De Silvestro and Edwards Ready For Atlantic Championship Battle at
Mid-Ohio
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (August 6, 2009) - The Cooper Tires Presents The
Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda returns to Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course for the first time since 2003 and the "prime time"
race on Saturday night is sure to put the spotlight on the battle for
2009 title honors between Simona De Silvestro and John Edwards.
De Silvestro, the only woman competing in Atlantic this season, currently
has the upper hand in the championship fight with a five-point advantage
(119-114) over Edwards. She and Edwards are tied for the season lead with
three victories apiece, and De Silvestro leads all drivers with three
pole positions from the 2009 season. With her victory at Lime Rock Park
last month, the 20-year-old racer from Switzerland became the winningest
woman driver in the 36-year history of the Atlantic Championship. In
short, De Silvestro has had an amazing season thus far in the No. 78
Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal
Technologies machine for Team Stargate Worlds.
However, Edwards charged back into the title fight in a big way in the
Harrah's Autobahn Grand Prix presented by Mazda doubleheader last
month. The 18-year-old driver thoroughly dominated the weekend in
suburban Chicago, taking pole position for both races and leading every
lap of competition for his second and third victories of the season in
the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air
Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing. Perhaps most
importantly, Edwards sliced De Silvestro's points lead from 17
entering the weekend to five at its conclusion, setting the stage for a
potential down-to-the-wire race for the title. The Cincinnati resident
looks to continue his hot streak this weekend in his home state.
While De Silvestro and Edwards have managed to put some space between
themselves and the rest of their competitors in the Atlantic
Championship, there are still five races and plenty of time for other
drivers to make a run. One good candidate to do just that is
Edwards' NWR teammate, Jonathan Summerton, in the No. 34 Nuclear
Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI entry. Summerton is currently third in the
point standings with 92 points, but he is a proven winner and podium
finisher in Atlantic competition as evidenced by his win earlier this
year at New Jersey and his four podiums.
Belgian rookie Frederic Vervisch is another one to watch in the No. 17
Quartier/Isomo/Shinokki machine for Genoa Racing. Vervisch opened the
year with three podium results from his first four starts, and although
he hasn't scored a top-three result since the second race of
June's doubleheader at New Jersey, he has finished fourth or better
in five of his seven races in the series. He also leads the Rookie of the
Year point standings by 20 points, 84-64, over Borja Garcia.
Estonian driver Tonis Kasemets heads to Mid-Ohio carrying the momentum of
his first podium result of the season -a third-place run in Race #2 at
Autobahn - in the No. 35 Fatburner machine for Polestar Motor Racing. He
has finished inside the top five in four races this season and always
seems to excel on the classic North American road circuits, of which
Mid-Ohio is certainly one. Another podium for Kasemets this weekend would
come as no surprise.
Garcia holds down sixth in the championship standings heading to
Mid-Ohio. He has two podium finishes of his own in the No. 6
Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us car from Condor Motorsports this season
with runs of third in Race #1 of the New Jersey doubleheader and at Lime
Rock Park last month. He has also finished inside the top five in four of
seven races.
Defending series champion Markus Niemela and Team Stargate Worlds driver
Frankie Muniz are tied for seventh in points coming to Mid-Ohio. Niemela,
who switched from Newman Wachs Racing to Jensen MotorSport three races
ago, is hungry for another victory after winning twice en route to title
honors last season. He drives the No. 1 Jensen MotorSport machine.
Muniz, meanwhile, has twice earned the "Hard Charger" bonus
money and points this season in the No. 77 Stargate
Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal
Technologies entry, including a run from seventh to a career-best
fourth-place race result in May at Miller Motorsports Park. Now in his
third year of Atlantic competition, the former actor has clearly taken
several steps forward in his racing career.
British rookie James Winslow returns to the cockpit of the No. 18
C.A.R.S./E.T.T./D.H.S. machine for Genoa Racing this weekend having
finished ninth or better in all seven of his Atlantic starts to date. He
is currently ninth in the championship standings and will be looking to
improve upon a career-best run of seventh this weekend. The same can also
be said for French rookie Max Lefevre in the No. 7 DOTMOBIL entry for
Condor Motorsports. Lefevre is 10th in the point standings and earned a
best Atlantic result of seventh in Round 2 at Miller Motorsports Park.
This weekend will also see multiple C2 class entries for the first time
since the season-opening race at Sebring in March. Leading the class is
Michael Mallinen in the No. 71 Mallinen Properties machine for Swan
Racing, who returns for the first time since the New Jersey doubleheader
in June. Mallinen has three C2 victories from his four starts.
Joining Mallinen in the C2 field will be his team owner, Mirl Swan, in
the No. 88 Everclear Specialty Lubricants machine. Swan opened the year
with the C2 victory at Sebring. Making his C2 debut this weekend is Hans
Peter in the No. 80 Team Phenix/Swan Racing entry. Peter is a multi-time
winner in SCCA competition.
Each entry will ride on Cooper Atlantic racing slicks and rain tires.
After a promoter test day on Thursday, the official weekend schedule will
see Atlantic machines on course for practice from 8:00 to 8:45 a.m. ET
and again from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. on Friday morning, with qualifying
slated to run from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The lone
on-track activity for Atlantic will be the 50-minute race, which will
roll off from a standing start beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, but there will
also be an all-driver autograph session at the Cooper Tire display from
11:30 a.m. to 12:00 Noon on Saturday.
Also at the Cooper Tire display from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday,
Atlantic fans will also have the opportunity to add their name to their
favorite driver's car by signing a decal that will placed on the
car for Saturday's race for a small donation. The person who
donates the most money will receive two prerace grid pass and will also
have the opportunity to present one of the trophies on the post-race
podium. Cooper Tires will also supply a tire signed by all Atlantic
drivers for an auction benefitting CARA Charities.
Live Timing & Scoring data, news and photos from throughout the weekend
will be available on the official website of the Atlantic Championship at
www.atlantic-championship.com. Updates will also be available throughout
the weekend via Twitter (twitter.com/atlanticracing), the Atlantic
Championship Facebook page(www.facebook.com/pages/Brownsburg-IN/Cooper-Tires-Presents-The-Atlantic
Championship-Powered-by-Mazda/90562133620?ref=mf) and the series'
official YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/AtlanticRacingSeries.
COOPER TIRES PRESENTS THE ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP POWERED BY MAZDA
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
PRE-RACE NOTEBOOK
* Back To Ohio: The Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship
Powered by Mazda returns to Ohio this weekend for the first time since
2007, when current IndyCar Series driver Raphael Matos won from the pole
position up the road at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport en
route to the 2007 series title. The last time Atlantic raced at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course was 2003, when current NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger
started from the pole and current Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series driver
Michael Valiante won the race.
* Everybody Gets A Mulligan: The 2009 Atlantic Championship features
a new wrinkle in the way the championship will be decided, as all drivers
will earn points from their best 11 finishes in the 12-race season.
* On The Road Again: The 12-race 2009 Atlantic Championship schedule
brings the series to many of North America's most revered road
racing circuits. The series shares seven race weekends with the American
Le Mans Series at Sebring International Raceway, Miller Motorsports Park,
Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Mosport International
Raceway, Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Atlantic series
is the "headline" attraction in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and in
doubleheader weekends at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country
Club in suburban Chicago.
* Local Favorites: Representing Ohio in this weekend's field is
No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air
Energy/NEI/Entergy driver John Edwards of Newman Wachs Racing. Edwards is
currently second in the championship standings and owns three victories
from the first seven races of the season. Also hailing from the Buckeye
state is C2 class owner/driver Mirl Swan (No. 88 Everclear Specialty
Lubricants). Swan is making his second C2 appearance of the season. He
took the class victory in the season opener at Sebring in his only other
C2 start to date.
* International Flair: This weekend's race will feature drivers
representing eight different countries. The United States is best
represented with a total of six drivers with one each from Finland,
Spain, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland.
* Rookies Aplenty: This weekend's field will include seven
Atlantic Championship rookies. The first-timers are Borja Garcia (No. 6
Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us), Max Lefevre (No. 7 DOTMOBIL), Frederic
Vervisch (No. 17 Quartier/Isomo/Shinokki), James Winslow (No. 19
C.A.R.S./E.T.T./D.H.S.), Michael Mallinen (No. 71 Mallinen Properties),
Hans Peter (No. 80 Team Phenix/Swan Racing) and Mirl Swan (No. 88
Everclear Specialty Lubricants).
-credit: ac
