AIM Takes Pole in Atlanta
<< In a weekend of mixed fortunes at Road Atlanta, AIM Autosport and its Formula BMW USA drivers, Kevin Lacroix and Rob Bunker, enjoyed season highs while enduring dispiriting lows. Lacroix took a pole position ahead of fourth and sixth-place finishes and Bunker took a season-high fourth-place finish, but the team had to bounce back from several set backs, including a damaged skid block, penalties and even a minor off-track accident.

Road Atlanta marked the end of the 2005 season for Formula BMW and AIM figured well in the championship standings with Lacroix finishing second, Bunker eighth and AIM second in the team standings.

Practice
Road Atlanta presents racers with a bumpy ride because they must run over the curbs to set a fast time. This, in conjunction with concrete patches on several corners, would make car placement critical. AIM's Formula BMW USA Team Manager, Keith Willis, made sure his drivers understood this and they responded in opening practice by rolling straight to the top of the timing charts. Rob's quickest trip around the 2.54-mile (4.09 km) twelve-turn track took 1:28.730 while Kevin posted a 1:28.947.

Rain slowed things down for the second session and everyone tried out their wet settings. Again, AIM Autosport got things right and both cars were in the top five until the track started to dry and teams began switching back to dry settings and tires while AIM stuck with their wets to gather some data in changing conditions.

Qualifying
Given their pace in practice, the AIM Autosport team felt great as they looked forward to the first qualifying session. Their optimism was not misplaced as Lacroix finally got his first pole and Bunker scored his best qualifying result result of the season, sixth. There were plenty of smiles under the AIM canopy, even if Rob was a little disappointed with himself for being cautious in turn five after sliding off there earlier.

In the second session, Lacroix qualified sixth and Bunker seventh. However, the first of the setbacks was about to occur. Kevin was called in for a random technical inspection of weight, engine seals, ballast and skid plates and the team was mortified to hear that Kevin's car would be sent to the back of the grid.

"A trip over the high curbs at this track wore down a skid block and we simply didn't know about it," said Willis. "It is impossible not to have the car bottom and grind the blocks if it goes sideways over a curb here."

Bunker would grid sixth for both races, while Lacroix would start one from the front and the other from the back.

Races
Lacroix had been in the running for the championship all season and, coming into Road America, he was two points behind leader, Richard Philippe. Starting race two from the back meant that winning the championship would be near impossible, especially with Philippe starting the races from third and first, but AIM had not given up.

For race one Lacroix was told to go all out for the win and put pressure on Philippe not to make any mistakes in race two. As Willis headed to the grid he got a call over the radio informing him that a road car had backed over the front of Kevin's race car. Damage appeared minimal considering what had happened, but with only ten minutes to the start of the race there was only time for quick repairs and no chance to check the precise suspension settings. The car was on the grid for the start of the race, but how would it handle?

Both drivers got a good start, especially Rob, but his car crept a little as he torqued the clutch for one of his usual John Force starts. Officials called that a jump start and called him in for a stop-and-go penalty. That was the end of his race, but they used the track time as a test session to gather information for race two.

Lacroix ran well until he got boxed in, lost four places and found himself running fifth, right behind Philippe. He wasn't going down easy though and took back fourth place on the last lap. As for the championship, Philippe and Lacroix were tied with one race left in the season.

"In the race, my only worry was finishing in front of Philippe," said Lacroix. "Near the end of the race, we were battling together and I passed for fourth place. That gave both of us the same number of points."

In the second race, Bunker was away like a bullet and Lacroix made great progress from the back, passing six cars on the first lap. Rob spent many laps fighting for fourth place and with three laps to go, he finally made it. The third-placed car was out of reach, but that didn't stop him from taking a good chunk out of the gap before the checkered flag fell.

Lacroix did all he could to get to the front, but with no full-course cautions to bunch up the field, every time he made a pass, the gap to the next car was even bigger.

Rob claimed his best result of the year, fourth place, while Kevin managed to climb all the way to sixth.

Championship
With Lacroix and Philippe tied for the championship going into the final race there should have been a shootout for the championship. Unfortunately, with Kevin starting at the back of the grid, that battle never came to be. Kevin's run from eighteenth to sixth was fantastic, but Philippe, who started from pole, finished second and claimed the title.

Bunker came into the final event in tenth in the point standings, but elevated himself to eighth on the strength of his performance in race two.

In the team rankings, AIM Autosport finished second, a fine result for a two-car team competing against a couple of four-car operations.

Keith Willis
AIM Autosport Formula BMW USA Team Manager

"After the way things went in qualifying and the first race, I thought the sky would open up and a bolt of lightning would hit me, but we picked ourselves up for the second race and did everything we could to have Kevin go to the front and get Rob on the podium.

"Despite things going against him, Kevin did everything he could fight for the championship, and Rob was great, fighting hard and getting his best finish of the year.

"With a pair of rookies, we finished second and eighth in the drivers' championship and second in the team championship."

Kevin Lacroix #22 (AIM Autosport /Auto Parts Plus-Uni-Select)
Race One : Qualified First (1:28.842) / Finished Fourth (-1.382)
Race Two: Qualified Eighteenth (no time) / Finished Sixth (-10.283)

Quotes from Kevin
“When I realize what happened to me over the span of one year, I have to admit this season was a tremendous learning curve. Over the course of a race season, I learned more than all my karting years put together.

"I want to thank the series officials who were very professional. Also AIM Autosport and Keith Willis for their work at the races. Hats off to my engineer Yvan Turcotte for the tireless hours he spent preparing the Uni-Select car."

Rob Bunker #18 (AIM Autosport /Team RennSport)
Race One: Qualified Sixth (1:29.278) / Finished Eighteenth
Race Two: Qualified Sixth (1:29.229) / Finished Fourth (-5.727)

Quotes from Rob
Race One: "Because of the penalty, the only thing we could do was make a test session out of it, and it helped – the car stayed fantastic through the whole race."

Race Two: "It was an anything-goes kind of race because it was the last one. I had a great start, jumped to fifth quick, then I got Daniel Herrington for fourth. I wish I could have caught up with the guys in podium positions, but they were too far ahead at that point. I was charging hard. Some of my best laps were at the end of the race."

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