British F3 Champion Lundqvist Wins 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge

Super Swede Now Daytona-Bound For Fully-Funded Rolex 24 Outing

Linus Lundqvist has won the 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge after wrapping up this year’s BRDC British F3 Championship drivers’ title at Silverstone yesterday (October 14). The Swede will now make his sportscar racing debut at the legendary Daytona International Speedway this January courtesy of a fully-funded Rolex 24 At Daytona entry supported by Whelen Engineering Inc and Anglo American Oil Company Ltd.

Lundqvist’s victory came at the expense of 2015 prize winner Phil Keen who headed into the weekend just 0.1 point ahead in the standings following another standout British GT campaign. However, his young rival’s perfect first British F3 race at Silverstone, which comprised the maximum 140 points available for pole position, victory and fastest racing lap, was more than enough to initially jump ahead.

Pole for the championship’s second Sunoco Challenge-eligible race then ensured only 15 more points were required to seal the crown. But when adverse weather forced organisers to cancel it, the recalculated average scores gave Lundqvist the edge.

Indeed, Lundqvist finishes the season on 89.67 points, 3.5 points more than Keen and 12.67 points ahead of the 2016 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner and the newly crowned 2018 British GT Champion Jonny Adam.

Incredibly, Lundqvist’s success was confirmed less than 24 hours after British F3’s last senior Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner, Felipe Nasr, wrapped up 2018’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship crown with the same Whelen-sponsored Action Express Racing squad he tested with prior to his 2013 Daytona prize drive with Mike Shank Racing.

Lundqvist is joined in Daytona by 2018 Mini Challenge Cooper class champion Kyle Reid who will contest the four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Tire SportsCar Challenge support race as his prize for winning this year’s Sunoco 240 Challenge.

Linus Lundqvist, 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner: “Going to Daytona is incredible, I’ve never even been to the States to start with! So just being over there, doing my first endurance race and sharing the car with two or three other people will be a totally different experience and from what I’ve heard it’s a really fun thing to do and I’ll learn a lot and it will be an amazing experience.”

Anders Hildebrand, Anglo American Oil Company Ltd: “Congratulations to Linus who emerged as a very strong Sunoco Whelen Challenge candidate early in the season and maintained that form throughout. A perfect score in Silverstone’s first race ensured the Daytona drive was always in his hands thereafter, no matter what the elements threw at him. Felipe Nasr was the last single-seater driver to win the senior Challenge so it’s fitting that Linus could now make his sportscar debut alongside a driver whose own sports-prototype adventure began with Sunoco, Whelen and Action Express Racing back in 2013. His slicks and wings experience, which places more of an emphasis on aero grip, should also come in handy next January, while as a fellow countryman I’m also delighted to crown our first-ever Swedish winner!”

British F3 Champion Lundqvist Wins 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge

Super Swede Now Daytona-bound For Fully-Funded Rolex 24 Outing

Linus Lundqvist has won the 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge after wrapping up this year’s BRDC British F3 Championship drivers’ title at Silverstone yesterday (October 14). The Swede will now make his sportscar racing debut at the legendary Daytona International Speedway this January courtesy of a fully-funded Rolex 24 At Daytona entry supported by Whelen Engineering Inc and Anglo American Oil Company Ltd.

Lundqvist’s victory came at the expense of 2015 prize winner Phil Keen who headed into the weekend just 0.1 point ahead in the standings following another standout British GT campaign. However, his young rival’s perfect first British F3 race at Silverstone, which comprised the maximum 140 points available for pole position, victory and fastest racing lap, was more than enough to initially jump ahead.

Pole for the championship’s second Sunoco Challenge-eligible race then ensured only 15 more points were required to seal the crown. But when adverse weather forced organisers to cancel it, the recalculated average scores gave Lundqvist the edge.

Indeed, Lundqvist finishes the season on 89.67 points, 3.5 points more than Keen and 12.67 points ahead of the 2016 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner and the newly crowned 2018 British GT Champion Jonny Adam.

Incredibly, Lundqvist’s success was confirmed less than 24 hours after British F3’s last senior Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner, Felipe Nasr, wrapped up 2018’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship crown with the same Whelen-sponsored Action Express Racing squad he tested with prior to his 2013 Daytona prize drive with Mike Shank Racing.

Lundqvist is joined in Daytona by 2018 Mini Challenge Cooper class champion Kyle Reid who will contest the four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Tire SportsCar Challenge support race as his prize for winning this year’s Sunoco 240 Challenge.

Linus Lundqvist, 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner: “Going to Daytona is incredible, I’ve never even been to the States to start with! So just being over there, doing my first endurance race and sharing the car with two or three other people will be a totally different experience and from what I’ve heard it’s a really fun thing to do and I’ll learn a lot and it will be an amazing experience.”

Anders Hildebrand, Anglo American Oil Company Ltd: “Congratulations to Linus who emerged as a very strong Sunoco Whelen Challenge candidate early in the season and maintained that form throughout. A perfect score in Silverstone’s first race ensured the Daytona drive was always in his hands thereafter, no matter what the elements threw at him. Felipe Nasr was the last single-seater driver to win the senior Challenge so it’s fitting that Linus could now make his sportscar debut alongside a driver whose own sports-prototype adventure began with Sunoco, Whelen and Action Express Racing back in 2013. His slicks and wings experience, which places more of an emphasis on aero grip, should also come in handy next January, while as a fellow countryman I’m also delighted to crown our first-ever Swedish winner!”

 

Sunoco Whelen Title Up For Grabs This Weekend!!

It’s crunch time in the 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge, which will be decided at Silverstone on 13th/14th October.

It comes down to one weekend, calculators and what happens in the BRDC British F3 Championship. Will it be Sweden’s young up and coming superstar Linus Lundqvist, or Denmark’s sensational Nicolai Kjaergaard, who was on a mission at Donington last time out as Lundqvist’s charge to Daytona faltered.

Can either of these two young BRDC British F3 stars overall the very slender points advantage enjoyed by British GT3 star, and former Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner Phil Keen?

Keen will be watching from his armchair as his season is over and he is in the clubhouse with 86.17 points.

In previous years, the winner of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge cannot be eligible for the Challenge a second time. In 2018, it has been different. For this year only – past winners, (Keen and British GT3 Champion – Jonny Adam), have competed for the prize again. Keen has exploited this once in a lifetime opportunity to be in with a chance of revisiting Daytona in January 2019.

What Has to Happen???? – It Is All About The Points!!

To stop Phil Keen, the 2015 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner, securing another sensational prize in the challenge, both L Lundqvist and Kjaergaard must perform and improve their overall season average scores. To do this the following scenarios need to play out.

Linus Lundqvist needs:

1x win plus 3rd place = 175 points

1x pole plus 1x 2nd plus 1x 3rd = 180 points

2x pole plus 1x 4th plus 1x 3rd = 180 points

2x pole plus 1x fastest lap plus 1x 4th 1x 5th = 180 points

2x pole 2x fastest lap plus 2x 5th = 190 points

For Nicolai Kjaergaard to overall Keen & Lundqvist, he would need to do the following over the course of the whole race weekend:

2x pole, 2x fastest laps, 1x 1st 1x 2nd

That would be 265 points for the young Dane to sensationally snatch the Sunoco Whelen Challenge at the last race of the year.

This year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge champion will win a fully funded race seat at the 2019 Rolex 24 At Daytona, courtesy of Whelen…….but who will it be????

Sunoco Whelen Title Up For Grabs This Weekend!!

It’s crunch time in the 2019 Sunoco Whelen Challenge, which will be decided at Silverstone on 13th/14th October.

It comes down to this coming weekend, maths, calculators and what happens in the BRDC British F3 Championship. Will it be Sweden’s young up and coming superstar Linus Lundqvist, or Denmark’s sensational Nicolai Kjaergaard, who was on a mission at Donington last time out as Lundqvist’s charge to Daytona faltered.

Can either of these two young F3 stars overall the slender points advantage enjoyed by British GT3 star, and former Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner Phil Keen?

Keen will no doubt be watching from his armchair as his season is over and he is in the clubhouse with 86.17 points.

In previous years, the winner of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge cannot be eligible for the Challenge a second time. In 2018, it has been different. For this year only – past winners, (Keen and British GT3 Champion – Jonny Adam), have also competed for the prize. Keen has exploited this once in a lifetime opportunity to be in with a chance of revisiting Daytona in January 2019.

What Has to Happen???? – It Is All About The Points!!

To stop Phil Keen, the 2015 Sunoco Whelen Challenge winner, securing another sensational prize in the challenge, both L Lundqvist and Kjaergaard must perform and improve their overall season average scores. To do this the following scenarios need to play out.

Linus Lundqvist needs:

1x win plus 3rd place = 175 points

1x pole plus 1x 2nd plus 1x 3rd = 180 points

2x pole plus 1x 4th plus 1x 3rd = 180 points

2x pole plus 1x fastest lap plus 1x 4th 1x 5th = 180 points

2x pole 2x fastest lap plus 2x 5th = 190 points

For Nicolai Kjaergaard to overall Keen & Lundqvist, he would need to do the following over the course of the whole race weekend:

2x pole, 2x fastest laps, 1x 1st 1x 2nd

That would be 265 points for the young Dane to sensationally snatch the Sunoco Whelen Challenge at the last race of the year.

Mini Cooper Pro Challenge Champion Reid Wins Sunoco 240 Challenge & The Daytona Prize Drive

 

Kyle Reid has won the Sunoco 240 Challenge after wrapping up the Mini Challenge Cooper Pro class title at Rockingham last weekend (September 28/29). The 29-year-old Scot, who hails from the Highlands, will now travel to the legendary Daytona International Speedway this coming January to compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona support race.

Reid’s final score of 105.91 reflects a dominant 2018 campaign that resulted in one of the junior Sunoco Challenge’s highest-ever average totals. Indeed, he has remained a permeant fixture at the top of the standings all season long despite the best efforts of Steve Burgess whose hopes of winning the prize were ended during a difficult Radical UK outing at the same venue yesterday.

The scale of Reid’s achievement is even more impressive given his day job in South Africa means he must fly to every Mini Challenge round, while his team – SCK Motorsport – travel the breadth of Britain from their base in Scotland.

Reid follows in the footsteps of another Mini Challenge Cooper Pro champion, Max Bladon, who won the Sunoco 240 Challenge in 2016. Like Bladon, Reid can now look forward to a fully-funded outing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge’s four-hour endurance race at the wheel of a GT4-spec supercar on January 25th, 2019.

Meanwhile, the senior Sunoco Whelen Challenge will be decided on October 13/14 when BRDC British F3 Championship protagonists Linus Lundqvist and Nicolai Kjaergaard attempt to overhaul current leader Phil Keen.

Kyle Reid, 2019 Sunoco 240 Challenge winner: “I’m speechless; I mean this sort of thing just doesn’t happen to a lad from the Highlands who races a Mini! Obviously, I’ve been keeping tabs on the 240 Challenge and knew I had a good chance but it’s not something you think about during a weekend when the primary focus is on winning races and the championship, which we managed to do at Rockingham. So, to get the call from Anders [Hildebrand] saying I’m going to Daytona, well, that’s just incredible! Sure, it’s a big step, but Max Bladon proved that it needn’t be too daunting. Daytona is an incredible race circuit that not many Europeans ever get a chance to compete on. It’s beyond my wildest expectations!

“There are a lot of people and sponsors without whom I couldn’t have achieved this: Tim Sleigh, Barry Homes, my Mum, Dad and my wife Laura, have all been so incredibly supportive, while William Nicol, AK System Solutions, Paint Technic, Mintech Spares, RAM Tubulars, Ocean Rig Skyros and Smart Air Solutions have been there every step of the way. A huge ‘thank you’ to all of them!”

Anders Hildebrand, Anglo American Oil Company Ltd: “I’m delighted that Kyle Reid has won the 2019 Sunoco 240 Challenge crown following another impressive performance at Rockingham. Kyle becomes our eighth 240 winner and second from the Mini Challenge Cooper Pro series in three years. Switching from a Mini to racing a GT4 supercar around Daytona’s legendary oval might seem like a daunting prospect but I’ve no doubt whatsoever that Kyle can do extremely well. After all, the 240 Challenge is designed to showcase the talents of young drivers that wouldn’t ordinarily have the chance to race in America. Our first Cooper winner, Max Bladon, was right on the money and raced impressively at Daytona, so there’s no reason why Kyle can’t do the same in January.”

Antony Williams, Mini Challenge: “It is fantastic news that Kyle Reid has won the Sunoco 240 challenge and will be following in the footsteps of previous Cooper Class winner Max Bladon in representing the MINI CHALLENGE at Daytona. Kyle has been incredible this year, winning more races than any other Cooper Pro class driver and being a gentleman along the way. Congratulations to him and we very much look forward to hearing how he gets on racing in the USA”