Formula Lites: Papareli takes Carolina pole

If the heavily wooded landscape surrounding Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina could talk, it would share stories of battle and conflict that go back to the Civil War's "Battle of Camden" in 1780. In fact, the track property once served as a home base to a long forgotten World War II training airbase.

This weekend, the battle has shifted to ultra modern open-wheel Formula Lites race cars as drivers attack the undulating, 2.27-mile Carolina Motorsports Park road circuit. Sunday's double-header race day marks the start of the inaugural SCCA Pro Formula Lites season's second half, with Rounds 7 and 8 significant to the overall 2015 championship.

Saturday afternoon Vini Papareli nabbed his fourth consecutive Formula Lites pole position after mechanical issues sidelined yesterday's pre-race practice session. The impressive performance gave the young Brazilian another two points toward his 2015 points lead.

On Friday, all of the series racers made good use of an open test day and a two-session practice schedule this morning. For much of the field, it was the first visit to the demanding and high-speed circuit. With competition for the top three spots tightening after the series' last race at Virginia International Raceway, every minute of "seat time" for the talented Formula Lites group of drivers was a blessing.

Besides race victories and valuable points to collect, there was also the knowledge within the Formula Lites paddock that plenty of track and testing time by teams has made the fight for the top spots this weekend much tougher.

A primary example of this has been the methodical rise by young Chinese racer Jackie Ding. Although struggling a bit at the first race of the season, Ding and his Group-A Racing team have been steadily moving up the timing sheets and points standings since then. Ding earned his first Formula Lites race victory a few weeks ago at Virginia International Raceway, then capped that performance off during yesterday's open practice by clocking the fastest lap of the day.
Group-A Racing's Jackie Ding (top) has become a Formula Lites success story as the young racer from Shenzhen, China has found his confidence and speed. Ding drove the second-fastest lap in today's qualifying session.
This morning's two practice sessions, however, were topped by current points leader Vinicius "Vini" Paparelli. The young racer from Sao Paulo, Brazil followed-up a difficult Round 5 & 6 at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) with a disappointing mechanical failure in his #28 Formula Lites FL-15/Honda that prematurely ended yesterday's pre-race test day. Hard work from Papareli's JDX Racing team got things right overnight in preparation for today's intense schedule.

This afternoon's qualifying session was another Papareli versus Ding show. Despite hot, muggy weather deteriorating the track's surface, it took just two laps for Papareli to lay down the weekend's fastest time at 1:31:217, good for an average speed of 89.944 mph. A fast out lap by Ding was followed by a 1:31:311, just short of the pole. Mexican Jose Armida followed his Group-A Racing teammate on the timing sheets and into third for the day thanks to a 1:32:622 clocking.

New to the Formula Lites series this at Carolina Motorsports Park is 15-year-old open-wheel phenomenon Cameron Das, of Brooklandville, MD. Despite having just one 20-minute testing session before his debut weekend, Das has impressed the entire field with his raw speed.

Racing will commence tomorrow morning at Carolina Motorsports Park beginning at 9:45am (EST) for Round 7 of the 2015 Formula Lites season, with Round 8 taking place at 1:45pm (EST). Live tracking of both races can be found at www.formulalites.com.

Designed and manufactured to the latest F3 FIA safety specs, the new Crawford FL-15 monocoque incorporates a 2.4-liter, 16-valve Honda engine and a six-speed sequential gearbox featuring pneumatic paddle shifters. The series' high-tech approach to open-wheel racing has attracted support and technical partnerships with Pirelli, Honda/HPD, PFC Brakes, Oakley, Eibach Springs, Bosch, Fikse Wheels, Impact Race Products and Bruce High Performance Transporters.