GRAHAM RAHAL COMES OUT STRONG IN DENVER, SETTING NEW TRACK RECORD WHILE
LEADING OPENING ROUND OF ATLANTIC QUALIFYING
DENVER, Colorado (August 11, 2006) -- On a weekend where he needs to
make a strong statement in the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic
Championship Powered by Mazda, Graham Rahal (#18 Gehl Company) came out
firing with both barrels on Friday. Rahal, who enters this weekend ranked
second in the Atlantic Championship standings with just three races
remaining, set a new series track record while leading the opening round
of qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix of Denver Atlantic race
(tape-delayed broadcast on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 19).
The 17-year-old son of racing legend Bobby Rahal demonstrated his speed
early on the 1.657-mile street circuit around the Pepsi Center, posting
the second-fastest time in Friday morning's practice. The Mi-Jack
Conquest Racing rookie, who competed at Denver in the Formula BMW USA
series in 2004, raised his game in the 30-minute afternoon qualifying,
run under overcast skies and 90-degree temperatures in the Mile-High
city. Rahal turned his record-breaking time on his first lap with new
Yokohama tires, posting an impressive lap of 1:07.492 (88.384 mph). The
mark surpassed the previous Atlantic record time of 1:07.576 (88.274 mph)
held by Jon Fogarty in his championship-winning season of 2004.
While several drivers dropped their times in the session, no one could
get within shouting distance of Rahal's mark as he earned his
fourth provisional pole of the season by more than
four-tenths-of-a-second over his closest pursuer. Rahal locked up a
front-row starting spot with Friday's effort and, perhaps most
importantly, he scored a championship point and now trails series leader
Simon Pagenaud (#15 Team Australia/Location U/Cons. Gen. Vienne) by 25
points (200-175) entering the final round of qualifying on Saturday.
Another one of Rahal's rivals, Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks),
provided the toughest challenge in qualifying. After winning the last two
Atlantic poles and earning his first series victory last round in San
Jose, Matos clocked the second-fastest time of the day at 1:07.907
(87.844 mph). The Sierra Sierra Enterprises rookie will try to top
Rahal's mark in final qualifying as he chases his fourth pole of
the season on Saturday.
Mexico's David Martinez (#4 Sub-Hub) returned to his US RaceTronics
team this weekend and the combination clicked. The second-year racer who
finished fifth at Denver last season, finished third in opening-round
qualifying with a top lap of 1:07.982 (87.747 mph). Martinez, the only
driver to complete every lap of competition this season, started the year
with US RaceTronics but switched to Bite Racing for Rounds 8 and 9 before
returning to his original squad this weekend.
PR1 Motorsports racer Jonathan Bomarito (#23 Miracle Sealants/Dynacor)
enters this weekend ranked fourth in the championship and he finished in
the same order in qualifying Friday with a top lap of 1:08.042 (87.669
mph). Richard Philippe (#33 INDECK/Layer 7) of Forsythe Racing completed
the top five rundown with a mark of 1:08.076 (87.626 mph). The
16-year-old rookie is one of 10 drivers in this weekend's 25-car
field that has experience racing at Denver. Philippe earned a pair of
top-10 finishes last season at the circuit on his way to claiming the
Formula BMW USA title.
Pagenaud, who's struggled a bit on street circuits in his
remarkable rookie season for Team Australia, was sixth in qualifying
after he posted a fast lap of 1:08.129 (87.557 mph).
Last season's Denver Atlantic champion, Andreas Wirth (#37
INDECK/Layer 7/Wirth Solar), owned the seventh-fastest time on Friday at
1:08.132 (87.554 mph). Wirth captured his first series victory on the
Denver streets in 2005 and his championship hopes need another strong
performance this weekend as he sits third in the series standings, 28
points behind Pagenaud.
After leading the morning practice session at Denver, Polestar Racing
Group driver Alan Sciuto (#12 Sealy/PKV Racing/The RoomStore of Phoenix)
wound up eighth in Friday's final finishing order. Sciuto checked
in with a time of 1:08.250 (87.402 mph). One year ago, Sciuto became the
youngest-ever winner in the long and storied history of the Atlantic
Championship at age 17. The California native will get another chance to
make it two Mile-High poles in a row in final-round qualifying.
This season's Toronto race winner, Robbie Pecorari (#28 Western
Union/USA Today/Gelles Racing), was ninth on Friday with a fast time of
1:08.389 (87.225 mph), while Danilo Dirani (#1 Canary Fund/Funcional
Card/Sala Design/Perkons) of Condor Motorsports was 10th with a top mark
of 1:08.494 (87.091 mph).
The Atlantics return to the track Saturday morning at 8:45 a.m. MT for
the second practice session of the weekend. The final round of qualifying
will take the green flag at 1:15 p.m. Saturday. Follow all of this
weekend's racing action from Denver through the Live Timing link
and watch all of this season's races on demand at
www.champcaratlantic.com.
ATLANTIC QUALIFYING NOTES
Local racer Steve Ott (#35 Newman Wachs Racing), who was born and
raised in nearby Thornton, Colorado, was 17th in first-round
qualifying with a time of 1:09.197 (86.206 mph).
The top nine cars in Friday's first-round qualifying were all
within one second of each other on the timing sheets.
Rahal has now tied Simon Pagenaud for the series lead with each
driver earning four provisional poles this season.
Quotes from the top three qualifying drivers follow:
Graham Rahal (#18 Gehl Company) of Mi-Jack Conquest Racing: "When I
ran here with Formula BMW, this was my best weekend and I like the
track. I like the layout. I have to say, the car was great out of the
box and we basically changed nothing (from San Jose). I think most of
the speed you can find here depends on your line. People will disagree
with me, but everyone's going to be sliding around out here. You can
gain some time in certain areas. The car feels pretty good. We're a
half second quicker on old tires. We're quick and consistent and going
into the race that's the best combination you can have. (On Pagenaud's
lead in the points) At this point, it will be difficult to catch him and
this is the first step towards catching him. We've had a lot single
points, for fastest laps and a lot of poles, and we just have to keep
doing that. It's within reach. Simon (Pagenaud) has done a great job,
what can you say?"
Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks) of Sierra Sierra Enterprises: "We
always had a good car. You are always searching for the best balance and
looking for grip, especially here. It's a very low-grip track. From the
first session, we made some pretty big adjustments and the changes seem
to be working. We're quite happy with the car, but I was expecting more
from my sticker tire run. I was expecting more speed and a better
balance for the car. But, we have two sessions tomorrow and we have time
to make the car better. I have to thank Sierra Sierra and the team.
They did a great job again. (On qualifying tomorrow) It's been so
close, the last three races. I think Graham (Rahal) has an advantage.
When you know the track, you can start working on set-up faster and
fine-tuning the car a bit earlier. From now until the second qualifying,
we should be good."
David Martinez (#4 Sub-Hub) of US RaceTronics Racing: "First of
all, I'm happy to be back with my old team and very grateful to Bite
Racing because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't still be up there in the
championship. It feels good to be back in the front after a while.
Hopefully, it will stay like this all weekend. (On the advantage of
racing here last year) It helps. It's one less thing to think about,
knowing the track helps. But, I think there are a lot of good drivers
out there that learn the tracks really fast, so at the end I don't think
it matters that much. (On getting a new sponsor -- Sub-Hub) I
brushed the wall this morning and broke a rim, but that's okay. It's
great to have the confidence to go out there and push. I'm just happy to
still be in the series, because I didn't know if I was going to get to
race."
-credit: ccws/atl
