Lime Rock: On the Podium Again
Morad Takes Second, Bad Luck Fires Up Boyer

2006.05.31: As soon as the opening races at Mid-Ohio were over, AIM Autosport and the rest of the Formula BMW USA teams packed up and headed to Connecticut for a pair of races at Lime Rock Park. After scoring a win in Ohio, AIM's Formula BMW team was looking to carry the momentum to Lime Rock's short but challenging track.

Despite a few unfortunate events, AIM took another podium finish with Daniel Morad claiming a second-place finish. The team was also thrilled to see Doug Boyer shed some politeness and show he was not to be taken lightly.

Qualifying
Qualifying for round three was washed out by heavy rainfall. Officials deemed the track unsafe for action so the starting order for round three was determined by the drivers' standings. This was fine by Daniel, the points leader, but Doug, eleventh in the standings, would have preferred to fight for position on the track.

The weather cooperated for the second session and Daniel maintained the fast pace he'd established in practice by posting a lap of 54.208 seconds around the 2.48 km (1.54 mile) track to grid third. Doug was unlucky, driving only three laps before being punted off the road by another driver. Barely having the car warmed up, his time of 56.491 seconds put him 25th – the inside position of the last row.

Race One
Sunny conditions greeted the 26 drivers as they lined up for the first of two 25-laps races. Impressive starts from Reed Stevens and John Zartarian demoted Daniel to third as they roared away. Always in the mood for a race, gritty young Daniel was back in the lead by lap five.

Starting from eleventh, Doug needed to gain positions quickly before the field started to spread out. Unfortunately, he was trapped in a midfield quagmire.

Looking stronger as the race progressed, Daniel posted the fastest lap of the race on his tenth trip around the track and by lap eleven held a two-and-a-half-second margin. Then trouble hit. Daniel's car was drooping at the rear, the result of a loose jam nut on a suspension pushrod. The car was out of balance, the aerodynamics were compromised and soon it was bottoming out at several points around the circuit. Daniel did a terrific job keeping an ill handling machine on the track, but was caught out as he rounded the final corner on lap eighteen. With Sebastien Saavedra bearing down on the spinning car, Daniel's crew had visions of an all-night re-build flashing through their minds, but Saavedra did a fine job avoiding a crash. Daniel was equally impressive, catching the spin and continuing with the race. Sadly, his car continued to get worse and three laps later he spun off and retired.

Doug was never able to get into a consistent rhythm and was only able to finish in fourteenth place.

Race Two
The second race of the Lime Rock event, and round four of the championship, was held on Memorial Day Monday. Daniel made a good start and held onto third for the first lap while Doug was quick out of the gate and clearly had no desire to remain stuck in traffic again. Following two blistering laps, Doug had passed five cars and the team was elated to see him break out of his quiet shell. He let no one take liberties and those who deliberately blocked him were treated to exploded rear crash boxes.

Up at the front, Daniel was embroiled in a battle with John Zartarian, but the feisty youngster fended off Zartarian to finish third. Following post-race technical inspection, second-place finisher Simona de Silvestro was excluded, promoting Daniel to second.

Doug's hard work and feisty racing paid off as he charged from 25th to finish thirteenth.

Afterthoughts
With two podium finishes in two weekends, Daniel appears to have established himself as a top contender. Doug, meanwhile shook off some humility and showed he was a hungry racer at the core. Everyone is looking forward to Montreal in four weeks.

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