@ToyoTiresF1600 • @TeamBGR1 • (September 24, 2015)- Reid Arnold, in his sophomore season, ran a safe and conservative final weekend to prevail with the 2015 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship.
Protecting a points lead is not necessarily the way you want to wrap up a very successful season but it was the smart choice for the team. Success also came with BGR team mate Ben Hurst claiming the Rookie of the Year honors. it was the ninth ROY award for the team in the last 10 season, a remarkable record. The title is also the first in Canada for the Piper chassis.
BGR made the switch to the California built chassis in 2012 and had immediate success with it winning races each year and being in contention for the championship each season right up to the final day. Ten different drivers have made podium visits with the Honda powered Pipers since the 2012 season that started with two cars coming to Canada.
Zacharie Robichon had another super weekend with a pole, outside pole and led both days and ultimately had a second and third place finishes. He came close to claiming back to back Al Craighead Memorial Can Am Cup victories but lost pace near the end with what the team discovered later to be a braking issue.
Robichon was in the team’s latest Piper DL7/Honda with no testing and only discovered the issue the evening after the race. He used the lesson to claim pole the following day and led early in a superb old fashioned three-car fight for the win. The top three swapped the lead continuously and when a full course caution fell, he unfortunately was in the second spot. The race would end under caution.
Making her debut in anticipation of a full 2016 campaign was 16 yr old karter Taegen Poles. After several test days and preparation the youngster had a solid first weekend encountering many new experiences. One race in dry conditions and one in wet meant that she had the full range of weather sessions which will serve her well into the future. She had a solid finish in the Sunday wet race and finished ahead of some much more experienced drivers.
“It was a relatively uneventful final weekend for us and everything went according to plan for Reid, we simply did exactly what we had to in order to secure Reid and the team the Championship” . Ben had already secured the ROY and we were hoping to get him into third in the championship to make it a sweep for BGR Piper Race Cars but a first corner spin put that plan out of range. Still, we have to remember that Ben came into the season as a true rookie, without a background in karting or any kind of racing. He did a super job and we look for big things from him in 2016. Taegen got a baptism of fire introduction to F1600, coming in when everyone else has a full season under their belts and then throw in all sorts of weather conditions, she handled it well and we look forward to having her fulltime under the BGR tent next season. Zach once again showed why he is so highly regarded, we asked allot of him as we put him into yet another new Piper for its maiden run, on race day no less. With no test day he immediately put it up front and only for circumstances beyond our control could have grabbed the win. He backed it up with a pole and yet another shot at victory the following day when a full course caution ended the chance of victory. A big congratulations goes out to Reid, he had a very solid season with 8 podiums and only his worst finish was a 4th! He was also the vice champion of the F1600 super Series despite missing the final weekend. A massive thank you to the entire BGR crew and for the continued support of Piper Race Cars and Fast Forward Components”. comments team owner Brian Graham.
BGR is headed to Mont Tremblant for the final weekend of the Formula Tour 1600 series with a two car effort for drivers Ben Hurst and Mikhail Goikhberg. Fall testing is schedule for Oct 15-16 and interested drivers should contact the team for more information.
BGR is the Canadian distributor for Piper Racecars and is a factory supported team of the popular chassis which is built in California, USA. The all new Piper DL7 debuted late last season and grabbed its first win at CTMP winning the Al Craighead CanAm Cup. BGR has put more drivers in the winner’s circle than any other team in OFFC history and had a lock on the Rookie of the Year for eight seasons in a row. With an alumni list that boasts drivers who have gone on to Championships all over North America to several starters in the Indy 500, BGR is well known as the place to begin a career in open wheel racing.
To learn more about the team visit www.briangrahamracing.com
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From: BGR racing
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