifth.

Lucian Pancea Wins at Portland Raceway in Round 9

May 30, 2010 (Seattle, Wa) -Lucian Pancea took victory in his Stohr in Round 9 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires and Jongbloed Racing Wheels.

Kyle Oberndolf finished second followed by JR Osbourne third and Rod Rice in fourth. The Firman team of Nicholas and Mark Belling were forced to withdraw from the event as a result of mechanical issues during qualifying and did not start the race.

No FB cars started the second feature race (round 10).

Belling's Go 1-2, 1-2, at Buttonwillow

The father and son duo of Mark and Nicholas Belling took turns winning in Round 7 and 8 of the F1000 Pro Series at Buttonwillow Raceway, California

Under blazing skies and warm tempertures which were to prevail throughout the weekend, the Saturday morning qualifying saw the Firman of Nicholas Belling set new FB qualifying track record of 1.45.167 on the Buttonwillow 25, CCW Course. Second in qualifying was Mark Belling in his Firman setting a time of 1.51.594. Gary Hickman in the Edge Engineering entry was an early weekend casualty having suffered a blown engine on Friday and was unable to return due to nagging clutch issues.

Because of the light FB turnout the split start was waved with the FB cars taking their place within the main group of competitors with Nicholas Belling starting 3rd overall and Mark Belling starting 17th overall.

The race ran uneventfully for most of the duration of the 16 lap event until about 2/3's distance when Nicholas Belling was forced to pit with a faulty ECU which left Mark Belling to take the victory. Nicholas Belling went on to finish 2nd and set a new FB race record of 1.46.497.

Sunday's qualifying and race was a near repeat of Saturday's only with the roles reversed in the race as Nicholas Belling took the FB honors. The race was largely uneventful until near the end of the event when it was forced to finish under safety car for an accident amougst the Sports 2000 field.

JR Osborne "Spins and Wins" in Round 6 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series

JR Osborne repeated his performance from Saturday to win Round 6 of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series at Thunderhill Raceway, California.

Sunday's morning qualifying session saw overcast clouds and cool temperatures. The 20 minute session was plagued by two black flag stoppages that saw many cars in the national group struggle to get heat into their tires. As a result nearly all the drivers had diifficulty getting a clean lap in what was a very brief qualifying session.

Gary Hickman failed to complete a lap in qualifying as he suffered from clutch issues while Nicholas Woodman was forced to start at the back due to sound violation.

As the cars formed on the pre-grid for the race start the overcast clouds blew away to brilliant sunshine and warm tempertures.

As on the previous day the FB field took the green flag in a split start approximately 30 seconds after the main field of national competitors. At the first corner Belling managed to scrabble pass De La O for second while Woodman working from the back of the grid advanced as well.

As the cars exited the Eagle's Nest (turn 5) on lap one the order was Osborne, Belling, De La O, Werner, Woodman, Hickman, Pancea, and Palmer. The race was already shaping up to be an interesting one. It was put on hold the following lap as the first of three full course yellows came out for crews to tow in a FE that had stopped on track.

Osborne kept the field at a good 30 seconds back from the main field ahead during this caution period so when the race went green again the pack had clear track ahead of them. As the green came out a hard charging Belling dove in between Osborne and the pitwall and took the lead as the cars headed into turn one. But it all came to tears just yards up the road as Belling spun exiting turn one ending any chances he had of a victory. Woodman following closely behind also spun while attempting to avoid Belling. Both cars were able to resume the race although Belling now with a slight deranged front wing.

As the FB field began to wind their way through the slower cars of the main body ahead the second of the three full course yellows came out. This time one of the CSR's had blown it's engine, leaving a trail of oil from the entry of turn three to the exit of turn five. Dispite the best efforts of the hard working San Francisco Region track crew to clean up the spill it was to play havoc with the field for the remainder of the race.

The race start on lap 9 saw Belling attempting the same pass on Woodman he did on Osborne at the earlier restart with Woodman doing everything he could to keep Belling at bay. The two went at it for most of the lap giving it their all. It all came to grief at turn ten as Belling attempting to pass went off course. He managed to resume however now without a front wing.

Meanwhile, up at the front Osborne manuvered his way through the main field followed closely by De La O. As he exited on the downhill of turn five he ran foul of the oil layed down earlier by the blown engine of the CSR and spun. He quickly recovered to rejoin the race just as De La O was cresting the turn five hill. It would be the closest that De La O would get to taking the race lead and it was a very near thing.

Also working his way through the main field further back was Lucian Pancea completing his first weekend in his new Stohr. Beset with a few teething problems and a slightly nervous car he did well to recover from a quick spin exiting turn one to continue on and finish. David Palmer was another to run foul of the oil at turn five and like Osborne spun on the oil there as well ending his race.

Russ Werner in the Phoenix and Gary Hickman in the Edge resumed their battle from the previous day. This time the battle was for third and the final podium position. As the two raced up to the hill at turn five Werner dived for the inside line forcing Hickman to cede the position. It got worst for Hickman just two corners later as he suffered a right rear wheel failure that sent his Edge into a brutal double 360 spin as it flew off track.

Seconds after Hickman's wild ride was over the final full course yellow came out for multiple stopped cars on the back section of the track with the race ending under the pace car.

JR Osborne Wins Round Five in the F1000 Pro Series at Thunderhill

JR Osborne raced his Stohr FB/F1000 car to victory in Saturday’s Round Five of the 2010 F1000 Pro Series. Osborne led throughout the 16 lap event, besting a field of eight cars comprising four different F1000 manufacturers. Nicholas Belling in the Firman took second, with Nicholas Woodman in a Stohr completing the podium in third place.

The race began as the FB field took the green flag in a split start approximately 30 seconds behind the main field of national competitors. But it wasn’t long before the leading FB cars caught up to the back half of the main field and began to wind their way through the slower cars.

Belling and Woodman battled for second with Belling running wide into the first corner allowing Woodman to slot into second. On lap two at the notorious turn five Crow’s Nest corner Woodman duplicated what Belling did in turn one, went wide, which allowed Belling to get alongside and eventually take second place several corners later. By this time Osborne leading from the start had stretched out a nearly eight second lead. Belling then set off after Osborne eventually reducing the gap to less than a second, where they ran nearly nose to tail for several laps before Osborne was able to use traffic to extend out his lead again.

As Osborne took the flag, Belling was faltering from fuel starvation and evenually ran out of fuel on the front straight just before the finish line, coasting over with the engine completely dead to collect second. Woodman, who was unable to match the speed of the two leaders, ran a lonely third for much of the race. Hickman in the Edge began the race in fourth but suffered from a slow deflating tire which caused him to begin to drop back through the field as others including Delao, Palmer, and Werner improved their positions.

One mid field battle worth watching was the Gary Hickman, Russ Werner dice for sixth. It came to a head as the two came up to lap a couple of back markers on the front straight. With the four cars tightly bunched together and each closely dicing for racing room Hickman was suddenly forced to check up giving Werner a shot at a tight inside line leading into the first corner which allowed him to take the position.

Phil De La O drove a steadily improving race in the Phoenix to finish fourth, with Palmer moving up to fifth and the troubled car of Pancea rounding out the field.

After the race at tech inspection several of the cars came under close examination from the stewards including that of race winner Osborne. After some tense moments the car was deemed legal and the race result stood. Unfortunately for Hickman, he ran foul of the sound restrictions. On the second to last lap his car was deemed to have been over the sound decibel level and was assessed a two lap penalty which dropped him to eighth place.

Belling Takes Fourth Round Victory at Willow Springs Raceway

Willow Springs, California (February 28, 2010) – Nicholas Belling of Canada drove his Firman West Cars prepared Firman RFR-010 FB to victory in Sunday’s Round 4 of the F1000 Pro Series at Willow Springs Raceway, California.

Belling started the race on pole position and led throughout the event clocking the fastest race lap at 1:17.499. Gary Hickman of Alpine, California finished second in his Edge Engineering FB car with a best time of 1:18.744.

Both cars ran near the front of the combined class 27 car field in an incident free race along the 2.5 mile track.

The series continues on to it’s next event at Thunderhill Park on March 20-21.

The F1000 Pro Series current point standings after Round 4