{"id":2451,"date":"2013-11-03T18:43:13","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T18:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2013-11-03T18:43:13","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T18:43:13","slug":"team-usa-drivers-shine-brightly-in-walter-hayes-trophy-at-silverstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"Team USA Drivers Shine Brightly in Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eidson on his way to second in the Semi Final (photo courtesy of Jack Mitchell\/JAM Photography)<\/p><\/div>\n

Silverstone, England (November 3, 2013) \u2013 Jake Eidson and Joey Bickers finished seventh and 26th (out of over 110 entrants) in the Grand Final of today\u2019s 13th annual Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford extravaganza at Silverstone; but the final results do not do them justice. In cold, sunny and blustery conditions \u2013 quite different to the drab overcast and intermittent rain that characterized Saturday\u2019s Heat races \u2013 Eidson remained in contention at least for a podium finish until being involved in an incident with Englishman Oliver White just two laps from the end while battling for second place.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Eidson, 18, from Littleton, Colo., slipped briefly from fourth to sixth on the opening lap of his Semi Final race but quickly made his way to second, fighting past three-time Walter Hayes Trophy winner Joey Foster to earn a starting position on Row 2 of the grid for the 15-lap Grand Final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty happy with how the weekend went,\u201d summarized Eidson. \u201cI know the results don\u2019t really show that but I\u2019m really happy with how we did. The Semi Final went great; I went from P4 to P2, and that was a great race in itself and put us in a good place for the Final. I got a pretty good start and it turned out to be a really good battle between me and P2 throughout the whole race. We were side by side for at least two or three laps. It was the best race I\u2019ve had in a long time. Coming down the back straight with just a few laps to go, I saw a gap on the inside going into Brooklands and I thought the gap was a little bit bigger than it was. It was probably a bit optimistic and I just dropped two wheels on the grass and couldn\u2019t hang on and did a little 360. I\u2019m pretty sure it excited some of the fans, but I got it going and finished seventh which, given the scenario, I think was a pretty good save. Overall, this has just been a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bickers encountered an even more dramatic day which included no fewer than four races. The 21-year-old from Moorpark, Calif., began by rising from 22nd on the grid for the 10-lap Progression Race to finish fourth, then charged from 34th to 12th in the 12-lap Last Chance Race to secure a place in the second of the two Semi-Finals. Bickers leapt from 33rd to 19th inside the first four laps before a multi-car incident brought out the red flags. He continued his climb after the restart, finishing 10th to ensure a place in the Final. Once again there was drama. Bickers rose to 17th in the first couple of laps, then was involved in an incident at Beckett\u2019s immediately following another red flag and restart. He resumed in 29th and could manage no better than 26th at the checkered flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure whether I would be able to make the final,\u201d he admitted, \u201cbut once I was on track I realized the car was good and I became pretty confident. When everything was done and I was in the Final I was pretty happy about it \u2013 just to bounce back from yesterday feels pretty good. I\u2019ve probably learned more just today than I have all season. I\u2019ve been through so much and passed so many people and been in so many situations on track that I\u2019ve never had before. There have been ups and downs definitely but I can\u2019t beat the learning experience I\u2019ve had today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Silverstone, England (November 3, 2013) \u2013 Jake Eidson and Joey Bickers finished seventh and 26th (out of over 110 entrants) in the Grand Final of today\u2019s 13th annual Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford extravaganza at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2451"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2455,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions\/2455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}