Sellers Qualifies on the Front Row For Manfeild Finale

Feb 2, 2002
Palmerston North, New Zealand — Bryan Sellers today put himself in a perfect position to clinch the prestigious New Zealand International Formula Ford Championship by qualifying his Canterbury Motor Racing School/Crawford Services-prepared, Team USA Scholarship Van Diemen on the front row of the grid for the first of two series-deciding races at Manfeild Autocourse on Sunday.
“I ran by myself the whole session [today in qualifying] and went faster than everybody, except for one lap set in the draft by Kenny Smith,” said Sellers, 19, from Centerville, Ohio. “It was pretty uneventful actually. The car was good, and very consistent.”

Sellers will therefore line up on the outside of the front row of the grid, alongside veteran polesitter Kenny Smith, who, at the age of 60, shows no sign of slowing down. The gifted young American currently holds a handsome points lead, 168-122 over another New Zealander, Fabian Coulthard, after six of eight races.

“The game plan is just to finish decent,” said Sellers, who is seeking to clinch the fourth championship in as many years for the Team USA Scholarship program. “If I finish in the top three, it’s all done. Otherwise, just finish, really, because two top-10s will do.”

Teammate A.J. Allmendinger, by contrast, has suffered a couple of thoroughly dispiriting days at the fast and technical Manfeild circuit. His efforts during practice on Friday were thwarted by a blown engine. The team worked wonders to hustle a replacement motor overnight from its shop near Christchurch, on the South Island, to the track this morning, but it proved to be drastically down on power, leaving the 20-year-old from Hollister, Calif., a frustrated ninth among the tightly packed grid.

“I’m almost as disappointed as I could be,” said Allmendinger this evening. “It’s no one’s fault, everyone on the team has worked their butts off, but the motor’s nowhere near where it needs to be. I drove the car as fast as it could go and that was the best I could do. But we’re not giving up. We’ll sit down, figure out what our options are, and hopefully come back strong tomorrow.”