Rosamond, CA

Paladin Motorsports spent the day testing a newly acquired 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV. Willow Springs International raceway was the 2.5 mile stage for the Monday morning test event. Test driver Stasia Edwards quickly adapted to vintage sedan driving using her past experience in formula and other open cockpit race cars.

On hand were some of the previous owner/ drivers of this vintage Alfa, Alan Ward and Phyllis Gaylord. Both Ward and Gaylord were impressed with Stasia's ability to consistently turn quick laps and reduce her lap times with such little experience in the car.

Over the next few months the car will undergo an extensive restoration process at the Paladin Motorsports shop located in Corona, Ca and will be ready to race in vintage race events by the end of the year.

Carrio/Knudsen share podium top at Buttonwillow
Braun wraps up 2 liter championship
By 14 year old Travis Braun

John Knudsen and Adrian Carrio placed their Formula TR machines on the top of the podium this Saturday and Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway Park after some very fierce battles. Past 1600 champion, Colin Braun, will become the 2004 2 liter co champion even if he doesn't race at the next eight races. He can win the title outright though, by just scoring one point in any of the following rounds of the Formula TR series.
Points leader Marco Andretti couldn't make it to Buttonwillow this weekend which gave Knudsen the opportunity to use the newer engine/car package for the two races.
On Saturday Knudsen put his Knudsen Racing, Gatorz sponsored car on the pole, closely followed by past 1600 champion, Tim Barber, in the CT Motorsports machine. After some scheduling difficulties for the 2 liter match race of champions, Braun was again the only runner in the more powerful 2 liter class.
At the green flag of Saturday's event Adrian Carrio, who started in the fourth position got a great start, and wound up with the lead out of turn one. Adrien Herberts made an aggressive move from third, dipping two wheels off the track in turn one. Carrio began stretching out his first place lead from John Knudsen to over five car lengths. After a bad start, second place qualifier Tim Barber pulled off the track with engine troubles. Knudsen slowly began pulling in the Carrio Racing machine, and was within striking distance on lap four. The lead two immediately started pulling away from Derek Sabol in third. At the halfway mark of the race, Knudsen made his move. He went to the inside of Carrio, and managed to come out of the last turn with the lead. Knudsen never looked back the rest of the race. He began pulling out a lead on Carrio, who was being caught by third place Sabol. With ten minutes to go Sabol spun coming out of the last turn and dropped back to the fourth position. The race was already over though. John Knudsen cruised to the checkered flag with Carrio second and Herberts third. Braun ended up lapping the entire 1600 field again.
When Knudsen came to a stop, everyone was shocked to see that the bolts that held on the steering colom had fallen out causing the steering wheel to wave from side-to-side.
"Carrio did a great job," John smiled cooling off after the event. "He raced a really clean race. I just tried to maintain a gap in front of him because I was afraid the steering would fall off."
"My car started to fade a little," Carrio began explaining about Knudsen's pass. "I tried to defend the corner but John had more breaking power. The pass was legit."
For Sunday's event John Knudsen once again qualified on the pole with Herberts second and Carrio third.
At the green flag Carrio accelerated around Herberts, and went on the inside of Knudsen. Once again he got out of turn one with the lead. At the exit of turn four Herberts lost control of his CT Motorsports car and spun off the course, done for the race with a bent push rod. A full course yellow came out for Herberts allowing Knudsen to catch up to the back of Carrio. On the restart Carrio held his lead to Knudsen, but Adam Davis dropped back to fourth as Sabol slid by. Carrio and Knudsen began to pull out a gap from third and fourth. With 6 minutes left in the race, Davis tried too hard to stay with third place Sabol and spun on the exit of the last turn. He barely kept his car off the concrete pit wall. With three to go Knudsen had to make his move, and went to the inside of Carrio in turn one. He slid wide and Carrio tucked his nose back under the veteran, regaining his position in the esses. A full course yellow came out for Kerry Lynch who had high sided the Gatorz Precision Tuned Eyewear machine in turn two. With not enough time to go green again the race was finished under yellow with Carrio first, Knudsen second, and Sabol third. This was Knudsen's 20th second place in Formula TR. Colin Braun finished the race and made sure that he would at the worst share the 2 liter championship.
"I jumped Knudsen on the start because I just saw the flag and went," Carrio explained after becoming the current points leader. "I was taking a defensive line into turn one when he passed me. I counter attacked like in karting, it's one of the best moves. My car was not a winner today but I improvised."
"He just started before I went," Knudsen told about the start and the reverse Carrio made on him. "He came back on the inside of turn one and we went side-by-side in the esses. He drove a good race, though."
"It was so much fun," Davis said after his race with Sabol. "I was trying to pressure Sabol and we pulled away to a great lead. I was just trying to push too hard."
"The natural way to progress is to go from karting to the 1600 car then to the 2 liter car, but I never thought I would win both the 1600 and 2 liter championships in a row," Braun said excitedly. "It is too bad that I didn't get to race more people for some of my sponsors like Speed Secrets and Latus Motors, but the series is continually growing and I think it has great potential."
The next race is at Portland, Oregon in a few months. It should be another close race to decide the victor.

Paladin Motorsports tested two young drivers this morning in their team owned Formula Renault 1600 cars. Sixteen-year-old CJ Marin and twenty-one year old Brian Lock both had their first experience in a formula car.

"This type of formula racing is a great start for a career in motorsports. Both of the young drivers have the consistency, skill, and maturity behind the wheel that it takes to make a career in professional motorsports." Aaron Thiel crew chief for the #35 car.

A light rain in the afternoon made for a tricky situation for the first time formula car drivers but it showed us that these young drivers can handle any condition and perform at a top level.

CJ's motorcycle and kart racing experience showed early on in the day with his consistently quick lap times. The Formula TR Series will be a natural progression for C.J. coming out of shifter karts, and he will be able to showcase his talents alongside other young stars.

Brian's previous sedan experience, from racing in the Honda challenge sanctioned by NASA the last two years quickly translated his racing skills to that of a formula car with the help of Paladin Motorsports team members. "I was very impressed with how quickly Brian took to the car, he produced very consistent quick lap times" said Reza Honarvar of Paladin Motorsports. "Brian's racing career has been very impressive so far with numerous wins in sedan racing, his speed day one in this car tells us he will be a top contender in the Formula TR series".

Paladin Motorsports will compete with a two car team in the West Coast Formula TR Series. More information about the Formula TR Series can be found at www.FormulaTR.com. Information on Paladin Motorsports LLC can be found at www.PaladinMotorsports.com.

Saturday's qualifying took place on a wet and slippery track due to rainfall the night before. Shelley qualified in front of both Don and Stasia. Saturday's regional race began in much better conditions, and was a clean start for all the Paladin drivers. However, Shelley spun in turn three of the second lap, which put her behind Don and Stasia, as well as other competitors. Shelley battled her way past three other competitors and once she was past them her focus was on catching her other two teammates. She passed Don during the twelfth lap of the race, and then continued her quest for her other teammate Stasia. It was in the third turn during the last lap of the race where she succeeded, and ended up finishing .248 seconds in front of Stasia.

Sunday's event was the national race. Shelley again qualified in front of her teammates. The race began with an early pass by Don on his teammate Stasia. Don and Stasia worked their way past two other competitors, and then as teammates should do, they worked together on the oval creating a draft to try to catch their other teammate Shelley. They were making headway until Shelley caught another competitor and used their draft to her advantage. Shelley spent the rest of the race battling nose to tail with Bob Gardner. Don and Stasia never did catch Shelley, and Shelley never did manage to get around Bob, but it was fun to try.

The races will be held primarily on the West Coast with a schedule of 8 weekends/16 races. First race weekend will be at California Speedway March 7 & 8, 2004. Steve Henry, COO Formula TR, stated “The Formula TR team will persevere with what we developed in 2002. Jerry Kunzman at NASA, Reza Honarvar with Paladin Motorsports, Patty Halloran and I developed a strong formula series. We all see the potential in this type of series and are determined to continue forward.