Stefan Rzadzinski left his hometown of Edmonton on "Indy" weekend on route to a new challenge at the Calabogie Motorsports Park on July 24-26 to compete in the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge instead.
Arriving at the circuit under rainy conditions, Friday brought a mix of challenges for the 16 year old. Rzadzinski was quickly up to speed and acquainting himself to the 5.05km, 20 turn circuit throughout the practice sessions.
On Saturday, Rzadzinski immediately showed his speed placing himself 2nd in both morning practice and qualifying. Unfortunately after having a great launch into the first corner, Rzadzinski lost grip and slid into the tire wall ending his race.
After the damage, the Brian Graham Racing / TLM Racing showed their expertise and experience giving Rzadzinski a car which was fastest in the Sunday morning practice session. Stefan then once again put the #2 RF00 Van Diemen car on the outside of the front row in qualifying.
As the race commenced,under threatening skies, Rzadzinski immediately manoeuvred into the lead. Stefan was later passed into the first corner losing momentum, allowing two cars to slide past and dropping him to 3rd. However, only a few corners later an incident between the cars in front handed the lead back to Rzadzinski. The safety car was then brought out to clean up the wreckage, and the race was eventually cut short due to lightning in vicinity of the circuit. This gave Rzadzinski his first ever victory since making the step out of karts and into formula cars. The win also marked the first victory for Brian Graham Racing / TLM Racing in 2009.
“It was such a wild weekend! I knew we had the pace from the beginning of the weekend, and I really enjoyed the circuit from the start. Unfortunately on Saturday I had an accident, but the Brian Graham Racing / TLM Racing crew was fantastic and they put together a great car for Sunday. Prior to the race, we were aware that there could be a storm on the horizon so it was extremely important to do what I could as early as possible.
I had a great start as the race commenced and then the battle ensued. On the second lap I lost momentum after being passed, allowing my teammate to go past me as well. But after the incident between the two drivers in front I just hung on and drove my own race. I couldn’t believe it when the checkered flag came out behind the safety car, I was ecstatic. It was definitely a bit of an odd race, but the win feels fantastic! I really have to thank all of my partners so far this year, The ABL Group, SuperTint, AMSOIL /SyntheticLubricants.ca and everyone else who has supported me.
Now the most immediate challenge is finding the funding to complete the season. Hopefully we can generate a bit more interest after our victory!
On board videos of both races are now live on www.rzadracing.com in the “Videos” tab. Please see the website for all of Stefan Rzadzinski’s news, updates, and multimedia.
The next weekend is scheduled for August 7-9 for rounds 9 and 10 of the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge at Mosport International Raceway and Rzadzinski will be working to put together the necessary funding to compete.
For general or partnership inquiries regarding Stefan Rzadzinski's motorsport, please contact: stefanr@rzadracing.com // Web: www.rzadracing.com
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