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Continued from News:
Formula BMW
Daniel Morad Formula BMW World Final
Report
After seven weeks in Europe, seventeen-year-old Daniel Morad is back
home in Canada for some downtime. His recent European adventures
included a trip to the Red Bull Junior Team facilities in Austria and
testing at various circuits. The trip culminated with the Formula BMW
World Final in Valencia, Spain.
The main focus of the trip was the Formula BMW World Final and Daniel
would spend considerable time with Eurointernational, his team during a
successful run for the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship which he
clinched at Mosport back in August. Daniel would be attending this
year's World Final as one of three champions from the international
series. Thirty-five drivers from around the globe would be in attendance
to compete for the chance to win a test drive with the BMW-Sauber
Formula 1 race team.
Daniel was on pace from opening practice. "We had a great comfort level
going in" Daniel said. "After a full season together, and winning a
championship together, the Eurointernational team and I were prepared
and ready to go for it." By the end of Daniel's qualifying session, that
confidence was evident in the times. Daniel was second in his group and
was one of only two drivers to break into the 1:16 lap times (1:16.986).
This performance would also place Daniel into the Super Pole contest
featuring the top eight drivers. The Super Pole is a one-lap shootout
with the best time guaranteed the pole in each of the heat races. While
Daniel did not win Super Pole he was still guaranteed a front-row start
for each of his three heat races. He would sit on pole for his first
heat.
"Front row is the place to be" commented Daniel, and he was right,
taking wins in the first two heats. Grid for the final is based on
cumulative points through the heats with a win scoring '0', second place
scoring '2' and so on. Daniel would enter the third heat with zero
points effectively giving him pole for the final. In the third heat he
played it safe, settling into third place. "We took three points in the
last heat" noted Daniel, "but it was a matter of staying out of trouble
and not getting into a wreck. I knew that we were still good enough for
front row in the final and I was not going to do anything to jeopardize
that."
Starting from the front row for the final, Daniel felt good about his
chances. "With a good start and a clean run to corner one, we knew we
could break away from the field and maybe have a two or three-way battle
for the top spot." Unfortunately, it was not to be. On lap three,
electrical gremlins caused a malfunction with a fuel pump relay and
Daniel was forced to retire. "That's racing" offered Daniel. "Sometimes,
no matter how well you think things are going, something can go wrong.
You can puncture a tire or slight contact into a corner can bend your
suspension enough to upset handling. In our case it was an electronics
issue that ended our day. And that's racing."
Daniel's performance throughout the World Final did not go unnoticed
however. At the banquet later that day, he was given the Driver
Excellence award. Daniel commented, "It is great to be recognized for my
efforts especially in an international event conducted by one of the
leading auto manufacturers with strong Formula 1 connections. I am happy
to come away this season with a championship and a strong World Final
performance. Now we set our sights on 2008."
Daniel would like to thank Red Bull Junior Team, Eurointernational,
Statik Mountain, Maple Leaf Mortgages and Level Ten Communications for
their support in 2007.
For news and updates please visit
www.danielmorad.com
mail your news to
editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk
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