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The 2003 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship is an open-wheel series for Formula 2000 race cars.
The series receives generous support from the Ford Motor Company, Avon Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels and Racing Electronics.
The championship consists of twelve doubleheader weekends, each being contested on road courses. The season begins in March at Sebring International Raceway. In May, the teams travel north for races at Lime Rock Park. The championship makes its first of two visits to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course a month later. Next on the calendar are rounds seven and eight at Road America. Then the series returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the penultimate race weekend. The season ends with the final two races at Road Atlanta during the Petit Le Mans event. The cars competing in the series are single-seat, rear-engine, open-wheel vehicles constructed with a tube frame chassis. Manufacturers producing series chassis include Carbir, Mygale, Tatuus and the most popular choice, Van Diemen. The suspensions are independent – both front and rear. Shock absorbers and sway bars are adjustable. A four-speed, non-synchro gearbox is used. Sequential transmissions are not permitted. The cars compete on a spec tire from Avon and use a spec fuel provided by Sunoco. There are two championships:
Titles are also on the line for Chassis Manufacturers, Engine Builders and Teams. The opening weekend of the 2003 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship was a doubleheader held at Sebring International Raceway. Drivers would compete on the legendary seventeen-turn 3.7-mile road course.
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The opening lap of round one for the 2003 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship. Leading the field through Sebring International Raceway’s corner fifteen is the pole-sitter, Westley Barber, in the No. 3 Van Diemen RF03. Behind Barber is the other front-row starter, Lawson Aschenbach, driving the No. 2 Van Diemen RF03. Trailing the leaders are Jonathan Bomarito and Tonis Kasemets, both in Van Diemens. |
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Piloting the No. 3 Van Diemen RF03 was Westley Barber. Barber won last season’s British Formula Ford Championship. He was the fastest in both qualifying sessions for the doubleheader weekend. While the positions behind Barber changed during race one, he went flag-to-flag for the victory. The next day Barber was in the lead when the contest had to be red-flagged due to weather conditions – he was declared the winner. |
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Tony Loniewski qualified ninth fastest in the No. 22 Lonici Rental/GNP Corsa Group Van Diemen for the opening round of the 2003 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship and finished a disappointing thirteenth. The finale would be an opportunity for Loniewski to redeem himself. He started in the seventh position, but by lap-2, Loniewski was in second place. The red flag ensured him a runner-up result. |
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Like Westley Barber, Chris Dona dominated the American Continental Championship category. The class was poorly subscribed with just three entries and two starters. Dona’s competition came from the No. 33 Van Diemen of Nick Fanelli. In the No. 37 Rexxon Van Diemen, Dona qualified twenty-six and twenty-third overall and led from start to finish both days – collecting nineteenth and fifteenth place finishes. |
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Andy Brumbaugh was in his second season of the series. Last year, he finished tenth in the final standings, with his best result being a third at Virginia International Raceway. In 2003, Brumbaugh was campaigning the No. 86 Van Diemen RF03. He qualified sixth fastest for Thursday’s race. By lap-2, Brumbaugh was in third place and held the position to the checker. In race two, he spun out and finished nineteenth. |
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Lawson Aschenbach was also in the second year of the championship. Last year, he won the doubleheader at Milwaukee and claimed the Oval Crown title. With backing for King Automotive and M&M Welding, he drove the No. 2 Van Diemen RF03. Aschenbach was gridded on the outside row one for the weekend’s first contest but lost several positions and finished fifth. In the finale, he was fourth after starting fifth. |
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| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | F2A | Westley Barber | Cape Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 2 | 3 | F2A | Jonathan Bomarito | Valley Financial / Van Diemen | 11 | - |
| 3 | 6 | F2A | Andy Brumbaugh | Andy LLC/Corby Concepts / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 4 | 12 | F2A | Jason Kritikos | Cape Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 5 | 2 | F2A | Lawson Aschenbach | King Automotive/M&M Welding / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 6 | 11 | F2A | Matthew McDonough | TASC Tech Services / Van Diemen | 11 | - |
| 7 | 4 | F2A | Tonis Kasemets | FlexOvit/MK Industries / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 8 | 15 | F2A | Ricardo Imery | Venezolana De Ascensores / Van Diemen | 11 | - |
| 9 | 10 | F2A | Craig Baltzer | Lakefront Technology / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 10 | 13 | F2A | Walter Lechner, Jr. | Racers Edge Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 11 | 14 | F2A | Steve Welk | Sparco/Lakefront Tech / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 12 | 7 | F2A | Andrew Prendeville | TCW/Valvoline / Van Diemen RF02 | 11 | - |
| 13 | 9 | F2A | Tony Loniewski | GNP Corsa Group / Van Diemen | 11 | - |
| 14 | 16 | F2A | Adam Pecorari | SAI Hydraulics / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 15 | 17 | F2A | Chris Festa | Car Centric / Van Diemen | 11 | - |
| 16 | 20 | F2A | Romeo Kapudija | Battery Tender / Van Diemen RF01 | 11 | - |
| 17 | 21 | F2A | Dustin Hodges | Team Duke Racing / Van Diemen RF01 | 11 | - |
| 18 | 22 | F2A | Doug Smith | 10/Tenths Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 19 | 25 | ACC | Chris Dona | Rexxon Engineering / Van Diemen RF01 | 11 | - |
| 20 | 26 | ACC | Nick Fanelli | Fanelli Motorsports / Van Diemen RF99 | 11 | - |
| 21 | 27 | F2A | Dick Rose | Head Start Racing / Van Diemen RF03 | 11 | - |
| 22 | 23 | F2A | David Burkett | Watts Law/Burkett Law / Van Diemen RF02 | 10 | - |
| 23 | 18 | F2A | Jeff Sakowicz | Trench Shoring/Impact Sciences / Mygale | 8 | Accident |
| 24 | 8 | F2A | Doug Prendeville | TCW/Valvoline /Van Diemen RF01 | 7 | Gearbox |
| 25 | 24 | F2A | James Gué | Essex Racing/GTP Motorsports / Van Diemen | 3 | Mechanical |
| 26 | 19 | F2A | Scott Rubenzer | Storage Battery Systems / Van Diemen RF02 | 0 | Mechanical |
| 27 | 5 | F2A | Charlie Kimball | rentvillas.com /Van Diemen | 0 | Accident |
| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | F2A | Westley Barber | Cape Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 2 | 7 | F2A | Tony Loniewski | GNP Corsa Group / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 3 | 2 | F2A | Charlie Kimball | rentvillas.com /Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 4 | 5 | F2A | Lawson Aschenbach | King Automotive/M&M Welding / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 5 | 10 | F2A | Andrew Prendeville | TCW/Valvoline / Van Diemen RF02 | 3 | - |
| 6 | 16 | F2A | Craig Baltzer | Lakefront Technology / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 7 | 9 | F2A | Jonathan Bomarito | Valley Financial / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 8 | 13 | F2A | Steve Welk | Sparco/Lakefront Tech / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 9 | 14 | F2A | Adam Pecorari | SAI Hydraulics / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 10 | 15 | F2A | Ricardo Imery | Venezolana De Ascensores / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 11 | 8 | F2A | Chris Festa | Car Centric / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 12 | 17 | F2A | Matthew McDonough | TASC Tech Services / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 13 | 3 | F2A | Tonis Kasemets | FlexOvit/MK Industries / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 14 | 27 | F2A | James Gué | Essex Racing/GTP Motorsports / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 15 | 23 | ACC | Chris Dona | Rexxon Engineering / Van Diemen RF01 | 3 | - |
| 16 | 11 | F2A | Doug Prendeville | TCW/Valvoline /Van Diemen RF01 | 3 | - |
| 17 | 18 | F2A | Scott Rubenzer | Storage Battery Systems / Van Diemen RF02 | 3 | - |
| 18 | 19 | F2A | Jeff Sakowicz | Trench Shoring/Impact Sciences / Mygale | 3 | - |
| 19 | 4 | F2A | Andy Brumbaugh | Andy LLC/Corby Concepts / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 20 | 24 | F2A | Dustin Hodges | Team Duke Racing / Van Diemen | 3 | - |
| 21 | 25 | ACC | Nick Fanelli | Fanelli Motorsports / Van Diemen RF99 | 3 | - |
| 22 | 26 | F2A | Dick Rose | Head Start Racing / Van Diemen RF03 | 3 | - |
| 23 | 21 | F2A | David Burkett | Watts Law/Burkett Law / Van Diemen RF02 | 2 | Did Not Finish |
| 24 | 6 | F2A | Jason Kritikos | Cape Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 2 | Did Not Finish |
| 25 | 20 | F2A | Romeo Kapudija | Battery Tender / Van Diemen RF01 | 2 | Did Not Finish |
| 26 | 22 | F2A | Doug Smith | 10/Tenths Motorsports / Van Diemen RF03 | 2 | Did Not Finish |
| - | 12 | F2A | Walter Lechner, Jr. | Racers Edge Motorsports / Van Diemen | - | Did Not Start |
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