BGR Team Grote was back in action this past weekend with rounds 3-4 taking place at the lone trip to Shannonville Motorsports Park. Jack Mitchell Jr continued his pursuit of podiums and found success at the technical SMP. As a first time visitor to the track it was all about learning and improving as the weekend went on. The team had been successful in its appeal of the early season DQ at Mosport and was pleased to get back to the track and back to business.
Jack had a strong qualifying to line up 5th for start of the Saturday race. He immediately jumped to 4th and then proceeded to fight for 3rd. As the laps wound down he was under constant pressure from the pursuing car of Caitlin Johnston who swapped places back and forth with Mitchell several times before a late race surge put Mitchell back in 4th for good. The battle with Johnston allowed the 3rd place car of Steve Bamford to get away though and the order would remain the same at the finish with Mitchell scoring a well deserved 4th.
The Sunday event was another dog fight for the podium. The team made some significant changes to the car and Jack took full advantage of that as well as learning more of the nuances of the tricky track to qualify 3rd. The green flag dropped and Mitchell made another great start jumping to 2nd and holding that sport until the 3rd lap when he was passed by series point leader Michael Adams. He maintained the gap to Adams for several laps while keeping a gap to the pursuing Johnston/Bamford cars. As the laps wore down he lost some ground but kept his 3rd place safe to the checkers. His second trip to the podium in four races shows his progression is on the fast track and more is surely to come.
“We had a very strong weekend at Shannonville. Its a technical place and laps there are always an advantage so as this was Jack’s first visit we are very pleased with his performance. The Piper Honda combination is performing very well and we are learning more every time we go to the track. The Toyo tires stood up very well in the extreme heat and remained constant throughout the weekend. EMI coach Kyle Marcelli was again assisting Jack and it really paid off as we improved with every session.” comments team principal Brian Graham.
Next up for the team is the Formula Tour 1600 Series event at the Canadian Grand Prix. Always a favourite stop for the teams and drivers, BGR Team Grote goes into the event as the defending winners, Trent Hindman scored the win last June. Jack will be joined by Kieran Murphy, Marc Bishara, and other drivers to be named shortly.
“We are thrilled to be going back to the F1 event as defending winners and will do our best to repeat. Marc Bishara will be joining the team and will make his 2012 debut with us in Montreal. We are testing this coming Monday and hope to announce another driver for Montreal after that as well.”
says Graham.
BGR Team Grote has put more drivers in the winners 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 the past 6 consecutive years of Rookie of the Year will be
looking to continue that tradition this season. To learn more about the team visit www.briangrahamracing.com
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