Region: mid south
Car #: 2
Year : 1999 Posts: 4275
Status: Offline
posted
Not sure if someone mentioned this or not? But I would like to congratulate the guys at Freedom for their first win in ST. Charbonell won and Whitis/Long finished P3! Very strong showing guys, my sincere congratulations, i know how hard you have worked. Jim http://www.grand-am.com/schedule/results.cfm?series=k&eid=885&sid=660
Region: 011
Car #: 47
Year : 94 Posts: 488
Status: Offline
posted
Dragy ; u-r a wee bit lay8 ... those Freedom boys have already drunk themselves into a stupor ... lots of Canadian beer Big Time first Win !! 2 of the 3 cars on the podium, a nice payday from GA & Mazda ... way to go mr FSU some side trivia ; it's Carbonell, not Charbonell, both are Andrews', both AC's drive like awesome and both last names mean the exact same, (from the latin 'carbon'). only difference is that the young AC (19 yrs old) doesn't drink and your nemesis AC 'lives' at the bar.
Region: 011
Car #: 47
Year : 94 Posts: 488
Status: Offline
posted
or Derek posting some incar of #146 passing #145 on lap 15 and #171 on lap 31 and some of lap 68 while holding off the VW for P-1 ... some 'edited' views would be fine have spoken with half the podium about the DFL to FIRST performance by young Andrew C but it would be nice to view some of the teams 1st win !
August 15, 2009 - TROIS-RIVIČRES, Quebec, Canada. Street Tuner (ST) - It was a good day to be part of the Carbonell family. Andrew Carbonell ended APR Motorsport's three-race winning streak and gave Freedom Autosport its first-ever Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge victory Saturday in the Street Tuner (ST) portion of the 40th annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivičres. He shared the car with father Alfredo Carbonell.
Carbonell was one of three leaders in the caution-free race around the 1.521-mile, 10-turn temporary street circuit, and he and father became the first father-son combo to win together in KONI Challenge competition since Jim (father) and Jamie Holtom on June 19, 2005 at Mosport International Raceway.
It was the pair's first-ever race together in the KONI Challenge, and their first victories each in the series. Andrew Carbonell led the final 31 circuits of the 71-lap, 90-minute race, winning by 4.821 seconds over Ian Baas and co-driver Josh Hurley in the No. 171 APR/Gunther VW Volkswagen GTI. The pair started 19th after Alfredo Carbonell's qualifying run Saturday morning, which gained them a race-high 18 positions, and averaged 71.008 mph.
"This is event is special to me," said Andrew Carbonell, who won in his 17th career KONI Challenge start. "I was here in 2007 with (SCCA) MX-5 Cup and I fell in love with the event and have been dying to come back. To be able to come back and stand on the top of the podium is just amazing, especially here with my father. It's my first professional win and probably a win I'll remember forever for a lot of reasons. I can't thank enough people for this. It's just amazing."
For the elder Carbonell - a late-weekend replacement for No. 146 Mazda/Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 regular Rhett O'Doski - it was only his second race in KONI Challenge competition. Both drivers live in Miami, Fla., where the 61-year-old Alfredo Carbonell emigrated to from Cuba in 1961.
"First of all, I want to thank all the fans here at Trois-Rivičres," Alfredo Carbonell said. "I also want to thank Mazda and Freedom Autosport, who support all of our war veterans and troops. It was a wonderful weekend here. I had a very hard time qualifying. It was not a problem. I handed the car to the hotshoe here: my son. He took care of us and put up a great battle after that."
Freedom also completed the podium, as Tom Long and Derek Whitis finished third in the No. 145 Mazda/Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5.
“This is a momentous occasion for the Freedom Autosport team and Mazda Motorsports,” commented Tom Long, who now has three podium finishes in 2009. “The Freedom Autosport guys deserve this win, and to give Mazda their first victory in Koni competition of 2009 is just spectacular. It’s great to get another double podium result like this as well (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, May 2009). I couldn’t ask for a better crew, car, or co-driver… just fantastic!”
August 16, 2009 - TROIS-RIVIČRES, Quebec, Canada. Grand Sport (GS) - Matt Bell earned his second victory of the 2009 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) season Sunday in the 40th edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivičres, holding off Billy Johnson and giving co-driver Don Salama his first-ever GS win.
Bell led the final 45 laps of the 66-lap, 90-minute race around the 1.521-mile, 10-turn temporary street circuit in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, Turner Motorsport's third victory of 2009. At times during his stint, Bell owned nearly an eight-second lead, but that was cut into late in the race by Tom Long. The gap diminished on Lap 52, when the yellow flag came out for debris on the track as a result from a crash involving John Potter's No. 41 Magnus Racing Porsche 997. It marked the first time a caution period occurred in a GS race since TheGlen.com 200 at Watkins Glen International.
The green flag flew on Lap 55, and Bell was momentarily challenged by Long before positions began changing behind him. With that racing going on, he pulled away, moving to fifth in the standings and keeping his championship hopes alive with only two races remaining this season.
Johnson moved through the field to take second just a couple laps after the final caution, giving himself a second consecutive GS podium at Trois-Rivičres and the first for Jack Roush Jr. at the track. They drove together in the No. 61 Valvoline/Roush Ford Mustang GT.
For several laps, the pole sitting car of Ken Wilden followed Johnson through the field, and took over third from Tom Long on Lap 59. Wilden set the race's fastest lap two circuits later, and his efforts awarded him with a two-point increase on James Gue and Bret Seafuse. Rounding out the top five were Tom Long and Charlie Putman in the No. 91 Sparco/Import Car Store BMW M3.
“What a race. It was a shame to see that late race debris caution come out with just 15 minutes left”, commented Tom Long. “Our car was working so well on the long run, I thought we had the podium result wrapped up today. The Mustangs were just so strong on the final restart, I had nothing for them. I want to thank Charlie Putman and the Automatic team for this opportunity.” Long subbing in for Charles Espenlaub this weekend, who was absent with a prior racing commitment.
Region: SFR
Car #: 82/73
Year : 1991 Posts: 2015
Status: Offline
posted
Congrats!
-------------------- Kim
91 BRG SMT RIP 06 MX-5 Cup
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy sh*t...what a ride!'" - Unknown
Thanks fellow SM'ers. It was a great weekend. FINALLY a win. It wouldn't have happened without the hard work by JD2 (Jim Daniels and Jim Drago), the original work by BSI & Todd Buras, and all the work put in by Glenn & Tom Long leading the Freedom crew.
Without my STRONG 1.7 laps in the car before handing it off to Tom, not sure we would have had a chance at the podium 87 minutes later!
Region: Atlanta
Car #: 01
Year : '90 & '99 Posts: 535
Status: Offline
posted
Nice job guys! After watching a few of these races first hand and seeing how fast you guys have been, with nothing but bad luck so far it was only a matter of time until the maiden win occured. Watch out Koni, the first one is always the hardest!
Region: Southeast
Car #: 4
Year : 1999 Posts: 69
Status: Offline
posted
Great job! Freedom's gonna roll now, 1 down!
-------------------- ---------------------------------- Craig Foster #4 Atlanta Region SM Champion 2009, 2010 Delainey Motorsport, LLC Farnbacher - OPM - East Street Auto - Rogaine
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