MAY 25, 2004

Speed up to speed

It seems that finally the Red Bull Driver Search is beginning to bear fruit with 21-year-old Californian driver Scott Speed winning the fourth round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Assen.

It seems that finally the Red Bull Driver Search is beginning to bear fruit with 21-year-old Californian driver Scott Speed winning the fourth round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Assen in The Netherlands, it is his second victory in the series (he previously won also won at Oschersleben) and he has also had two victories in Renault Eurocup series. The Red Bull Driver Search aims to find and prepare a young American driver for a future in Formula 1. Speed qualified only eighth on the grid after a crash but took the brave decision to race on slick tyres, reckoning that the track would dry.

Colin Fleming, another Red Bull Search driver, finished second recently in the Eurocup event at Magny-Cours.

It is Speed's second year in the Red Bull Junior Team, having started last year in the British Formula 3 series. This proved to be a case of too much too soon and Speed's efforts were not helped by medical problems in the course of the year.