Surprise Polesitter for Round Three

Friday, April 22, 2005 ASTON, Va. - Pablo Sanchez Lopez, at age 15, is the youngest driver ever to take a pole position in the Skip Barber National Championship Presented by RACER. The young Mexican driver, part of the Escuderia Telmex program, put up a blistering 2:09.072 / 91.205 mph on Virginia International Raceway's Full Course, a full half-second quicker than Alan Scuito's time; the next 10 drivers were within a second of Scuito. Cole Nelson and Jordy Vorrath make up row two, while row three is also a surprise: Italian karter David Greco, who's done a small bit of Formula Renault testing, was a late entry for VIR and had only gotten into an R/T 2000 for the first time this past Monday -- but will start fifth. Lorenzo Mandarino, who had a second place in one of the two VIR races last year, is sixth. One-two in points -- Gerardo Bonilla and Matt Varsha -- are, for them, a disappointing seventh and eighth. Peter Ludwig and Garret Zine wind up the top 10.

Pablo Sanchez Lopez didn't make a lot of noise at the Sebring openers (he crashed out of both) but took advantage of the draft behind Alan Scuito and Jordy Vorrath on VIR's two long straights to take a decisive pole position for Saturday's round three.

Starting grid, Round 3, SBNC at VIR: 1. Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Mexico, 2:09.072/91.205 mph 2. Alan Sciuto, Orange, Calif., 2:09.620/90.819 mph 3. Cole Nelson, Atwater, Calif., 2:09.686 4. Jordy Vorrath, White Rock, B.C., Can., 2:09.750 5. David Greco, Italy, 2:09.793 6. Lorenzo Mandarino, Burnaby, B.C., Can., 2:10.001 7. Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, Fla., 2:10.068 8. Matt Varsha, Atlanta, 2:10.275 9. Peter Ludwig, New Paltz, N.Y., 2:10.582 10. Garrett Zine, Rio Linda, Calif., 2:10.591 11. Andy Rossetto, Grafton, Wis., 2:11.123 12. Winston de Wardt, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 2:11.156 13. Chris Cook, Coopersburg, Pa., 2:11.177 14. Sy Aryeh, Bedford, N.Y., 2:11.211 15. Richard Heistand, Sunny Isles, Fla., 2:11.275 16. Paul Albert, Ottawa, Ont., Can., 2:11.640 17. Casey Neal, Middletown, Ohio, 2:12.177 18. Jimmy Holden, Tiona, Pa., 2:13.449

Sanchez Lopez is 15 and fast at VIR.

Rick Roso