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Rahal sets qual. record in QS-1 in Denver

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:16 pm
by mlittle
For the fourth time this year, the standing qual. record for an Atlantic Championship qual. session fell, and this time it was MiJack-Conquest's Graham Rahal who set the new fast time in Denver, besting the previous time set back in 2004 by that year's Atlantic champion, Jon Fogarty. Rhal led the QS-1 by over .4 secs., setting a flyer of 1:07.492 secs.(Fogarty's from 2004, by comparison, was 1:07.576 secs). Here are the top-5 from the session...........

1}G. Rahal, MiJack-Conquest Racing....................1:07.492 secs*
2}R. Matos, Sierra Sierra Mtrspts.........................1:07.907 secs
3}D. Martinez, US Racetronics.............................1:07.982 secs**
4}J. Bomarito, PR1 Mtrspts..................................1:08.042 secs
5}R. Philllipe, FCR-Atlantic..................................1:08.076 secs

*-new qualifying record
**-competed for US Racetronics until round 8(Edmonton) for US Racetronics; competed in Edmonton & San Jose for Bite Racing

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 5:53 pm
by mlittle
Top-5 from Saturday qualifying in Denver..................

1}G. Rahal, MiJack-Conquest Racing.............1:06.798 sec*
2}S. Pagenaud, Team Australia....................1:07.026 sec
3}A. Scuito, Polestar Racing.........................1:07.045 sec**
4}R. Matos, Sierra Sierra Mtrspts..................1:07.045 sec**
5}A. Wirth, FCR-Atlantic...............................1:07.055 sec

*-new qualifying record
**-both Matos and Scuito set the same qual. time; however, under Atlantic Championship regulations, Scuito's second-fastest flyer was faster than Matos', thus Scuito starts P3 and Matos P4.

Weekend sweep for Rahal

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:29 am
by mlittle
Weekend sweep.........defined as when a driver wins the provisional pole on Friday, final qualifying on Saturday, and then the race on Sunday, taking maximum points on the weekend. Case in point: MiJack-Conquest's Graham Rahal. He won the pole in QS-1, final qualifying in QS-2, and then led wire-to-wire in Denver, taking the maximum 35 points available for the win. Rounding out the top-5 were Sierra Sierra's Rpahael Matos, Team Australia's Simon Pagenaud, Polestar Racing's Alan Scuito and FCR-Atlantic's Andreas Wirth. Here are the top-10 updated points from Denver.............

1}S. Pagenaud, Team Australia...........................225 pts(1 win)
2}G. Rahal, Mi-Jack Conquest Racing...................209 pts(4 wins)
3}A. Wirth, FCR-Atlantic......................................193 pts(3 wins)
4}R. Matos, Sierra Sierra Mtrspts.........................158 pts(1 win)
5}D. Dirani, Condor Mtrspts.................................151 pts
6}J. Bomarito, PR1 Mtrspts..................................150 pts
7}D. Martinez, US Racetronics*............................143 pts
8}A. Scuito, Polestar Racing.................................133 pts
9}L. Maia, FCR-Atlantic.........................................131 pts
10}J. Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic...............................127 pts(1 win)

*-Martinez drove for Bite Racing at Edmonton and San Jose

Davison out, Patrizi in at Team Australia

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:59 am
by mlittle
Apparently, contract troubles are not restricted to the top-levels of the sport..........

According to Team Australia officials, contract difficulties, along with a sub-par performance on the track, have prompted them to make a driver switch; out goes James Davison and in goes Michael Patrizi, who up to now has driven one of Team Oz's Formula BMW-UK cars. According to the Team Oz press release, Patrizi will race alongside Simon Pagenaud at Montreal this week and them next month at the 2006 season finale at Road America.

Hinch takes P1 in Montreal

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:12 pm
by mlittle
For most of the 2006 Atlantic Championship season, the attention has been centered around Team Australia's Simon Pagenaud and MiJack-Conquest's Graham Rahal; this time, the attention was squarely on FCR-Atlantic driver James Hinchcliffe, as he dominated the Saturday qual. session to capture the pole and will lead the grid for Sunday's Atlantic race(and, once again, it will be a standing start....... :x :x ). Here are the top-5 from final qualifying.........

1}J. Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic....................1:32.171 sec
2}G. Rahal, MiJack-Conquest...................1:32.269 sec
3}S. Pagenaud, Team Australia................1:32.320 sec
4}L. Maia, FCR-Atlantic............................1:32.434 sec
5}A. Wirth, FCR-Atlantic..........................1:32.840 sec

Rahal wins in Montreal, Pagenaud still pts. leader

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:48 pm
by mlittle
Just as it took a day to run the ChampCar race, the Atlantic Championship waited a day to run their little donnybrook, and now there are two still in contention for the series title, as MJCR's Graham Rahal notched his fifth win of the season, holding off points leader Simon Pagenaud for the win. Rounding out the podium was FCR-Atlantic's James Hinchcliffe. The current points standings(top-10) goes as follows to Road America..............

1st}Simon Pagenaud, Team Australia............................253 pts(1 win)
2nd}Graham Rahal, MiJack-Conquest Racing..................241 pts(5 wins)
3rd}Andreas Wirth, FCR-Atlantic....................................202 pts(3 wins)
4th}Raphael Matos, Sierra Sierra Mtrspts.......................175 pts(1 win)
5th}David Martinez, US Racetronics...............................166 pts
6th}Danilo Dirani, Condor Mtrspts..................................159 pts
7th}Jonathan Bomarito, PR1 Mtrspts...............................156 pts
8th}James Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic................................154 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[9]Alan Scuito, Polestar Racing..............................152 pts
t-9th}[10]Leonardo Maia, FCR-Atlantic............................152 pts

Rd. 1 to Pagenaud at America's Spa.....

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:04 pm
by mlittle
Going into this weekend's 2006 Atlantic Championship season finale, only two drivers--Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal--were still in contention for the series crown and the $2 million USD prize that goes with it, and in Friday qualifying, "Monsieur Friday" pipped his championship rival to take the provisional pole and the championship point with it(Pagenaud now leads over Rahal by 13 pts(254-241 pts). Here are the top-5 from provisional qualifying.......

1}S. Pagenaud, Team Australia........................2:19.063 sec
2}G. Rahal, MiJack-Conquest...........................2:19.304 sec
3}A. Wirth, FCR-Atlantic..................................2:21.556 sec
4}J. D'Agostino, Newman-Wachs......................2:21.556 sec
5}M. Patrizi, Team Australia.............................2:22.846 sec

Matos to start P1 at Road America

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:28 am
by mlittle
Playing the weather conditions to a crescendo, Sierra Sierra's Raphael Matos notched two quick flyers, and then watched the rains come down in Atlantic qualifying Saturday, effectively giving him the pole for today's Gehl Atlantic Grand Prix, the 2006 season finale for the Atlantic Championship. Here are the top-5 after final qualifying...........

1}R. Matos, Sierra Sierra.....................................2:01.130 sec
2}S. Pagenaud, Team Australia............................2:02.644 sec*
3}G. Rahal, MiJack-Conquest...............................2:01.769 sec
4}J. Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic................................2:01.987 sec
5}A. Wirth, FCR-Atlantic......................................2:02.096 sec
*-Pagenaud starts second due to winning the provisional pole on Friday, as per series rules

Good luck to all the competitors today, and good luck to both Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal, as one of them will be the 2006 Atlantic Champion. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :up: :burnout:

Bomarito wins race; Pagenaud wins series title

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:34 pm
by mlittle
In the 2006 season finale which saw both title contestants fall by the wayside early on, PR1's Jonathon Bomarito outlasted Sierra Sierra's Raphael Matos to win his first career Atlantic Championship race, but all eyes were on SeaBass's young protege, Simon Pagenaud, as he is the 2006 Atlantic Championship series winne, clinching the $2 million first-place prize and a guaranteed debut in the 2006 season finale in Mexico City. Here is the final 2006 Atlantic Championship top-10 standings.........

1st}Simon Pagenaud, Team Australia...........................258 pts(1 win)
2nd}Graham Rahal, MiJack-Conquest...........................242 pts(5 wins)
3rd}Andreas Wirth, FCR-Atlantic..................................227 pts(3 wins)
4th}Raphael Matos, Sierra Sierra.................................205 pts(1 win)
5th}David Martinez, US Racetronics..............................179 pts
t-6th}[6]Jonathon Bomarito, PR1 Mtrspts......................178 pts(1 win)
t-6th}[7]Danilo Dirani, Condor Mtrpsts..........................178 pts
8th}Alan Scuito, Polestar Racing...................................167 pts
9th}Leonardo Maia, FCR-Atlantic...................................161 pts
10th}James Hinchcliffe, FCR-Atlantic..............................160 pts(1 win)