WISKO Testing Rundown
Kershaw, SC- The WISKO Race Engineering F2000 winter test program continued at Carolina Motorsports Park(CMP) with Federico Mosconi and Shane Morris at the wheel of their Van Diemen DP08s. Both drivers impressed the team with consistent, competitive running for three consecutive days. The name of the game is preparation, and with the 2013 season fast approaching the rookie drivers are craving all the track time they can get between now and the first race at VIR.
Federico’s testing program was advised by personal driver coach, Dennis Macchio of the Bertil Roos Racing School. Macchio and Mosconi worked closely with the team to get the car balanced and suited for Mosconi’s driving style. Morris, who has benefited from a previous test at Roebling Road, spent a good deal of time working on set-up and tire-degradation evaluations where he proved himself to be a quick learner and possessing the skills needed to work effectively with the mechanics and engineers.
The F2000 test crew consisted of Kevin Gentile, WISKO’s chief mechanic, and new-hire John Wise of the Gainsco Daytona Prototype Grand-Am team as well as Team Manager Danyel Torres, who oversaw the program for the young drivers.
Mosconi and Morris both showed promising pace, and their expert feedback and technical abilities were valued by the team. “It’s great to finally get a chance to meet my two new team mates for next year and work with them for the first time”, says Kevin Kopp of Great Falls, VA. “Having two teammates who are new to F2000 allows me to apply what I’ve learned last season to their development program now. They’ve shown to be very promising drivers and they will get on quite well come VIR in April”. “My car is undergoing a significant rebuild process now, I can’t wait to get on track with them once the #66 is ready” added Kopp.
Wisko Race Engineering is now year old and continuing to expand. In addition to the three car team Wisko will campaign this coming season in the F2000 Championship series the team has its eyes on the next step. In October WISKO purchased a pre-owned 2006 Formula Pro Mazda car from a west coast club racer. The objective at hand is to update the car to 2013 specifications and commence a testing program to prepare the car and drivers for selected 2013 Pro Mazda Championship events. The team completed the first major over-haul at WISKO in time for initial testing at CMP.
The Pro Mazda Championshiptest crew was overseen by WISKO’s Sporting Director, Ray Kopp. Driving duties were fulfilled by Peter Strasser and Kevin Kopp. Kevin played multiple fiddles as mechanic, chief engineer and test pilot. “The car ran extremely well for its first time on track and as a result we collected over a 100 laps of valuable data. It was a long and tough three days for the lads on the team working with the drivers and maintaining the cars, but it turned out to be three perfect days of testing”, said Ray Kopp.
This would be Kevin’s first time in the rotary-powered open-wheeler. His open wheel experience has been limited to the F2000 cars, but he took like a duck to water in the Pro Mazda as he piloted the car around the CMP track for three successive days. Strasser also quickly warmed up to the car after his first stint out on track. He carried out multiple timed sessions in the Mazda over the three exhausting days. “I’ve never worked so hard in my life, but I didn’t want to get out of the car” said Strasser when he nearly ran the car out of fuel on the last day.
The team looks forward to further testing ofthe Pro Mazda car this winter. “The jump from F2000 to Pro Mazda Championship competition is a huge leap for everybody on the team, but we live for challenges”, added Ray Kopp