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The 2006 Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship is an open-wheel series for Formula 2000 race cars.
The series is a support event for the Grand American Championship, American Le Mans Series, Champ Car and SCCA Pro Racing.
The championship consists of fourteen doubleheader weekends, each contested on road courses. The season begins in May at Road Atlanta and ends with the final two races at Road America.
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, Piper, Citation 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. There are two championships:
The sponsors and supporters of the series are Ford Racing, Performance Friction Brakes, Carl Haas, Sunoco Fuels, Dynamic Suspension and Racing Radios. The penultimate rounds of the 2006 Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship were held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as a support event to the inaugural National Auto Sport Association Championship weekend. Drivers would compete in two races around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course.
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Starting at round one, J.R. Hildebrand won seven consecutive races. His first contest without a victory was at Road America, where he finished second. At the next event, Hildebrand returned to the podium's top step. In the weekend's first race at Mid-Ohio, he started on the pole and grabbed another victory. With three rounds remaining, Hildebrand had secured the title. For good measure, he won on Sunday. |
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The driver putting an end to J.R. Hildebrand's win streak was his teammate Dane Cameron. Cameron's race earlier in the season at Mid-Ohio was a disaster. He spun at the start and finished twenty-sixth. Cameron qualified second for round eleven and chased Hildebrand to a runner-up result. Unfortunately, his bad luck returned. Cameron started race two on the pole, but an error led to a seventeenth-place finish. |
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Slade Miller also had a disappointing outing on the series' first visit to Mid-Ohio. Miller was impacted by Dane Cameron's spin and finished twenty-seventh. He participated in the next eight rounds but skipped the Toronto weekend. The driver of the No. 16 Quantum Mechanics Van Diemen RF02 qualified and finished seventh on Saturday. Miller ended the weekend by finishing second after starting in the sixth position. |
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Like J.R. Hildebrand, Gold Cup competitor Cole Morgan was also invisible. Morgan started the season driving a Swift DB-6, but he was entered in a Van Diemen in the next round at Portland. The team skipped to Toronto, but Morgan returned to his winning ways at Mid-Ohio. In the weekend's first contest, he finished tenth overall for the class victory and ended the event with an eleventh place, which was good for the win. |
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The third Cape Motorsports entry was the No. 3 MII Security sponsored Van Diemen RF02 driven by Chris Meredith. Meredith was having a season with mixed results. He collected thirds at Mid-Ohio and Cleveland but also had a couple of twenty-first-place results. Meredith was on form when the series made its second stop at Mid-Ohio. He qualified third, finished fourth on Saturday, and reversed the order on Sunday. |
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Venezuelan competitor Ricardo Vassmer started his season with a third-place result at Road Atlanta. Starting in round eight at Cleveland, the driver of the No. 25 Meridiano TV / Santa Barbara Air Van Diemen RF06 collected a string of third-place finishes. In the weekend's first race at Mid-Ohio, Vassmer added his fourth consecutive podium. His streak would end in the finale when he finished fourth. |
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| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | F2A | J. R. Hildebrand | Formotion / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 2 | 2 | F2A | Dane Cameron | Jim Russell Racing School / Van Diemen RF01 | 20 | - |
| 3 | 4 | F2A | Ricardo Vassmer | Santa Barbara Air / Van Diemen RF06 | 20 | - |
| 4 | 3 | F2A | Chris Meredith | MII Security / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 5 | 5 | F2A | Jason Byers | A&B Refridgeration / Van Diemen RF03 | 20 | - |
| 6 | 8 | F2A | Philip Metzger | NAPA / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 7 | 7 | F2A | Slade Miller | Kechi Energy / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 8 | 6 | F2A | Noah Bystrom | Cooper Power Tools / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 9 | 9 | F2A | Scott Rubenzer | Storage Battery Systems / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 10 | 12 | GC | Cole Morgan | Morgan Homes / Swift DB-6 | 20 | - |
| 11 | 14 | F2A | Chuck Lessick | ZAT Graphics / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 12 | 16 | F2A | Jim Hallman | Aberdeen Homes / Van Diemen RF03 | 19 | - |
| 13 | 11 | F2A | Alexis Sabet | St. Clair Motorsports / Van Diemen RF01 | 19 | - |
| 14 | 10 | F2A | Juliana González | JDC MotorSports / Van Diemen RF03 | 19 | - |
| 15 | 13 | F2A | Doug Kniffin | Pioneer Magnetics / Van Diemen RF06 | 18 | - |
| 16 | 17 | GC | Seth Ravndal | pleasuretechnicians.com / Van Diemen RF01 | 17 | - |
| 17 | 18 | GC | Joe Valentich | pleasuretechnicians.com / Van Diemen RF00 | 17 | - |
| 18 | 15 | F2A | Manuel Gutiérrez | Transportaciones Grupo / Van Diemen RF02 | 12 | - |
| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | F2A | J. R. Hildebrand | Formotion / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 2 | 6 | F2A | Slade Miller | Kechi Energy / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 3 | 4 | F2A | Chris Meredith | MII Security / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 4 | 3 | F2A | Ricardo Vassmer | Santa Barbara Air / Van Diemen RF06 | 20 | - |
| 5 | 5 | F2A | Philip Metzger | NAPA / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 6 | 7 | F2A | Jason Byers | A&B Refridgeration / Van Diemen RF03 | 20 | - |
| 7 | 9 | F2A | Scott Rubenzer | Storage Battery Systems / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 8 | 12 | F2A | Juliana González | JDC MotorSports / Van Diemen RF03 | 20 | - |
| 9 | 8 | F2A | Noah Bystrom | Cooper Power Tools / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 10 | 16 | F2A | Manuel Gutiérrez | Transportaciones Grupo / Van Diemen RF02 | 20 | - |
| 11 | 10 | GC | Cole Morgan | Morgan Homes / Swift DB-6 | 20 | - |
| 12 | 13 | F2A | Doug Kniffin | Pioneer Magnetics / Van Diemen RF06 | 20 | - |
| 13 | 14 | F2A | Jim Hallman | Aberdeen Homes / Van Diemen RF03 | 20 | - |
| 14 | 15 | F2A | Chuck Lessick | ZAT Graphics / Van Diemen RF05 | 20 | - |
| 15 | 17 | GC | Seth Ravndal | pleasuretechnicians.com / Van Diemen RF01 | 19 | - |
| 16 | 18 | GC | Joe Valentich | pleasuretechnicians.com / Van Diemen RF00 | 18 | - |
| 17 | 1 | F2A | Dane Cameron | Jim Russell Racing School / Van Diemen RF01 | 2 | Did Not Finish |
| 18 | 11 | F2A | Alexis Sabet | St. Clair Motorsports / Van Diemen RF01 | 1 | Did Not Finish |
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