Rice, Sielsky Shine in Formula Opel Tests

Oct 4, 1997
Chesterfield, England – Valvoline Team USA Scholarship winners Buddy Rice and Matt Sielsky have completed three days of testing in preparation for the prestigious Nations Cup VIII to be held at Donington Park on October 18/19.
The pair will fly the red, white and blue colors of Team USA in the self-styled “Olympics of Motor Racing” and will compete – in identical cars – against two-driver teams representing at least 14 other nations. In 1996, Team USA gained the Silver Medal, placing second behind Germany, through the efforts of Jerry Nadeau and Tony Renna.

The two talented young Americans gained their initial taste of the Formula Opel/Vauxhall cars during a two-day shakedown test at Snetterton, England, then traveled over to Donington Park on Thursday, October 2 for an additional day under the expert guidance of race car driver-turned-team owner John Village.

“They’re going well,” said Village, a former European Formula Ford champion who, since turning to team ownership, has helped several top-line drivers during the formative stages of their careers, including CART star Adrian Fernandez and Formula 3000 champion/IRL driver Vincenzo Sospiri. “They’re already on the pace and they’re getting more and more comfortable in the cars.”

Both drivers encountered difficulty during the most recent outing at Donington, with Sielsky spinning off due to a suspension failure and Rice losing time with a broken gearbox input shaft. Nevertheless, the drivers are pleased with progress.

“That’s motor racing,” said Rice, 21, from Phoenix, Ariz. “These things happen. I’d rather get the problems out of the way now rather than have them occur on race weekend. I’m very happy with the way things are going. The team is doing a great job and we’re all getting along well.”

Added teammate Sielsky, 19, from Northbrook, Ill.: “The cars are quite different to the Formula Ford 2000s that both Buddy and I are used to. I’m feeling pretty good. I’m finding that you can still brake late and hard, like in the FF2000 car, if you’re braking in a straight line; but if it’s a flowing corner – and there are several of those at Donington – then you need to be much lighter on the brakes and carry the speed into the corner. Donington’s an awesome track. I just wish we had more circuits like that in the States.”

Rice and Sielsky are attending the final round of the British Formula 3 Championship this weekend at Silverstone, then will return to the track on Tuesday (October 7) for another full day of testing.

Photo of Matt Sielsky testing at Donington Park