We’ve talked about the SportsCar First Gear columns before. Young and successful members are featured as the future of the club. It’s impressive when we look back through the issues and find that the First Gear members have been successful. For a three-month stretch in 2011, SportsCar really got it right.
In May, they featured Julian Garfield. At the time of publish, Julian had three Nationals wins in Junior Karts. He followed that up with two more in 2011 and 2012. Garfield took 3rd in DSP in 2014 and improved to 2nd in CSP in 2015. He’s starting his first semester of college this fall at the University of Kansas. We have no doubt that he’ll be a welcomed addition to their FSAE team.
June brought another First Gear feature and another autocrosser who’s talent had just begun to show. Andrew Pallotta had collected his first Solo National Championship in 2010 in STU. He’s added two more since: STX in 2014 and ES in 2015. He was featured in the most recent issue of SportsCar and is a favorite to take the 2016 Championship in GS.
Finally, the July issue hit mailboxes and featured Billy Davis. At the time, Billy had a 3rd place finish to his name in ES with his eyes set on success for his Formula SAE team. Now, he’s a 2-time National Champion in CSP.
These three young autocrossers have proven their talents in the five years since their First Gear features in SportsCar. We have no doubt that there is more to come for all three. Keep an eye out for them in Lincoln this year. Julian will be piloting a new 2016 Mazda MX-5 in CS, Andrew will have a Ford Focus ST in GS, and Billy will be defending his back-to-back Championships in a CSP Mazda Miata.
