TEAM KMA DRIVERS SHOW TALENT AT ROAD ATLANTA

Source: rs
Date: 03/27/2007

Team KMA Racing drivers Mike Hill, Julia Landauer and Jeffrey Petriello showed their talents at the first official test for the Formula BMW USA Championship at the famed Road Atlanta road course on March 19-20.

Mike Hill (3rd fastest driver of the 2 days) and Jeffrey Petriello (6th fastest driver of the 2 days) were the only first year drivers in the top eight. Julia Landauer was 10th quickest in the final session of the first day and was rapidly climbing up the ladder, until a mechanical problem foiled her chance of rising to the top.

"I am really pleased with the performance of all three of our drivers," commented Jon Lewis, co-owner of Team KMA Racing. "To have Mike finish in 3rd and Jeffrey in 6th was a testament to their talents as drivers. All three of our drivers posted times within a couple hundredths of a second of each other in our last test at Roebling Road. With a strong field of young drivers, to have all three in the top ten is tremendous. Mike and Jeffrey battled each other the entire second day swapping positions on almost every lap. It was really something to watch."

"Unfortunately, for Julia we had a problem with the foam in her fuel cell towards the end of the first day, which shut off the flow of fuel to her engine," Lewis continued. "We worked until late at night to prepare our forth car for her to use on the second day, however the engine just wasn't up to speed. It was disappointing, because she was quick on the first day and I know she would have been able to break into the top 5 on the second."

"It surely would have been a delight to see Julia's driving talent. The issue with the fuel cell and the subsequent engine misery in our fourth car, as Jon mentioned, was very frustrating for not only the Team KMA mechanics and management as well as the entire Formula BMW USA technical staff but also for the parent. Seeing her being sidelined and watching other drivers beating her first day times was nearly heartbreaking", explained Ingo Strackerjan, Manager for the Team KMA Formula BMW USA. "We've taken significant steps which should eradicate such dilemma in the future. It was just unreal to have both cars non-operational, even after a long maintenance night and not being been able to provide Julia with what she deserved - one perfect running FBMW FB2 car. On the positive side - on-track performance during both test days went very well as the practice timing had shown - all three drivers performed well, beating the lap times and records of our previous drivers, even under the circumstances and stress the team had."

This is undoubtedly going to be an exciting season for Team KMA Racing. The next official test will take place at Virginia International Raceway on April 7&8. Watch for the Mike, Julia and Jeffrey to show what they've got!

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