F1600: Exclusive Autosport Wins Twice at VIR

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (June 07, 2015) – Exclusive Autosport enjoyed an eventful outing at Virginia International Raceway in Round 4 of the F1600 Formula F Championship this weekend, 6th-7th June, highlighted with two more wins for series leader Scott Andrews and a return to the podium for Thomas McGregor.

Andrews won the first two F1600 races of the weekend to extend his win streak to four straight races and his season tally to five.  Saturday’sfirst event saw the Australian rookie triumph over Ben Auriemma for the victory with his Exclusive Autosport team-mate Thomas McGregor taking third for his first top-three finish of 2015 in F1600 Formula F competition.

Scott’s rich vein of form continued into Sunday’s first race when he dominated the 14-lap charge around VIR to again head Auriemma at the checkered flag with Andrew Hobbs completing the podium celebrations.  McGregor’s hopes of a second podium were dashed after contact dropped him off-track and down the order.  A blistering series of laps from the former Formula Tour F1600 Pro Class Champion saw the Canadian charge back to take sixth at the flag and the fastest race lap – earning pole for the third and final race.

A drama-filled race on Sunday afternoon would ultimately see Andrews denied a ninth consecutive podium finish.  An early race incident forced him off onto the grass, resulting in a trip to pit-lane to clean out his radiators to stop his engine from over heating.  A brilliant recovery drive saw Scott tear through the running order to claim ninth place at the end of the race won by Steve Bamford.

McGregor endured a fraught race caught up in the thick of the action and incidents.  Questionable racing from his rivals, and the subsequent contact resulting from said driving, ultimately forced Thomas’ retirement from the race three laps from the end – a bent front left suspension arm too much to overcome.

American teenager Trent Walko led Exclusive Autosport’s charge in the F2000 Championship Series double-header.  Targeting a maiden podium heading into the weekend, Walko came close in Saturday’s race with a fourth place finish.  Another solid race on Sunday afternoon captured a second straight top-five place for Walko courtesy of fifth at the checkered flag.

“It’s been a manic weekend for Exclusive Autosport with the team racing both here at VIR in F1600 and F2000 and in Montreal in the F1600 Super Series event at the Canadian Grand Prix,” reflected Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal.  “I’m tremendously proud of the job everyone’s done and here at VIR we again showed just how fast a package we have pairing our Spectrums with our driver talent.  Both guys led laps in F1600 and Scott ultimately scored our fifth and sixth wins of the season and took his personal total to five, which is fantastic.

“Thomas was right up there with him and it was great to see him back on the podium yesterday.  His comeback drive in this morning’s race was outstanding.  He reeled off a series of quick laps to get back up there and it earned him the pole for the final race.  Sadly he was used as a bumper car this afternoon but the positives are all there from the first two races.  In F2000 Trent continues to get faster.  He was a lock in the top-five this weekend which is encouraging and that first podium is hopefully just around the corner.”

Scott Andrews (@scottandrews44):  #94 Exclusive Autosport / Exclusive Management Inc. / Automobility PTY Ltd / Andrews Automotive / Spectrum / Sparco / Honda Racing HPD

Race 1 Saturday 6th June – Qualified: 1st (2 place penalty – started P3) / Finished: 1st

Race 2 Sunday 7th June – Qualified: 7th / Finished: 1st

Race 3 Sunday 7th June – Qualified: 6th / Finished: 9th

Quote:  “Wow!  I’m super stoked.  To have won four races in a row means a lot to me.  It’s a true testament to how hard the Exclusive Autosport team works.  We’ve made progress with the car this weekend and I’m just really proud of everyone involved.  I was excited to grab my first pole of the year also.  Unfortunately I didn’t see the checkered on Friday in practice, hence the two place penalty but it all still worked out with another win.  Big thanks to Automobility, Exclusive Autosport, Andrews Automotive and my whole team here and back at home.”

Thomas McGregor (@TMacRacing):  #93 Exclusive Autosport / Exclusive Management Inc. / Dairy Queen / Spectrum / Sparco / Honda Racing HPD

Race 1 Saturday 6th June – Qualified: 2nd / Finished: 3rd

Race 2 Sunday 7th June – Qualified: 5th / Finished: 6th

Race 3 Sunday 7th June – Qualified: 1st / Finished: 14th

Quote:  “Definitely a better weekend for me but still not a complete one.  I was naturally happy to join Scott on the podium on Saturday.  We were fast in qualifying and I knew the pace was there to challenge.  If we hadn’t been forced wide on Sunday morning I’m sure a second podium was on the cards but I was on a mission to get back up there and it was certainly satisfying to get the fastest lap of the race.  Our final race was forgettable, it was disappointing to be crashed into so often and ultimately forced into retirement.”

Trent Walko (@twalko91):  #91 Exclusive Autosport / Spectrum / Zetec

Race 1 Saturday 6th June – Qualified: 7th / Finished: 4th

Race 2 Sunday 7th June – Qualified: 5th / Finished:  5th

Quote:  “To come away with two top-five finishes is definitely something to build on.  It was a consistent weekend for me, which is good.  I’m enjoying being part of the Exclusive Autosport line-up and developing our package in F2000 against some pretty experienced competition.”

Round 4 of the SCCA sanctioned F1600 Formula F Championship Series and F2000 Championship Series is hosted at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th July.

Formed in 2013, Exclusive Autosport has quickly forged a reputation as one of North America’s premier junior formula outfits.  Championship success came quickly under Michael Duncalfe’s leadership with notable achievements including back-to-back driver titles in 2013 and 2014 in the Canadian Toyo Tires F1600 A-Class Championship and in the Quebec Formula Tour 1600 Pro-Class Championship.

Exclusive Management Inc. is the official North American Importer and Distributor for Spectrum Chassis, designed and produced by Borland Racing Developments in Australia.