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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:19 am
by mlittle
Utah Test Session #2 top-10.....................
1 Jonathan Bomarito 26 Mathiasen Motorsports 2:29.717 107.868 173.592 0.000
2 Carl Skerlong 14 Pacific Coast Motorsports 2:29.949 107.701 173.323 0.232
3 Tom Sutherland 88 Brooks Associates Racing 2:29.955 107.696 173.315 0.238 0.006
4 Jonathan Summerton 36 Newman Wachs Racing 2:30.015 107.653 173.246 0.298 0.060
5 Simona De Silvestro 34 Newman Wachs Racing 2:30.349 107.414 172.861 0.632 0.334
6 Kevin Lacroix 25 Walker Racing 2:30.514 107.296 172.671 0.797 0.165
7 Markus Niemela 8 Brooks Associates Racing 2:30.595 107.239 172.580 0.878 0.081
8 Greg Mansell 5 Walker Racing 2:31.177 106.826 171.915 1.460 0.582
9 James Hinchcliffe 3 FCR-Atlantic 2:31.181 106.823 171.910 1.464 0.004
10 Frankie Muniz 41 Pacific Coast Motorsports 2:31.323 106.723 171.749 1.606 0.142

Atlantic Championship Races to Air on Speed Channel.........

Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:58 pm
by mlittle
For those who have wondering where the Atlantic Championship series has gone on television, there is good news........all 11 rounds of the 2008 Atlantic Championship will be broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays in November and December of this year.......selected quotes from today's announcement.............

~~Vicki O'Connor, Atlantic Championship President,
With the invaluable assistance of our partners at Mazda, we are pleased to announce that all of our races from an exciting, 35th Anniversary Atlantic Championship will be televised on SPEED later this fall. This is a homecoming of sorts for Atlantic, as we enjoyed five great years on SPEED earlier in this decade. Television coverage for this season was the last piece of the puzzle for us as we reorganized following the reunification at the top of open-wheel racing in February, and I am thrilled that we are finally able to make this announcement.
~~Pete Richards, Speed Channel Coordinating Producer,
We welcome the Atlantic Championship back to the network. The series has provided some great racing throughout the years, as many of sport’s biggest stars cut their teeth and launched their careers towards IndyCar racing or Formula One stardom. Each race is compelling, as up-and-coming drivers not only compete for podium finishes – but their futures as well.
~~Jim Jordan, Alternative Marketing Manager, Mazda North American Operations,
This scheduling will give road racing fans a great off-season TV fix and is a nice complement to the Star Mazda Championship currently broadcast by SPEED. Viewers can watch the progress of 2007 Star Mazda Champion Dane Cameron in the Atlantic Championship.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:22 am
by mlittle
Updated Atlantic Championship Standings(top-10)................


1st} Jonathan Bomarito, Mathiasen Mtrspts., 224 pts(3 wins)*
2nd} Jonathan Summerton, NW Racing, 216 pts(2 wins)*
3rd} Markus Niemala, Brooks Assoc. Racing, 214 pts(1 win)*
4th} Carl Skerlong, Pacific Coast Mtrspts., 189 pts(1 win)
5th} Junior Strous, Condor Mtrspts., 181 pts(1 win)
6th} James Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic, 171 pts(1 win)
7th} Dane Cameron, Genoa Racing, 160 pts
8th} Simona de Silvestro, NW Racing, 144 pts(1 win)
9th} Kevin Lacroix, Walker Racing, 134 pts
10th} Daniel Morad, EuroInternational, 95 pts
*--still eligible for series honors with one race remaining

Cameron leads Wednesday practice session...........

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:27 am
by mlittle
Dane Cameron may be considered a rookie in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda, but he is one of the drivers with the most previous experience at Road Atlanta, which he used to his advantage in the first official practice in preparation for Friday’s Atlantic season finale in support of the Petit Le Mans Powered by the Totally New Mazda 6.

Cameron posted a lap at 1:14.963 (121.980 mph) in the No. 19 MAZDASPEED/Finlay Motorsports/Lynx Racing machine for Genoa Racing to lead the day’s lone practice session for the first Atlantic race at Road Atlanta since 1993. Cameron’s previous experience on the 2.54-mile permanent road course came in Star Mazda and Formula Ford Zetec competition. He is hoping that experience will enable him to take his second pole position of the season and his first career Atlantic victory this weekend.

“It’s always nice to come to a new track for the series and have some experience in different cars,” Cameron said. “I raced here in Star Mazda last year and Formula Ford 2000 the year before, so I’ve been here quite a few times. It’s one of my favorite places, since the first time I ever came here. I was really looking forward to coming here in the Atlantic car, especially, and it’s really great to start the official weekend off being quickest in the first session. We made the car better and better all day yesterday, and we’re pretty happy with it now. We’ll keep making it better. It’s pretty close up at the top right now, but we’ll see if we can get another pole tomorrow. I’d like to start this race on the front row and try to win it and end the season right.

“(The track) is pretty fast. It’s really fast. I mean, the Zetec car, the (Star) Mazda was pretty fast, and this is in a whole ‘nother league. It’s so fast, it’s unbelievable. Through (Turns) 3 and 5, and basically everywhere, I think it’s 20 miles an hour faster than we ran here in Turn 1 in the Mazda, which is unbelievable. It’s a really, really fun car to drive at this track. I think it suits this track really well. I think it’s going to be a pretty good race. There’s a nice long straight down the back for drafting and good passing, and the times are really tight, so it should be a pretty good race. It’s nice to have a slower corner that leads onto the straightaway, because I think that allows better chances for passing because it’s not so aero dependent. At Miller, it was so difficult to pass because that corner was so aero dependent going into the good braking zone. I think track should lead to some good racing, so it should be fun.”

Second quickest was points leader Jonathan Bomarito with a lap at 1:14.971 (121.967 mph) in the No. 26 Del Taco/Stone Brewing/Discount Tire/RLM Investments entry from Mathiasen Motorsports. With just eight points separating Bomarito from Jonathan Summerton and 10 points between Bomarito and third-place Markus Niemela, it was a particularly good start to the official Atlantic activities for Bomarito.

“So far, so good,” Bomarito said. “The team is doing a great job this weekend. We had three sessions yesterday in the series test day here at Road Atlanta and we started off eighth, then went to fifth, then third, and we were second today, so we just keep plugging away and improving our positions. The guys that we need to be in front of for the championship we are, so we just have to keep the momentum going and go for the pole tomorrow. If we can do that, then we’re doing everything we can do. I’m excited. The car is good and we just have to keep our heads down. Ultimately, you can only do what you can. The bottom line is, you try to go out and be quickest in every session and improve your own situation. You can’t help but to notice where they are on the time sheet and keep that in the back of your mind, but it’s definitely not your focus.”

Niemela was third in the No. 8 Mr. Jones Bar & Kitchen/Rauma Town/Turku Karting machine for Brooks Associates Racing with a lap at 1:15.212 (121.576 mph). Niemela did not get much track time in Tuesday’s promoter test session, and the Finnish rookie was somewhat relieved by his strong performance in Wednesday’s practice.

“It’s quite a fun track,” Niemela said. “It has many blind corners, so it takes a while to learn. Yesterday, we had some mechanical problems and I didn’t get many laps, so this morning was just to learn the track. I was driving behind my teammate for a few laps to see what he was doing, and he was quite fast yesterday, so that helped a lot to learn the track faster. Yesterday, I didn’t really feel like I knew where the corners were going. Let’s see where we are in qualifying. It’s hard to say where we are, because I haven’t done any new tire runs this weekend yet. Yesterday, we put new tires on at the end, and then we had some fuel pump issues, and I could just do out laps and in laps and use the new tires on that. Today, we started on those. I hope the car is handling okay, also, in qualifying, because sometimes the balance changes quite a lot.”

Despite a crash midway through the session, Canadian Kevin Lacroix managed to hold onto fourth place in the session with a best lap at 1:15.328 (121.389 mph) in the No. 25 Uni-Select/Deans Knight/Wasteco entry for Walker Racing. Like Cameron, Lacroix is another driver who has yet to win an Atlantic race this season, and both he and Cameron asserted themselves as prime candidates to become the eighth different winner in the 2008 Atlantic Championship. If that were to happen, it would tie the Atlantic record for most different winners in a single season set in 1982.

Summerton rounded out the top five in the No. 36 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing with a lap at 1:15.448 (121.196 mph). Summerton and his Newman Wachs Racing teammate, Simona De Silvestro posted the two quickest times in Tuesday’s promoter test day. De Silvestro was seventh on Tuesday in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine at 1:15.586 (120.975 mph), just behind sixth-place Tom Sutherland at 1:15.537 (121.053 mph) in the No. 88 ENEOS/ClickAway Computers & Networking entry for Brooks Associates Racing.

The top 10 drivers turned laps within one second of Cameron’s session-leading time.


NOTEBOOK
*Greg Mansell continued his late-season flourish in his rookie Atlantic campaign by posting the eighth-quickest time in practice at 1:15.686 (120.815 mph) in the No. 5 Sunseeker entry for Walker Racing. Mansell has finished inside the top 10 in each of his last three Atlantic starts.

*Mexican racer David Garza, who is making his return to Atlantic competition for the first time since Round 5 at Edmonton, posted the 10th-quickest time in practice with a lap at 1:15.790 (120.649 mph) in the No. 7 Axtel/Tecate/Madisa machine for Forsythe/Pettit Racing. Garza missed Rounds 6-10 due to a training injury.

*Venezuelan rookie Luis Schiavo was 11th in practice aboard the No. 46 Constructora Iriaca/Astaltatora Maracay/Transporte Jumbo/Energy Freight System machine for Eurointernational with a lap at 1:16.005 (120.308 mph). Schiavo is returning to the series this weekend after a two-race absence.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:30 am
by mlittle
Road Atlanta Starting Grid
(from TH, 2 October 2008)


1. 36 Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 1:14.137
2. 19 Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 1:14.151
3. 8 Markus Niemela Brooks Associates Racing 1:14.318
4. 25 Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 1:14.576
5. 26 Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 1:14.684
6. 17 J.R. Hildebrand TKM 1:14.703
7. 3 James Hinchcliffe FCR-Atlantic 1:14.778
8. 5 Greg Mansell Walker Racing 1:14.831
9. 88 Tom Sutherland Brooks Associates Racing 1:14.895
10. 41 Frankie Muniz Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:14.905
11. 34 Simona De Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 1:15.011
12. 6 Junior Strous Condor Motorsports/Team 1:15.182
13. 46 Luis Schiavo Constructora Iriaca/Astaltator 1:15.356
14. 7 David Garza FCR-Atlantic 1:15.362
15. 9 Dominick Muermans Condor 1:15.849
16. 15 Leo Mansell Walker Racing 1:15.964
17. 11 Douglas Soares Condor Motorsports 1:16.353
from left-right.........position, car #, driver, team, qualifying time

Niemala wins race, title at Road Atlanta...........

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:44 am
by mlittle
........for the second time in two weeks, someone wins both a race and a series title; last week, it was in MotoGP as Valentino Rossi won in Motegi. Friday, it was first-year driver Markus Niemala who pulled it off, winning today's season finale at Road Atlanta and winning the 2008 series championship.


~~Results from Road Atlanta.............
1. 8 Markus Niemela Brooks Associates Racing 35 0.000
2. 25 Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 35 0.730
3. 3 James Hinchcliffe Forsythe/Pettit Racing 35 1.311
4. 34 Simona De Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 35 1.807
5. 5 Greg Mansell Walker Racing 35 4.174
6. 7 David Garza Forsythe/Pettit Racing 35 4.433
7. 46 Luis Schiavo Eurointernational 35 5.395
8. 6 Junior Strous Condor Motorsports 35 6.290
9. 41 Frankie Muniz Pacific Coast Motorsports 35 7.346
10. 88 Tom Sutherland Brooks Associates Racing 35 9.445
11. 15 Leo Mansell Walker Racing 35 10.328
12. 9 Dominick Muermans Condor Motorsports 35 10.914
13. 36 Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 33 2 Laps
14. 19 Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 32 3 Laps
15. 17 J.R. Hildebrand TKM 29 6 Laps
16. 11 Douglas Soares Condor Motorsports 26 9 Laps
17. 26 Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 12 23 Laps

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:39 pm
by mlittle
Final Atlantic Championship Standings(top-10).................


1st} Markus Niemala, Brooks Assoc. Racing.......................245 pts(2 wins)
2nd} Jonathan Bomarito, Mathiasen Mtrspts.,.....................228 pts(3 wins)
3rd} Jonathan Summerton, NW Racing..............................224 pts(2 wins)
t-4th}[4]James Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic.............................196 pts(1 win)
t-4th}[5]Junior Strous, Condor Mtrspts.,.............................196 pts(1 win)
6th} Carl Skerlong, Pacific Coast Mtrspts.,..........................189 pts(1 win)
7th} Dane Cameron, Genoa Racing....................................169 pts
8th} Simona de Silvestro, NW Racing..................................167 pts(1 win)
9th} Kevin Lacroix, Walker Racing......................................161 pts
10th} Greg Mansell, Walker Racing.....................................105 pts

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:58 pm
by prestonwatson
Hi Little,
It's been a long time you have not posted any comment. In this last comment you have given the details of venue where the Atlantic Championship was going to held. I am sure you would be aware about Formula One Racing Championship which is starting from 14th March,2010. I hope you would have the venue list of it. Cheers.