Grueling Arizona Heat Prepares Global Racing Group Drivers for F4 U.S. Mid-Season Event
Grueling Arizona Heat Prepares Global Racing Group Drivers for F4 U.S. Mid-Season Event
With nearly eight weeks separating Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda events, the four-car Global Racing Group squad stayed fresh by completing intense training at Inde Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, Arizona.
Focusing on endurance fitness workouts in the desert, one on one driver development sessions, group education conferences and on-track testing, the four-day test prepared the drivers and cars for the upcoming F4 U.S. mid-season event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course June 29-July 1.
“During our test days at Inde Motorsports Ranch, we had an opportunity to solidly test the upgrades to the cars that were provided at Road Atlanta. Testing in 100 degrees with very dry air puts temperature management to the test so we can confidently go into any race knowing that we can manage temperatures without any overheating. That same idea works for the drivers too. The east coast can be very hot and humid. Training their bodies to endure the heat will help them stay strong in extreme weather,” said GRG Team Principal Christian Pedersen. “We also spent the time on further developing some specific skills for our drivers. The fact that we can configure the Inde Motorsports Ranch track in more than 40 different ways enables us to work on specific things depending on phase of driver development. We created a special track configuration for that purpose only. We also spent a day in pure preparation for Mid-Ohio, going through turns one by one, reviewing past years video and data so we believe all our drivers will feel right at home when they come to Mid-Ohio.”
Angela Durazo of Los Angeles, Benjamin Pedersen of Copenhagen, Denmark, Blake Upton of Sammamish, Washington, and Parker Locke of San Antonio, Texas, will all run the bright orange and black colors of GRG at Mid-Ohio. While this will be the first time Durazo and Upton will compete on the 2.25 mile, 12-turn road course, Locke and B. Pedersen have conquered the track in past seasons. In 2017, Locke finished all three F4 U.S. rounds, sustaining position through grueling, mixed-weather conditions. B. Pedersen finished in the top-10 twice at Mid-Ohio last season and during his rookie year, scored a podium in the inaugural race.
“With our drivers at different stages in development each one has separate goals,” explained C. Pedersen. “We’re obviously going for race wins with our points leader Benjamin Pedersen and we’ll be looking to get Parker into the top-10. For Angela and Blake, we’re setting goals that are related to their lap times compared with the front runners.”
The fleet of GRG cars will travel to Lexington, Ohio, for a twilight test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday, followed by two official practice sessions on Friday. Qualifying starts Saturday morning with the first round of racing in the afternoon. The weekend concludes on Sunday with the final two rounds of racing. Follow the team and drivers’ weekend progress on Twitter @GRGinfo.
About Global Racing Group:
Global Racing Group masterminds the best race, rally and rallycross driver development programs in motorsport and applies a unique cross-discipline approach to its driver training. Its racing and commercial activities in F3 and F4 are strongly supported by three distinct advisory boards that specialize in the fields of business, motorsport competition and sports management. The personalities on these boards have years of experience in motorsport and can call on motorsport executive and Fortune 2000 company contacts around the world when there is a commercial requirement. Global Racing Group offers high-level sponsor and brand development services to businesses and brands that are interested in launching dynamic and bold engagement programs in motorsport.