Group-A Racing Sweeps Front Row & Wins at Houston

Lindenhurst, New York (September 24, 2015) - Group-A Racing ended the inaugural Formula Lites in a very strong manner. Both its team’s drivers started 1-2 in both races with Jose Armida earning his first win during the weekend.            The weekend started off with the promoter’s test day and official practice, with both drivers coming up to speed and working with the teams engineers to make necessary adjustments to deal with the bumpy MSR Houston circuit. The team had good pace but was still looking for more going into qualifying.

The team made some last minute adjustments going into qualifying which paid off. Jose Armida earned his first pole of the year for himself and the team at his home track. Group-A Racing teammate, Jackie Ding ,qualified second giving the team a 1-2 sweep in qualifying. The top three were covered by a staggering .059 of a second showcasing the incredibly tight competition in the Honda powered series.

At the start of race 1 Jose Armida would build a gap over the field with teammate Ding running third. Armida would be hounded down by the 2015 champ, Papareli. The two of them went at it for numerous laps until finally Papareli was able to get by Armida. In the end the Group-A Racing duo would finish 2-3.

Race two would see the Group-A Racing drivers again start 1-2, but this time it was Jackie Ding checking out with an early lead. He was setting the fastest lap of the race until sadly, he made a mistake causing a spin. Jose Armida was there to pick up the lead. Just as he did during race one, he had to hold off a hard charging Papareli. The two even had contact on the last lap, but Armida held him off to earn his first series win.

The team has already started to schedule off season testing and talking with drivers looking to race in the series next year. Group-A Racing plans to expand from two cars to four cars full season in Formula Lites. Interested drivers in both testing and 2016 race seats can contact them via 631-974-4379 or GroupARacing@aol.com

Post Event Quotes:

Team Manager Jonathan Scarallo: “I am really just so proud of everybody involved with this. Jackie and Jose have improved so much during the year; the crew has done a fantastic job all year and this is a great way to end the year. We have been so close to so many poles, so to finally earn one is great, but more important another win is even better. Especially for Jose to earn his first win at his sponsor’s track, it could not happen at a better time. It’s a shame the season has to end when we are on such a roll, but we will carry this momentum into the off season and into 2016.”

Jose Armida Driver #7 MSR Houston FL15: “First off all I want to thank Group A Racing for the amazing job they did this year and also MSR Houston for the support along the season. The weekend was great, we achieved our first pole position and also our first victory in the series. We were looking for this all season and we worked really hard for it. Hope to be back next year and win the championship!"

Jackie Ding Driver #86 Huawei Honor, EVE Energy FL15: "It wasn't the best of weekends for me personally, as I think I could have, and definitely should have, done better, but I'm also very proud of our effort and performance as a team. To see Jose qualify on pole and finally take a win is a testament to both the team and his own improvement, so congrats to him for all that he has achieved. As for myself, all I can say is I am happy about how far I've come since the beginning of the season, and I couldn't have done it without my wonderful team. Of course I won't settle for third happily, so even though the season is over, I am fully motivated to work all through the winter to become better. Thank you to Huawei Honor, Eve Energy, Zone District, all of my supporters, and of course Group-A Racing for the great opportunity they've given me. Next year, I'll be ready to fight for the championship!"