Britain's Robert Bell takes victory in Round One of Winter Series SEBRING, FL - British driver Robert Bell captured victory in the opening round of the 2003 Fran-Am and Formula Renault 2000 World Championship Winter Series held Saturday at Sebring International Raceway. The weather was fine and warm in Sebring, Florida when the cars lined up on the grid for the start of the 12-lap race. The field of 36 cars took the standing start with Argentina's Juan Martin Ponte on pole position. The race was hard-fought, especially at the front of the field. Ponte - who competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship last year - and Bell - a two-time British Formula Renault Winter Series Champion - battled fiercely for the lead all race long. However, at the drop of the checkered flag, a winner could not immediately be crowned. A malfunction of the electronic timing system forced race stewards to double check the teams' manual lap charts to verify the position of each car at each lap. Additionally, a post race technical disqualification affected the official results. When all the results were confirmed, it was 23-year old Robert Bell - driving for British Team Firstair - who claimed the victory. Condor Motorsports driver Jeff Simmons from New York finished in second place, followed by Bell's Firstair teammate, 21-year old James Murphy from Ireland. Britain's Mike Conway came through in fourth while Canadian Dan McMullen rounded out the top five. Round 2 of the Winter Series will be run on Sunday afternoon. The Winter Series is open to Fran-Am and Formula Renault single seaters powered by two-litre, 186-horsepower, four-cylinder Renault engines. The cars are fitted with front and rear wings and feature spec Michelin racing tires. The competitors, amongst the world's best up and coming race car drivers, compete for a cash prize fund of U.S. $100,000 and a free test drive in the new Formula Renault V6 car in Europe. 2003 Fran-Am 2000 and Formula Renault 2000 World Championship Winter Series Schedule: Round 2 - January 26 - Sebring International Raceway, Florida Round 3 - February 15 - Miami, Homestead Speedway, Florida Round 4 - February 16 - Miami, Homestead Speedway, Florida Round 5 - February 22 - CART Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida For additional information about Fran-Am, please visit the official web site at: www.fran-am.com.