Barrie, ON (October 7, 2013)- The incredible run of Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Rookie of the Year award winners for Brian Graham Racing/ Team Grote continued in 2013 as Zacharie Robichon (Aquafine/ P1 Fitness/ Just a Drop), joined a very select group of drivers who have brought the honours home. Robichon is the latest award winner in a list that includes Andrew Hall, Kyle Marcelli, Conor Daly, Stefan Rzadzinski, Ayrton Triolo, Trent Hindman and Jesse Lazare.
The biggest race of the season for the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship is the Can Am Cup and BGR has been runner up an incredible five times. This year finally the Cup was hoisted by a BGR driver as Jesse Lazare in his Door Doctor supported Piper DF5 crossed the line for the win. To top off a great team result, Robichon took a very hard fought third place and, making his series and open wheel debut, was Whitby Toyota Scion-supported Jeffrey Kingsley, as he drove a fantastic race to bring home a fourth place result.
“We have worked so hard to bring home the Can Am Cup, and to finally get it is most satisfying. And to take three of the top four places with the Piper DF5/Honda’s makes it more rewarding as our change to the Californian chassis has proved the right move. The support we get from the factory as the Canadian dealer for their winning cars is a big part of our success. With the ability to have input on the cars and the parts supply being seamless, it really is a perfect fit for BGR Team Grote.” comments team owner Brian Graham.
“We believe we have the best prepared cars on the track and the wins, pole positions, fastest laps, lap records, and podiums back that up. We were in the championship fight right up to the last day even though we were compromised at the penultimate round by our title rivals teammate, who took out Zach to help their chances. As difficult as that was, we kept working and would not retaliate as that is not how to win championships. Sportsmanship is a big part of our young drivers learning curve among the many other facets and purposely putting others at risk is never an option.”
The Sunday event would yet again be a hard fought contest, with Robichon fighting for the lead until the checkered flag, and ultimately taking the third spot on the podium. Lazare struggled with a failing TPS (sensor) that would hinder his ability to go for a second win of the weekend but he hung on to the lead train but could not attack. Despite the problem, he still managed a sixth place and set the third fastest race lap. Completing his first race weekend Kingsley was going wheel to wheel with the much more experienced racers and had another terrific result with an eighth.
“Another season ends with the Rookie of the Year coming from the BGR Team Grote line up of drivers. We are very proud of Zacharie for not only how he delivered on the track, but his off track presence and superb representation of our team. He showed true sportsmanship during the entire season and should know that he did all he could for us. Jesse is without a doubt one of Canada’s brightest young stars and has a big future in this sport. We welcomed our newest young racer, Jeffrey Kingsley, and we look forward to working with him as he continues the legacy of BGR next season as he contends for Rookie of the Year. A big thank you to Piper Race Cars and HPD for the continued support and of course our crew who work tirelessly to give us the best cars on the grid.”
BGR Team Grote has put more drivers in the winner’s circle than any other team in OFFC history and continues to strive to provide the perfect environment for karters to make the transition to the open wheel ranks. The winners of now eight consecutive years of Rookie of the Year will be looking to continue that tradition next season. To learn more about the team visit www.briangrahamracing.com and follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/144083092268782/
From: BGR/ Team Grote PR
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