Niki Coello captured the F1000 Championship race win following an exiting 20-lap run at Road Atlanta

Niki Coello is the 2009 Championship race presented by George Dean Racing Engines and Taylor Race Engineering winner, following a superb run in a highly-entertaining affair on Saturday afternoon (November 7) at Road Atlanta.

Joining the Firman RFR09 driver on the podium were Phil DeLaO and J.R. Osborne. Glenn Cooper clinched the F1000 Championship series title with a fourth place finish.

In sunny and warm temperatures, the third edition of the F1000 Championship race commenced on Saturday afternoon, with Coello and Osborne leading the field to the green flag. Following a clean start into the often treacherous turn one, the battle for top honors immediately heated up, with Coello’s Firman RFR09, Osborne’s Stohr F1000 and DeLaO’s Phoenix F1K running nose-to-tail, not far ahead of Cooper’s Novak/Van Diemen RF99 F1000.

Not waiting for their tires to get up to ideal operating temperature, the lead trio began swapping places, with both Coello and Osborne taking turns leading around the high-speed road course, and DeLaO alternating between second and third place.

The entertaining battles for position were not limited to the top-three however, as only a few car lengths behind Cooper, Jeremy Hill in a Photon VD07 and Brandon Dixon in Citation F1000 began battling for position.

As the 20-lap race entered the middle stages, the driver to watch became Cooper. Thanks in part to some lapped traffic holding up the top-three, the 2009 June Sprints winner joined the fight for the lead. Quickly becoming a highlight for the fans on hand, Cooper, Osborne and DeLaO traded positions virtually every lap.

The beneficiary of this fight for second through fourth was Coello, as the four-time Formula Continental SCCA National Champion steadily built a multi-car advantage. Making the most of every opportunity in traffic, Coello soon had an unassailable lead. The order behind was yet to be finalized however.
Battling one another, as well as slower lapped cars, the final two podium positions were not determined until the checkered flag waved.

Coello, further establishing himself as one, if not the premier amateur junior formula car driver in North America, scored his and Ralph Firman Racing’s first F1000 championship race win by 15.768s.

DeLaO, in an impressive first-ever SCCA race and only third-ever car race, finished second. Osborne joined in the podium celebrations, completing a last turn pass of Cooper mere meters from the start/finish. Completing the top-five was Dixon.

F1000 Championship Race Race Results – Road Atlanta – Braselton, Georgia

 Pos. Driver Chassis Diff. Fast Time

1. Niki Coello Firman RFR09 – 1:21.762
2. Phil DeLaO Phoenix F1K 15.768 1:22.137
3. J.R. Osborne Stohr F1000 18.176 1:22.432
4. Glenn Cooper Novak/Van Diemen RF99 F1000 18.262 1:22.666
5. Brandon Dixon Citation F1000 20.510 1:22.212
6. Jeremy Hill Photon VD07 40.436 1:23.412
7. Jason Slahor Novak/Van Diemen RF98 F1000 1 Lap 1:25.984
8. Jerry Freeman Freeman JF1 3 Lap 1:34.611
9. Bill Mclaughlin Firman RFR09 8 Laps 1:26.088
DNF Chris McNitt Stohr F1000 16 Laps 1:28.532
DNF Lewis Cooper Jr. Piper DF2006C 19 Laps 1:33.614

source: eformulacarnews,com (Photo: eFormulaCarNews.com – Al Craighead)