Carbir Announces 2013 FF Program with Hazelton
http://www.apexspeed.com/news/carbir1.png
February 18, 2013 - Grafton, Wisconsin – After a hiatus from the North American market, Carbir Race Cars is back for a full season in the F1600 Formula F Championship Series with Reid Hazelton in a Honda-powered entry. Carbir will join a full field of Mygales, Spectrums, Van Diemens, Pipers and more in what is shaping up to be a big 2013 season.
“We are putting a team together to develop and race the new cars,” said Brian Utt, president of Carbir. “We will run a second car later in the year and are planning to rotate drivers in and out while Reid does the entire season in the first car.”
Carbir is back in the US market after building cars for use in Europe and Asia for the last several years.
“We are building a diverse product line with four new formula cars and two new sports racers,” added Utt, from the team’s shop in Wisconsin.
Utt described Hazelton as a good, fast driver, and said that he had done well in his Formula F career, leading at the Run Offs and also qualifying on pole and setting the track record during the race at Road America in a quirky mono-shocked 1992 Van Diemen against bigger budget efforts and more modern cars.
From Milwaukee originally, Hazelton explained he had been spending about $8,000 a year on racing, doing everything himself, except for engine rebuilds.
“I am very excited to have an opportunity with Brain and Carbir. With Carbir having a winning history in the old F2000 series it will be a welcome change of pace to have a full time crew to work with,” said Hazelton. “That will be a large amount of stress lifted off my shoulders and I am very happy to be able to focus more on driving.”
With a limited budget, Hazleton said he has not raced at any of the 2013 F1600 tracks, but added he has about five laps around VIR in a rental car.
Growing up, his parents owned a small amusement-park type kart track that was the driver to Hazelton putting a helmet on.
“It was a great time. I thought everyone had a kart track in their back yards. It was good experience, and profitable for me. Friday and Saturday nights I would race the local college kids for money. I bet I had more effect on sobriety in that town than the police did after taking their beer money.
“I obviously would like to win as we all do, but it is going to be extremely competitive,” said Hazelton. “I haven’t been in the car besides sitting in the chassis at the shop.
“Being a brand new car, and a nearly clean sheet design, we won’t know where we really stand until the first qualifying session at VIR,” continued Hazelton. “With the design and engineering group that Brian has put together, I have no reason to doubt it will be a very capable car. But, like I said, we won’t know for sure until VIR.”
The 2013 F1600 Formula F Championship Series opened at VIR, April 11-14, followed by a first time visit for the Series to Road Atlanta, and then it’s Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio twice and Summit Point.
