<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Formula USA announced its inaugural 14-race season at the recent Champ Car Season Premiere in Long Beach, California. Open Wheel Racing Series (the new owners of the Champ Car World Series) will sanction the new junior series. Formula BMW is already thriving in the manufacturer&amp;#039;s home base of Germany and in Asia, and has just been launched in the United Kingdom.   &amp;quot;We believe that Formula BMW USA is an important way for the next generation of Champ Car superstars to begin their open-wheel racing careers,&amp;quot; says Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. &amp;quot;The fact that these drivers and teams will be competing at some of our races gives them a great opportunity to showcase their talents to those team owners at the next level. Sometimes all it takes is for a driver to impress the right person, and Formula BMW USA will give them that chance.&amp;quot;   The tour schedule includes stops at some of the biggest open-wheel road-racing events in North America, including both the Canadian Grand Prix and United States Grand Prix. Note that the races take place on seven weekends during the summer months, allowing these young racer/students (ages 15 to 23) to participate with minimal to no impact on their school schedules:      Race 1, 2     Lime Rock Park, Connecticut     May 28-31       Race 3, 4     Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal     June 11-13       Race 5, 6     United States Grand Prix, Indianapolis     June 18-20       Race 7, 8     Cleveland, Ohio     July 1-3       Race 9, 10     Road America, Wisconsin     August 6-8       Race 11, 12     Denver, Colorado     August 13-15       Race 13, 14     Laguna Seca, California     September 10-12      There are additional events for licensing and testing:      Licensing school     Valencia, Spain     March 30-31       Official Test     Sebring Test Circuit, Florida     April 12-13       Official Test     Putnam Park, Indiana     April 22       Official Test     Mid-Ohio, Ohio     May 12-13      The young participants in Formula BMW will also gain a wealth of experience from the Motorsport Professional training program that includes seminars on fitness and nutrition, vehicle dynamics and chassis setup, driving technique, public relations, media training and sponsorship research and sports management.   &amp;quot;Formula BMW USA will provide the young entry-level racer, particularly from the kart racing ranks, the opportunity to experience all the demands of professional motorsports,&amp;quot; says Tom Purves, CEO of BMW of North America. &amp;quot;This is an exciting way to develop promising young drivers by showcasing their talents and preparing them to compete in the higher ranks of international motorsports. We would be thrilled if the next American Formula 1 driver comes from Formula BMW USA.&amp;quot;   The series champion receives a scholarship of $50,000 to be used toward a year of racing in the Formula BMW series in Germany.   The Ultimate Learning Machine    Designated the FB2, the car features a chassis constructed of carbon fiber, Kevlar and aluminum honeycomb and is powered by the 1.2-liter engine from BMW&amp;#039;s K 1200 RS motorcycle. The inline-4 makes 140 bhp and 86 lb.-ft. of torque. The gearbox is by Hewland and is a sequentially shifted 6-speed plus reverse. Total vehicle weight is 1003 pounds.   There are many well-thought-out safety features in the FB2 such as a long, deformable &amp;quot;crush zone&amp;quot; nose box section up front and a collapsible crush zone at the rear of the car composed of a carbon-fiber composite with an aluminum honeycomb insert. Another outstanding safety feature is its Formula Rescue Seat (FORS). Composed of Kevlar, the seat mounts directly to the monocoque, allowing an injured driver to be extricated from the car while remaining in the seat. All drivers in Formula BMW must also wear the HANS head and neck restraint, which is also mandatory in Formula 1, Formula 3000, Champ Cars and the Indy Racing League.   The FB2 costs approximately $64,000 (plus transportation and tax) and includes a credit of $15,000 toward spare parts. And for teams that do not have a budget for a dedicated race transporter or other similar form of transportation, BMW is providing a subsidized program. While the anticipated cost of a full season of racing was not discussed at the presentation, some unofficial estimates pegged it at around $250,000. Not a small sum, but as far as professional racing series go (especially when factoring the caliber of racing venues and BMW involvement), it is a very reasonably priced series indeed. And best of all, Formula BMW teams will be able to entertain their sponsors in posh surroundings well beyond that quarter-million dollar price of admission: BMW will be making its beautiful steel-and-glass mobile hospitality center available to all participants.   Although every car in Formula BMW is identically prepared to ensure a level playing field, the key difference \u2014 driver ability notwithstanding \u2014 will be in setting up the car so that the driver can get the most out of it to suit his or her driving style. And for drivers straight from the karting ranks, this should prove to be no easy task as this next level of racing incorporates adjustable suspensions (Sachs dampers, monoshock up front, twin shocks at the rear, and Eibach coil springs) as opposed to a simple rigid tube-frame kart chassis. And then there&amp;#039;s the whole new world of adjustable aerodynamic devices (the front wing features multi-position flaps, the rear sports two adjustable elements at the top of the wing with a stationary lower element).   Like the top open-wheel race cars, there is a digital readout built into the steering wheel that displays such vital information as lap times and speed, water and oil temp, oil pressure and battery voltage. The optional &amp;quot;Professional&amp;quot; telemetry package displays and records the aforementioned data for post-race analysis and also allows for the recording of brake pressure, throttle and steering angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, and fuel pressure. The &amp;quot;Professional Plus&amp;quot; package adds spring deflection sensors both front and rear for even more comprehensive data mining to maximize chassis tailoring.   But for the driver who masters these skills and has the talent, he may eventually make his way to the top: Champ Car, the Indy Racing League or maybe even Formula 1. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a10230/formula-bmw-usa/>