{"id":6363,"date":"2022-10-21T19:32:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T19:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6363"},"modified":"2022-10-21T19:40:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T19:40:40","slug":"team-usa-scholarship-drivers-ready-for-formula-ford-festival-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6363","title":{"rendered":"Team USA Scholarship Drivers Ready for Formula Ford Festival Action"},"content":{"rendered":"
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L. to r.: Ferguson, Budzinski and Schrage are ready to race (Gary Hawkins Photography).<\/p><\/div>\n

BRANDS HATCH, England<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s time to go racing! This year\u2019s three Team USA Scholarship winners, Elliott Budzinski, 20, from Ann Arbor, Mich., William Ferguson, 18, from Pacifica, Calif., and Thomas Schrage, 17, from Bethel, Ohio, have completed an extensive test program over the last few weeks in England and are ready to contest this weekend\u2019s 51st annual BRSCC Formula Ford Festival at the famed Brands Hatch circuit.<\/p>\n

The trio will join a strong U.S. contingent in the traditional end-of-season event at the short but challenging 1.2079-mile circuit situated an hour or so southeast of London. Seven former winners are among an entry of over 80 drivers representing at least a dozen nations. Joey Foster, Ivor McCullough, Niall Murray, Rory Smith and Jamie Sharp have accounted for eight victories between them, and will be joined by returning legends Roberto Moreno, from Brazil, who took the honors back in 1980, and 1991 winner, Belgium\u2019s Marc Goossens.<\/p>\n

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Newgarden won the Formula Ford “Kent” Festival in 2008.<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to the Team USA Scholarship trio, similar programs from Australia, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand are supporting promising young talents in this prestigious event which has been won in the past by Johnny Herbert (1985), Mark Webber (1996) and Jenson Button (1998), all of whom went on to win Formula 1 races, as well as two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden, who carried the distinctive and patriotic Team USA Scholarship colors to victory in 2008.<\/p>\n

American hopes also will be carried by 2021 Team USA Scholarship winner Max Esterson, from New York, N.Y., who finished a close second last year and continued to hone his skills after stepping up to GB3 in 2022, plus Jeremy Fairbairn, from Wellington, Fla., Shaun Rashid, from Atlanta, Ga., and cancer survivor Gabe Tesch, from Mica, Wash.<\/p>\n

Esterson and Rashid will run under the same Ammonite Motorsport banner as Budzinski, Ferguson and Schrage, who have gained experience of their Ray GR cars at a variety of venues in the UK, including Castle Combe, where they completed a successful exploratory race event three weeks ago, Pembrey and Snetterton. They also benefitted from simulator tuition with RaceCraft1 Motorsport Training\u2019s Kelly Jones before their UK trip, in addition to pounding out laps at Brands Hatch for the past three days, during which they have sampled a wide array of weather and track conditions.<\/p>\n

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The tight-knit Ammonite Motorsport group.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so thrilled to welcome back Team USA for another year,\u201d said Andy Low, who worked as a crew chief with Cliff and Michelle Dempsey for several years before taking over the organization upon the Dempseys\u2019 retirement a few years ago and then rebranding the team as Ammonite Motorsport for the 2022 season. \u201cElliott, William and Thomas have settled in very well with the team. They\u2019ve really got to grips with the cars and have done a great job on track so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see the guys experience the UK too. It\u2019s been a fantastic cultural experience for them and I\u2019m really impressed with how they\u2019ve embraced the whole package of what the scholarship can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the drivers themselves are equally enthusiastic about their prospects.<\/p>\n

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Budzinski heads Ferguson into Druid’s hairpin.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to get underway for the Formula Ford Festival,\u201d said Budzinski, who has impressed despite minimal car racing experience prior to his UK trip. \u201cTo do well at this race everything has to come together. The team continues to do an amazing job and I believe I have made big strides in the car that will allow us to fight for the top spot on the podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrands Hatch is a truly special track, the elevation and character it has is unlike anywhere I\u2019ve ever driven\u2026 but testing is one thing, I cannot wait to see how 80+ cars race here!<\/p>\n

\u201cI also cannot go without thanking Jeremy Shaw and the long list of Team USA Scholarship sponsors that allow us to compete in such an amazing event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been waiting to race on such a historic track like Brands Hatch Circuit for all of my life,\u201d added Schrage, who last weekend traveled back to the U.S. to clinch the FRP F1600 Championship at Pittsburgh International Raceway. \u201cThis track is absolutely insane in wet conditions and has taught me a new driving style. I feel that I have a true chance to chase the gold this weekend, and I will be chasing just that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had an amazing couple weeks of testing with the 2022 Team USA crew thanks to Ammonite Motorsport,\u201d said Ferguson, who finished second in this year\u2019s Canadian F1600 Championship. \u201cWe\u2019ve been to multiple tracks and experienced many different types of conditions. Because of this, I feel well acclimated to this Formula Ford car and prepared for whatever obstacles and conditions that will be thrown at me this weekend. Having three days of testing at Brands Hatch already in the books, I\u2019ve really gotten a feel for this amazing circuit.<\/p>\n

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Schrage is riding the crest of a wave.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI really want to thank everyone involved in the Team USA program for putting together such an amazing opportunity for Elliot, Thomas and me. With two other Americans under the tent, and all five of us showing promising speed so far, we\u2019re looking to put the stars and stripes on the top step of the podium come Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The huge entry will be split into four 12-lap Heat races which will be held on Saturday afternoon after qualifying earlier in the day. The top 12 drivers from each Heat will qualify directly into the pair of 14-lap Semi Final races on Sunday. The 20-lap Final, set for 5:06 local time (five hours forward from EDT) will comprise 30 cars.<\/p>\n

Budzinski has been drawn in Heat One, with qualifying set for 9:00 a.m. and the race at 1:35 p.m. Schrage will be in Heat Two at 2:40 p.m. after qualifying at 9:47 a.m. Ferguson will qualify for the fourth Heat at 11:16 a.m. and race at 4:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for the event Final Instructions and here<\/a> for the weekend schedule, although bear in mind times are subject to change. Live timing will be available at https:\/\/www.tsl-timing.com\/event\/224232<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The entirety of the racing action will be live streamed at https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BUlQF64fBOk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About Team USA Scholarship<\/strong>:
\nThe program has been providing opportunities for talented American race car drivers at an early stage in their careers since 1990. Supporters include AERO \u2122 Sustainable Paint Technology, Doug Mockett & Company, the Road Racing Drivers Club and SAFEisFAST.com, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Chip Ganassi Racing, The Stellrecht Company, Chris Locke, CoForce, Polecat Training Academy, Pratt Miller, Dyson Racing, PitFit Training, RaceCraft1, Sparco USA, Speedstar Management and Styled Aesthetic. Previous scholarship winners include Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Jerry Nadeau, Buddy Rice, Andy Lally, Phil Giebler, A.J. Allmendinger, J.R. Hildebrand, Dane Cameron, Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, Connor De Phillippi, Spencer Pigot, Trent Hindman, Tristan Nunez, Oliver Askew and Kyle Kirkwood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRANDS HATCH, England \u2013 It\u2019s time to go racing! This year\u2019s three Team USA Scholarship winners, Elliott Budzinski, 20, from Ann Arbor, Mich., William Ferguson, 18, from Pacifica, Calif., and Thomas Schrage, 17, from Bethel,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[191,68,53,185,114,113,121,216,70,215,206,217,205,66,190,187],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363"}],"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=6363"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6372,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6363\/revisions\/6372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}