AIM Driver Wins BMW Rookie Championship
Daniel Morad Claims Rookie Title in Season's Final Race

2006.09.07: The final event of the 2006 Formula BMW USA Championship took place at Mosport International Raceway over the Labour Day Weekend and AIM Autosport's Formula BMW squad looked forward to wrapping up the season on their home turf. The home court provided no advantage though and, as has been the case so often this year, the team had cause to celebrate for one driver while recognizing the disappointment of the other. Sloshing through the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto, Daniel Morad won the 2006 Formula BMW USA Rookie Championship while Doug Boyer lost a shot at his best result of the season when he missed a radio call to pit.

Testing and Practice
Only one driver in the 25-car Formula BMW field had prior experience on Mosport's classic road course, but thanks to a generous amount of practice time, including promoter sessions on Thursday, everyone had a good handle on the track by the time qualifying began late Friday afternoon.

Running on sticker tires, other drivers topped the charts in the opening practice session, but AIM saved their new rubber for the second session, reasoning that Doug and Daniel would be better prepared for higher grip levels in the qualifying session that followed. Red flags threw a spanner into that plan as two incidents left time for only a handful of hot laps in the afternoon practice.

Qualifying
During the three-hour wait before Friday's qualifying session, the AIM Autosport crew inspected the cars thoroughly, as usual, then made some small handling adjustments. A loose (oversteering) car is usually slow around Mosport's curves, so more rear-end grip was dialed into the set ups.

Early in the session, there were some pensive faces in the AIM pit as Daniel circulated 1.5 seconds off the pace of the leaders and Doug simply struggled. After having the front spring changed, Daniel pulled himself up to eighth with a time of 1:21.669 on his last timed lap. Doug’s search for pace continued throughout the session and he was disappointed with his time of 1:22.890 which placed him twentieth on the grid for Saturday's race.

The team awoke to an overcast sky on Saturday and wondered when it was going to pour. Qualifying for race two was held in the morning with eyes frequently checking the state of the clouds. The AIM crew, hoping for some quick early laps in case rain was on the way, chewed their nails as the minutes ticked away and the clouds looked more imposing. Doug gradually built his speed while this time Daniel struggled. Doug's best lap came late in the session when he was able to bring his times down to the mid-1:22 range. His best time of 1:22.423 placed him thirteenth for the start of Sunday’s race. After pitting for some adjustments, Daniel was sent out and told to push as hard as he could. Once again, his last lap was the keeper, a 1:21.811 that would place him seventh on the grid.

Race One
By the time the race was due to start on Saturday afternoon, the heavens had opened. Due to heavy rainfall and treacherous track conditions, the race began under a full-course caution behind the pace car and the first racing lap would have the field remain single file. This seemed a sensible decision as Doug said the spray was so bad he could not see much beyond the nose of his car.

From his eighth-place start, Daniel climbed as high as fifth before sliding off at turn two on lap twelve. He avoided disaster by keeping the car away from the tire barriers, but the mistake cost two places. On the following lap, Maxime Pelletier slid off at the same place and crashed, promoting Daniel back up to sixth place which he held to the finish.

Doug had a steady and solid race. Passing some and capitalizing on the mistakes of others, he clawed his way from near the back of the field to finish twelfth. Both Doug and Daniel showed intelligence and skill in getting their cars to the finish in such poor conditions and Daniel now had a thirteen-point lead in the Rookie Championship.

Race Two
The rain finally stopped early Sunday afternoon, but the track remained wet as race time approached. The team predicted that a dry line would develop during the race, but could not be certain how quickly. A cautious approach was adopted and rain tires were fitted to both cars. In fact, with only one exception, the entire field rolled out on wet tires.

The race began without incident, progressing to lap seven before the yellow flags came out following a tangle between Saavedra and David Garza. Saavedra was able to continue, but had fallen to the back of the field, all but sealing the Rookie Championship for Daniel.

The full-course yellow sparked a burst of activity in the pits as a number of drivers came in for slick tires. Doug was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the situation and was called in, but his radio glitched at the crucial moment and he missed the call. He came in for slicks on the following lap, but the moment was gone. Despite running very quickly and setting the third fastest lap of the race, Doug finished 21st. Underlining the missed opportunity was Adrien Herberts who started the race directly in front of Doug, pitted at the right moment and went on to finish third.

Daniel, along with most other front runners, took a conservative approach and nursed his rain tires to the end of the race. He finished ninth, clinching the Rookie Championship.

Afterthoughts
The 2006 season was an emotional roller coaster for AIM Autosport's Formula BMW USA Team. With twin races at each event, the team experienced both jubilation and frustration at nearly every stop of the tour.

Doug scored some good results early in the season, including a fourth-place in Montreal and a fifth at Mid-Ohio, but he endured trying times in the latter half. After taking eighteen points in the first three events, he claimed only three points at the four events that followed and finished fourteenth in the championship standings.

Looking back, it doesn't seem long ago that Daniel won a race at the season-opening event at Mid Ohio. Despite several disappointments along the way, he claimed eight ten top-finishes to accumulate 72 points, rank sixth in the championship and win the 2006 Formula BMW USA Rookie Championship. As the series top rookie, he now has an invitation to return to the series in 2007 as a Junior Driver running a car trimmed in BMW's blue and white colour scheme.

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