SONOMA, California -- Fernando Dias Ribeiro found himself the top of the pack after the eighth race of the SCCA Formula Russell Championship Series presented by Yokohama the weekend of May 8-9. Dias Riberio, the first and only driver to break into the triple digits in point accumulation, captured a third place finish on Saturday and a win on Sunday. Plus his record of three wins, two seconds, one third and one eighth placed him in the lead in the series’ Masters Division (age 40-49). The outstanding question for Dias Ribeiro, the brother of F1 driver Alex Ribeiro, is whether or not he can find a sponsor to enable him to finish the season.
16 year-old Cole Nelson, now in second place with 94 points, had a mixed weekend. The Road Racing Scholarship recipient is the highest ranked driver under the age of 19 in the championship, and was presented with the “Young Charger Award” and a free race weekend. Nelson’s win on Saturday boosted him into the lead, but a win on Sunday didn’t stick when he was assessed a 60 second penalty for failing to report to the pits after having contact with Steve Hill in Turn 2 of the first lap. The penalty put him back to ninth in the weekend’s race results.
Nelson’s penalty boosted Pieter Rossi to second and Bruce Feldman into third. Jeremy Spiering, the point leader coming into the event after two podiums in April, failed to add to his total. He also received a 60-second penalty in Sunday’s race for failing to pit after driving off the race track and had an accident with Rossi that put him out of Saturday’s race.
The top five in the Championship when the racers return to Sonoma for Rounds 9 and 10 are Dias Ribeiro, Nelson, Feldman (03’ Champion) Spiering and Rossi.
The Masters Division is also lead by Dias Ribeiro with Steve Hill (58 points) in second and Don Stewart (55 points) in third after a well deserved win in Saturday’s race. Tom Hughes is fourth (52 points) after placing second in his Saturday race while Stan Kohls (50 points) is fifth.
Chuck Hulse maintains his lead in the Grand Masters division with 69 points. Jim Mustanich (55 points) moves into second after two podium finishes on the weekend just ahead of Pete Ball and Tom Brady tied for third. (50 points). Rounding out the top five is Larry Schnur (47 points).
