Gelles Racing has been very busy in the last weeks and basing upon the significant level of interest; team principal Bob Gelles is really confident he will fill all seats he has available in Champ Car Atlantic and Formula BMW USA before the next testing days. The racing crews traveled around the country from Florida to Texas and Louisiana taking to the tracks their racing machines for the drivers who are already on the roster and others who vie for a racing seat in either series.
“Winter testing has been outstanding for us, claimed team principal Bob Gelles. If we had a weakness last season; that has certainly been cured by the hiring of the best Engineers in the business. We have Championship winning Engineers on both sides of the Gelles Team. By the time we get to Laguna Seca, we should have a four-driver team in Atlantic. The official testing season for the BMW USA starts a little later at Road Atlanta: we have some drivers under contract and it’s a matter of days before we announce all seats are filled. â€
Atlantic
Engineer Gerald Tyler has been working with elite German driver Maximilian Götz and F-1 experienced engineer Rodolfo Perdomo is working with American Skip Barber graduate Richard Heistand. “Maxi and Richard are doing great, follows Gelles; both are training extremely hard at Jim Leo’s Pit-Fit Training Academy in Indy. Luis Mussi did an outstanding job at Belle Rose, Louisiana. We also recently tested Alan Sciuto, Tim Bridgeman and South African Gavin Cronje. Tim pummeled the overall track record at Belle Rose last week in his Gelles Swift. 016a and another very quick one who wants to remain anonymous. We anticipate a formal announcement in advance of Laguna Seca. â€
BMW USA
The BMW USA crews have been pretty busy too. “We have many of our drivers returning in 2007. Engineer Yvan Turcotte is quite happy with Quebec native Maxime Pelletier, Yvan returns to Gelles having won the Vice-Championship in BMW USA with Kevin Lacroix; Max recently shattered the No-Problem Raceway BMW record by 0.6 of a second. Maxime is selected to represent the #11 Hi-Rev Skincare sponsored car. His sophomore year won’t be jinxed! Californian John Zartarian was our most consistent driver last year and he intends to finish the business with a championship as his goal. Len Miller’s protégé; Jamaican Joel Jackson came a long way in his maiden open wheel season and I expect to see him regularly at the Top. Engineer Corrado Cardinali thinks highly of the quick Brazilian Ricardo Zappelini who comes with a couple years of podium filled Formula Ford experience. We also tested 2006 Formula Ford UK champion 22-year old Nathan Freke and he is extremely interested in Gelles. Young American Matt Ferris pedaled the car very well in Savanna last week gathering upon his experience from Skip Barber and is set to try his hand at BMW USA; more news to follow soon. â€
Next Laguna Seca
The team will head to California for the third official Champ Car Atlantic test days along with Champ Car World series teams while the Formula BMW USA team travels to Utah.
Coming testing sessions for BMW USA and Atlantic
March 7 & 8 Laguna Seca, California
March 6 Road Atlanta, Georgia
March 12 & 13 Miller Motorsports, Utah
March 19 & 20 Road Atlanta, Georgia
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