Team Autotecnica driver Richard Philippe clinches the 2005 Formula BMW USA Championship

October 2, 2005

Team Autotecnica driver Richard Philippe
clinches the 2005 Formula BMW USA Championship


ATLANTA, GA - Team Autotecnica, and driver Richard Philippe clinched the 
2005 Formula BMW championship this past weekend at Road Atlanta. Philippe 
started from pole position at the Petit Le Mans' season finale, and 
finished the race with nine points in hand over second pace. Philippe took 
both the Overall and Rookie titles of the extremely competitive 2005 
Formula BMW USA Championship.
"I feel very good as a lot of hard work has paid off," Philippe said. 
"Emotionally, it was very difficult to have to decide the Championship in 
the last race, but we came out on top. This was my first year racing cars 
and I learned a lot."

  Philippe had a fabulous season, winning 3 races, started from pole 
position 6 times  the most of any driver this year. Out of the 14 races 
this year, Philippe managed to finish in the top five 10 times.

"All we had to do was keep it on the track, and we did it" a joyous Anthony 
Wei, Autotecnica Team manager said as Philippe crossed the finish line. Wei 
was not the only team member happy with the year, as Philippe's engineer 
Matthew Ferraro commented after the race, "Winning the 2005 Formula BMW USA 
Championship has been the final step in a long journey that began 14 months 
ago when Richard first tested with the team.  Friday's championship win is 
a testament to Richard's professional approach to racing and natural 
talent.  This season, Autotecnica has set a new standard in Formula BMW USA 
and I wish to thank the team for all their hard work and dedication.  The 
team is set to begin its rigorous winter testing program to prepare for a 
successful Championship title defence in 2006."

Team Autotecnica also took time to thank its corporate partners for their 
support. "The entire team would like to thank our partners 
Renntech(www.renntechmercedes.com) and Rapid-2-way (rapid2way.com) for 
their continuing support. I am sure they are as happy as we are about 
winning this championship," Wei said.