HP-Tech Announces 2011 F2000 Effort with RFR
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – HP-Tech Motorsport has announced it will contest the 2011 F2000 Championship Series season with at least two new RFR (Ralph Firman Racing) F2000 cars. The Florida-based team has already signed aspiring Venezuelan drivers Giancarlo Potolicchio and Robert La Rocca and is in the process of building brand new RFR chassis.
Potolicchio, just 18 years old, is coming off winning the Venezuelan F1600 Championship in 2010. Teammate Robert La Rocca is 21 years old, and brings various regional SCCA wins from the past year in a Formula Continental HP-Tech entry to the F2000 grid and is looking to move up the motorsports ladder.
“The team goal is to promote the new RFR car in the F2000 Series while being a contender for the title,” said Jorge Herrera, team president.
“I think coming into the Series, which is new to us, with an entirely new chassis, will be the biggest challenge. However, we have two really good drivers and a very experienced team.”
While HP-Tech has announced two young-guns for its F2000 program, the team is testing more drivers in the coming weeks for its third chassis, and is considering ordering another.
HP-Tech has a racing background that goes back to 1975 in Venezuela, when the team was known as Auto Errante. Auto Errante specialized in drag racing applications, winning multiple national championships.
In 1990, Juan Herrera, one of the principals of the team, got involved in Formula F racing. Since then the squad has won six national championships and has developed as a business, importing Van Diemen cars and parts to Venezuela and now RFR to the United States.
In 2004, the HP-Tech family moved to the United States where they worked for the American Speed Factory, prepping cars in Star Mazda, Ferrari Challenge and Grand-Am, accumulating two Pro Mazda Master Championships and four Ferrari Challenge North American Championships.
The 2011 F2000 Championship Series opens its sixth consecutive season with a double-header weekend, like all events, at VIR, April 8-10. The Series next heads to Road Atlanta with the highly-popular Formula Drift tour, May 6-7. Rounds five and six come next at Watkins Glen, June 3-5, with Grand-Am. June 30-July 2 sees the Series visit Mid-Ohio before pairing up with ALMS at Mosport, July 22-24. The season starts to come to a close with the NASCAR Modifieds at Lime Rock Park, September 16-17 and finishes at Watkins Glen, October 14-16., with what is appearing to be a 2011 full of massive car counts and a variety of new chassis, teams and drivers.