Three-Car Hearn Formula BMW Effort Ready for USGP Assault
Three-Car Hearn Formula BMW Effort Ready for USGP Assault INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., June 28, 2006 - Richie Hearn knows the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six-time Indianapolis 500 starter has been competing on the famed oval since 1996 when he debuted as the highest finishing rookie (third). However, this weekend's United States Grand Prix (USGP) weekend marks several firsts for the resident of Henderson, Nev. It will be Hearn's first foray as a car owner at the famous track as Hearn Motorsports fields three cars in the Formula BMW USA Series events. It also marks Hearn's first trip to Indianapolis to take part in an event on the 2.606-mile road course. In its first season as a team in the spec-formula car series, Hearn Motorsports is coming off its highest finish thus far following Ryan Phinny's fifth-place last weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The Carmel Valley, Calif. driver took his No. 16 Baja Cantina/Eagle Air Conditioning/Hearn Motorsports BMW to the top-five in the second of two races. Jules Duc (Los Gatos, Calif.) will drive the No. 12 Duc Housing Partners/Hearn Motorsports BMW and Maryeve Dufault (Sorel, Quebec, Canada) will pilot the No. 90 Hearn Motorsports BMW in the two-race USGP weekend as teammates to Phinny. "I've never been on the road course at Indy before," said Hearn about this weekend. "But, it's such a special place and a special event. It's always such a big deal to be at Indy. You feel this place. It always means something to race here and I'm just glad to be here as an owner. Hopefully, we'll have a good weekend." "Canada was a tough weekend," continued Hearn about last weekend's event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. "It was good to get some points. We're getting a better handle on the car. I think we learned a lot with Ryan and his car. We learned some things on the setup that we hope to bring to Indy." This marks only the second time since joining the Formula BMW USA Series that Hearn Motorsports will enter three cars. Duc (pronounced Duke) and Phinny are signed to compete the full season for the Las Vegas-based team. However, Dufault, who made her Series debut in Canada last weekend, is only signed to race in these two weekends. Phinny, a former karting champion, is coming off his highest finish in a car while Duc and Dufault are both looking for their first top-fives Formula BMW. "It will be good for everyone to race back-to-back, I think," advised Hearn on his three drivers. "Ryan did a pretty good job in Canada. Hopefully, the top-five will give him some added confidence coming into Indy. I know Jules has a lot left in him. I'm hoping that the magnitude of this event will draw it out of him. Maryeve did alright in Canada too. She didn't have any experience in these cars or on the track and she had a good, clean weekend. She was really good at the starts. She improved her position at the start of both races. I think she'll do better this race because she'll have some time to think about everything from Canada." Practice for the two events (Rounds Seven and Eight on the 14-race Formula BMW USA schedule) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be held on Friday, June 30 at 9:45 ET followed the same day by qualifying at 4:25 PM. The first race will start at 4:40 PM, Saturday, July 1 while race two will take the green flag at 9:30 AM on Sunday just hours before the start of the United States Grand Prix Formula One event. For more on Hearn Motorsports please visit www.HearnMotorsports.com <http://www.hearnmotorsports.com/> . To learn more about the Formula BMW USA Series, click on www.FormulaBMWUSA.com <http://www.formulabmwusa.com/> . Additional information on Ryan Phinny can be found at www.RyanPhinnyMotorsports.com <http://www.ryanphinnymotorsports.com/> . Jules Duc can be found on the web at www.DucMotorsports.com <http://www.ducmotorsports.com/> More on Maryeve Dufault is available at www.Maryeve.com <http://www.maryeve.com/> .