HOST OF COMPETITORS LOOKING FOR MILE-HIGH MAGIC AS CHAMP CAR ATLANTIC
CHAMPIONSHIP VISITS DENVER FOR ROUND 10
INDIANAPOLIS (August 9, 2006) -- On any given race weekend this
season in the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship
Powered by Mazda, it's been tough to predict which rising star of
open-wheel racing will emerge from a talent-laden international field to
claim the top step on the Victory Podium.
In an extremely competitive series that's featured six different
race winners and 11 separate podium finishers over the first nine rounds
of racing, trying to determine just who's turn it is to ascend to
the top of the Atlantic mountain has been a nearly impossible task. The
past three races, for example, have featured three separate drivers all
claiming their first career victories in the Atlantic Championship. The
series has already featured more race winners than it's seen in
four years -- and the best is yet to come with three rounds still
remaining in the entertaining 2006 season.
As the Atlantic cars arrive in Denver for this weekend's Grand Prix
of Denver (tape-delayed broadcast on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday,
August 19), the picture of success seems to be even more out of focus
than normal. While several drivers remain in the thick of the chase for
the series title and the unique $2 million champion's Champ Car
bonus for 2007, even more competitors appear poised for positive results
this weekend on the 1.657-mile street circuit around the Pepsi Center.
Despite a rookie-dominated field, no fewer than 10 Atlantic racers enter
the Mile-High city with experience competing on the Denver circuit. This
roster includes several championship hopefuls who will be looking to make
a statement at Round 10 of 12 in the last street race on the '06
series calendar and the fifth Atlantic race run in the Colorado city.
Of course, several drivers will also be seeing their first action at
Denver. Team Australia's Simon Pagenaud (#15 Team
Australia/Location U/Cons. Gen. Vienne) has had to overcome the obstacle
of learning each track he's raced on this season. Despite the
disadvantage, the French rookie has soared to the top of the Atlantic
standings behind a win, four podiums and seven top-five finishes in nine
races. He's even emerged as the man to beat in the first day on
track at the venues that are new to him, leading the series with four
first-day provisional pole positions. Pagenaud will try to continue his
opening-day success in his first time racing at Denver and he also brings
a 26-point lead in the both the overall series championship and the
Rookie of the Year battle into this weekend's racing.
Despite coming off a 12th-place finish last round on the streets of San
Jose, Graham Rahal (#18 Gehl Company) of Mi-Jack Conquest Racing has
risen to a season-best second place in the series standings. The
impressive 17-year-old American racer and son of racing legend Bobby
Rahal does enjoy some Denver racing experience. He produced one of his
top weekends of the 2004 Formula BMW USA season at the Pepsi Center
course, scoring third-and fourth-place finishes during the series
doubleheader race weekend at the venue. Like Pagenaud, Rahal has yet to
claim a street-circuit win this season and he needs to make sure to
finish ahead of his main title rival on Sunday in order to make up some
ground in the standings with the '06 campaign hitting its stretch
run.
Last season, Germany's Andreas Wirth (#37 INDECK/Layer 7/Wirth
Solar) earned his first Atlantic win at Denver, leading every lap and
turning back a last-lap challenge in thrilling fashion. This year Wirth
needs another good showing on the Denver streets to keep his championship
dreams alive. Now third points, just 28 markers behind Pagenaud, the
Forsythe Racing series second-year racer also ran at the venue in the
'04 Formula BMW USA double dip, posting a pair of top-five results.
Wirth, who won the first two Atlantic events of the year, hopes to
recapture the magic he discovered at Denver last season and break a tough
stretch that's seen him finish 16th or lower in three of his last
four starts.
Although American Jonathan Bomarito (#23 Miracle Sealants/Dynacor)
hasn't raced at Denver before, the 24-year-old California native
has had a taste of success at the circuit. He served as a driver coach
last season for his current PR1 Motorsports team at the Grand Prix of
Denver. Bomarito, who has four top-fives and is 45 points out of the
Atlantic series lead in fourth place entering this weekend, helped guide
current Atlantic racer Alan Sciuto (#12 Sealy/PKV Racing/The RoomStore of
Phoenix) to his first series pole and his best series finish of second
place in '05 at Denver for PR1. Bomarito will be looking to create
his own excitement on track in his Denver debut.
Now racing for Polestar Racing Group, Sciuto had his coming out party
last season in the Mile-High city. He became the youngest-ever polewinner
in the history of Atlantic competition when he led both rounds of
qualifying in Denver at age 17 in just his second series start. Though
he's currently 10th in the season standings, Sciuto is confident
that a return to the track where he experienced the most success in his
short Atlantic career will spark a late-season run.
Another driver who hopes Denver carries good karma for him in his return
is James Hinchcliffe (#3 Emexis/INDECK) of Forsythe Racing. This
season's Portland race winner, "Hinch" owned the Denver
weekend in '04. He captured both ends of the FBMUSA doubleheader
and won a pole position two years ago on the Pepsi Center course. After
failing to finish each of the last two races while falling from fifth to
ninth in the title hunt, the Canadian rookie will be looking to bounce
back strong with a good effort on Sunday.
After completing every lap of competition this season, racing for two
different teams, David Martinez (#4 Sub-Hub) returns to Denver. Rejoining
the US RaceTronics team for this weekend, Martinez is sixth in the
championship and he scored a fifth-place finish last year for the team on
this course. Two other talented young series racers also competed at
Denver last season. Both 16-year-old Richard Philippe (#33 INDECK/Layer
7) of Forsythe Racing and 19-year-old James Davison (#5 Team
Australia/Aussie Vineyards) of Team Australia ran in last year's
Formula BMW USA doubleheader at the circuit. Philippe, who went on to
claim the '05 FBMWUSA title, owned finishes of second and seventh
at the venue while Davison also claimed a runner-up result to go along
with an 11th-place finish.
Steve Ott (#35 Newman Wachs Racing) will be making his homecoming this
weekend. Although he has no starts under his belt at Denver, Ott is a
native or nearby Thornton, Colorado and he boasts several SCCA Rocky
Mountain regional titles on his racing resume. The American rookie is
looking forward to his Denver Atlantic debut in front of his friends and
family.
Several other top series drivers will also be making their first Denver
starts this weekend. Brazil's Danilo Dirani (#1 Canary
Fund/Funcional Card/Sala Design/Perkons) is coming off his first Atlantic
podium and he's jumped back up to fifth in the standings for Condor
Motorsports as he prepares for his first time racing at Denver. Fellow
Brazilian Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks) of Sierra Sierra Enterprises visits
the Pepsi Center for the first time as perhaps the series' hottest
driver. Matos scored a wire-to-wire victory at San Jose two weeks ago and
he's also won the last two Atlantic poles.
Coming off his top Atlantic finish of fifth place at Round 9 in San Jose,
Forsythe Racing's Leonardo Maia (#7 Layer 7/INDECK) will race in
Denver for the first time, along with fellow Americans Joe
D'Agostino (#34 Newman Wachs Racing) of Newman Wachs Racing and
Toronto winner Robbie Pecorari (#28 Western Union/USA Today/Gelles
Racing) of Gelles Racing. Pecorari's Gelles teammate Colin Fleming
(#14 eSoles/King Taco), who looked strong in his first two series starts,
also will race at Denver for the first time in his career.
British rookies Ryan Lewis (#30 Insport Sports Management) of Mi-Jack
Conquest Racing and Tim Bridgman (#2 Epson) of Epson Team Jensen will get
their first taste of Denver street racing as well, coming off impressive
performances. Lewis tied his best Atlantic result of second at San Jose
while Bridgman claimed fourth place last round for his top finish of the
season. Former Champ Car drivers Alex Barron (#21 The RoomStore of
Phoenix) of Polestar Racing Group and Alex Sperafico (#10
Mnyx.com/Sperafico Agroindustrial) of Brooks Associates Racing will also
race for the first time on the streets around the Pepsi Center.
Americans Justin Sofio (#26 Mathiasen Motorsports/RLM Investments), Dan
Selznick (#49 The Room Store) and Brian McAtee (#19 Cosby Oil/Union 76)
all competed in the 2005 Denver Atlantic race. Both Sofio, who earned his
top finish of the season last round with an eighth-place run at San Jose,
and Selznick scored top-10 results at the venue last year, while McAtee
finished 15th. All three return to the circuit this weekend. Canadian
rookie Mike Forest (#32 Miracle Sealants) of PR1 Motorsports will make
his first Denver start while Ricardo Vassmer (#22 Zoom/Meridiano
Television) of Venezuela will compete in his second series race and first
in the Mile-High city.
For the sixth time this season, a standing start will highlight the
beginning of Sunday's race at Denver. All entries will feature
newly-designed Swift 016.a chassis powered by 300-horsepower
Mazda-Cosworth MZR engines capable of speeds in excess of 175 mph. Each
Atlantic will ride on Yokohama ADVAN Racing Slicks. Friday morning the
Atlantics will kickoff the weekend schedule with practice from 9:15-9:55
a.m. (local) Mountain Time. The first round of qualifying will take place
from 1:15-1:45 p.m. Friday. The Atlantics return to the track for
practice from 8:45-9:15 a.m. Saturday morning while the final round of
qualifying will be held from 1:15-1:45 p.m. Saturday. Race day will see
the Mazda-Cosworth engines roar to life with a 15-minute warm-up practice
from 8:30-8:45 a.m. Sunday morning. Round 10 of the Atlantic Championship
will begin at 11:15 a.m. The Grand Prix of Denver Atlantic race is
scheduled for 39 laps (64.623 miles) or 50 minutes. For additional
information, visit the official web site of North America's premier
open-wheel development series, www.champcaratlantic.com.
FAST FACTS
WHAT: Grand Prix of Denver sponsored by Bridgestone Atlantic Race
WHERE: Pepsi Center -- Denver, Colorado, August 11-13
CHAMP CAR ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (All times local): FRIDAY,
AUGUST 11 -- 9:15-9:55 a.m., Practice; 1:15-1:45 p.m., First-Round
Qualifying. SATURDAY, AUGUST 12 -- 8:45-9:15 a.m., Practice;
1:15-1:45 p.m., Final-Round Qualifying. SUNDAY, AUGUST 13 --
8:30-8:45 a.m., Warm-up, 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Atlantic Race.
U.S. TELEVISION SCHEDULE: SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 -- SPEED, The Grand
Prix of Denver Atlantic Race at 3 p.m. ET.
Re-broadcast: Wednesday, August 23 at 3 p.m. on SPEED.
2005 DENVER CHAMPION: Andreas Wirth
2005 DENVER POLESITTER: Alan Sciuto
TRACK LAYOUT: 1.657-mile temporary street course
RACE LENGTH: 39 laps (64.623 miles) or 50 minutes
TRACK RECORDS (based on 1.657-mile layout): Qualifying (one lap) --
2004, Jon Fogarty, 1:07.576 (88.274 mph). Race -- (one lap) 2004,
Danica Patrick, 1:07.804 (87.977 mph); (37 laps) 2004, Ronnie Bremer ,
42:33.175 (86.446 mph).
RACE ROUND: 10 of 12 in the 2006 Yokohama Presents the Champ Car
Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
NEXT EVENT: August 25-27, Champ Car Grand Prix of Montreal, Circuit
Gilles-Villeneuve -- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
INSTANT REPLAY: It was a weekend of firsts last season for the Atlantic
series at the Grand Prix of Denver. In just his second series race, Alan
Sciuto became the youngest polewinner in the history of the Atlantic
Championship at age 17 when he led both rounds of qualifying on the Pepsi
Center street circuit. Once the green flag dropped on the race, however,
everything went the way of Andreas Wirth, who claimed his first Atlantic
win. Starting second, Wirth got a great jump on Sciuto at the start and
took the lead on the first lap. Katherine Legge, bidding for the three
straight series wins, saw her car make contact with both Tonis Kasemets
and Charles Zwolsman at the start and had to return to pit lane for
repairs. Both Zwolsman and Kasemets soldiered on from the incident and
both would factor in the outcome. Kasemets rallied and passed Zwolsman
for second place with 12 laps to go. Kasemets attempted to make a pass
for the lead on Wirth in the final turn of the race but he spun out and
fell to eighth at the checkered flag. Sciuto, who fell to fifth place
after the start, finished strong passing Zwolsman and Antoine Bessette in
the final few laps to score his best-ever result of second place, 6.487
seconds behind Wirth. Zwolsman claimed third for his eighth podium finish
in 10 races. Wirth's first series victory enabled him to move up to
second place in the series standings, trailing only Zwolsman. The
frustrating finish saw Kasemets fall to third in the title chase, which
was eventually won by Zwolsman.
-credit: ccws/atl
