Capaldi Racing
Capaldi Racing earns Ford Fiesta the First Ever Touring Car B-Spec Pole Position
May. 4, 2012 - Tooele, UT - B-Spec racing made its Pirelli World Challenge debut this past weekend at Miller Motorsport Park with the first three rounds of the season. Capaldi Racing traveled to Miller with team driver Craig Capaldi to contest the weekend’s three races with the Ford Racing/Capaldi Racing Ford Fiesta. Craig had very little seat time in the Fiesta as he headed out for qualifying for the weekend’s first race. A two-time NASA national champion in a Focus, Craig put his experience racing front-wheel drive Fords to good use and earned the first-ever pole position for the first-ever Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B-Spec race in his Ford Fiesta.
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In the first race, Craig was able to build a small gap during the first seven laps but was ultimately caught by the Mazda 2 of Shaun Bailey. During Craig and Shaun’s fight for position, Jonathan Start caught them in his Fiat 500. Start was able to get by the duo to take the lead, and Craig dropped to third where he finished the race. Craig started the second race third and spent the race battling with Shaun Bailey for second place. Again, Bailey was able to get the edge on Craig, causing Craig to finish third for the second consecutive race.
Unlike races one and two, race three of the weekend featured a standing start. At the start, Craig jumped into the lead from his second place starting position. For the first four laps, Craig and the Honda Fit of Sage Marie battled for the lead, until Marie was able to pull away. After dropping to fourth during the race, Craig passed Start’s Fiat 500 for third on the last lap to claim the final step on the podium – his third third place finish and third podium finish of the weekend.
“That Ford Fiesta – what a great car! Last weekend featured some of the best racing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Craig. “This has a chance to be a really great class and it provided the closest racing of the weekend’s four Pirelli World Challenge classes. It was literally door-to-door and mirror-to-mirror. I definitely see this class growing in the future. It’s an honor to earn Ford the first-ever pole in this new class and the fact that the car’s set up was never challenged is a testament to the package Ford Racing worked so hard to develop. I can’t thank them enough for all their support.”
Craig is currently third in the driver championship points and Ford is tied for second in Manufacturer points. Go to http://www.world-challengetv.com/#/races/457 to watch coverage from the weekend's three races.
Capaldi Racing is a professional race team with over 30 years racing experience and offers a wide range of racing services and products. Our goal is to provide the best services, equipment, crew and results to ensure an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the drivers and their guests. Capaldi Racing has extensive experience when it comes to road racing Ford vehicles, and provides a full service racing experience from car build and prep to trackside support to ongoing maintenance for those interested in racing Ford and Ford-based vehicles at the Grassroots level or Professionally. For more information on Capaldi Racing, go to www.capaldiracing.com or call 586-949-RACE.
