Lehdistötiedotteet - Week 8 Rookies: Knight, Wheeler Qualify Top 3

Week 8 Rookies: Knight, Wheeler Qualify Top 3

If there were any doubters that Brandon Knight and Nick Wheeler were in some form of collaborative mindset, they were silenced today as the two qualified within 5-tenths of each other for Week 8's Rookie Series race in Great Britain taking the pole and 3rd place on the grid for Thursday's race.

Wheeler could hardly wait for his machine to stop before he hopped out and stood on the cockpit to watch Knight improve his time in the 2nd run, confirming his position on the pole at his home course.

As Knight crossed the line, Wheeler turned to the gathering reporters with an ear-to-ear smile, pointed toward the leader board, and said "how 'bout that kid, huh?" With that reporters jumped straight into their questions, not wanting to waste time in the light drizzle.

Reporter: "I don't think anyone has ever seen you react so positively to being beaten by someone. What has you in such good spirits after Andersson grabbed away 2nd place and Knight pulled away?"

Wheeler: "Hey we're at Donington. A Swede or American on the pole just wouldn't have felt right with Knight on the start list. He drove like crazy to get that thing. Not one mistake in either run. Andersson and I both ran hard, I made a mistake in each run, and Andersson almost got him - but this is his track.

Besides, it means I have the inside line on the grid to the Redgate turn. If I'm gonna follow the guy into the turn anyways, I may as well start behind him and match his line, right? Maybe kick Andersson into 3rd right away. Though I doubt he'll go anywhere quietly."

Reporter:"Did you expect Niklas Andersson to put in such a good performance not knowing how you and Brandon would finish in run 2?"

Wheeler: "I was a little surprised to see him slip inside the 3-tenths I gave Knight on the first run. I knew I was going to have to be perfect in run 2 to make up the time on Knight, but I made a little mistake and it cost me 2nd."

Reporter: "Did the weather play a factor in today's results?"

Wheeler: "It certainly did for the guys that ran on wets in both runs. Their gamble cost them some major seconds on course. I need to improve driving slicks in light rain. The mistakes I made today reminded me a lot of the mistakes I made when I was racing with Frazier in Brazil. Corner exits got me twice. I think were we completely dry today, I could have snuck in front of Andersson and maybe even challenged Knight."

Reporter: "Did you share data with Knight at all during practice runs?"

Wheeler: "Of course not. The two of us have been running nose-to-tail all season at all sorts of tracks, but other than the passing 'man, I wish we didn't get a safety car there' or 'great quali, we'll see you on the track' we haven't shared much with each other. At the end of the day, even though we're friendly off the track, we're still high-compete drivers with the motivation to win.

Both of us are climbing the Rookie Series standings, and every position is super important to us. Losing 2 points to him in qualifying on his home track isn't a huge deal. I'll celebrate for and with him on the accomplishment in front of his home crowd, but come race day, we'll be competitive as ever."

Reporter: "What can we expect to see on race day?"

Wheeler: "Oh man, I can't wait. Brandon and I have been running together the back half of this season in almost every race we start, but never with clean air. I think it'll be the 3 of us [including Andersson] all race long. I learned my lesson with Frazier, so we'll have a strategy in place in the case of tire issues, but it looks like it's going to be a clear day with dry tarmac, and the racing is going to decide the winner. It should be a great spectacle. I don't think any of the 3 of us will let another run away with it."

Reporter: "With all of the positive thinking around Knight's performance today, and your comments earlier this season about [Drummond] Bennett and Knight, I have to ask, can we expect anything formal from the 3 of you?"

Wheeler: "How about this? Let's save that question for another day. Maybe at the end of the season after Brandon and I are done hammering on each other for Season Series positions. It's up to our managers to make these calls, and until I'm told otherwise, I'm racing for my team of engineers and employees, for the advancement of this nation as racing nation, and for myself. Brandon and Drummond are friends off the track and highly respected adversaries on it."

It seems as though the perceived "Anti-American American" has withdrawn all the attention he got for his comments about racing in the USA and has begun seeing more attention on his future with British driving.

As several managers have already speculated, the presence of Wheeler, Bennett, and Knight on the application list for F3 USA is plenty of ammo supporting the belief that the 3 teams are collaborating. Seeing Wheeler and Knight run almost identical times is almost worthy of confirmation that those two are at least in talks. But, Wheeler says it'll have to wait until the end of Season 9 for speculators to be proven right or wrong.