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| Cleveland race fans were treated to an exhibition of exciting Cart Toyota Atlantic racing today at Burke Lakefront Airport. Starting on slick tires, drivers raced but four laps when rain red-flagged the event. All cars were than refitted with rain tires and the race re-commenced under rain and clouds. Jonathan Macri, piloting the NTN Bearings Swift, emblazoned his mark at the start by jumping six spots from his 11th place grid-position to 5th place. Unfortunately, once the rain fell, lacking experience racing in the rain, Jonathan seemed a bit out of his element. “I had a great start,” Jonathan said. I developed some real confidence in the car following my 7th place-showing during the morning-warm-up, and the car drove nicely. I knew I had to do some real battling during the race to gain positions. But, once red-flagged because of the rain, I realized I would have a tougher time of it because of my limited experience running in the rain.” And a tough time it was as Jonathan slowly fell from 5th to 8th, finally settling into 9th place. For the rest of the race, Macri moved to fortify 9th position. “The weekend has been a bit frustrating at times, said Jonathan. We finally got the car to perform well but couldn’t utilize the performance once the rain came. I am sure we would have been very competitive, and could have put in at least a top-five finish if the track stayed dry for the entire race. We were hoping for better results, but it’s over now and I guess that the experience gained in the rain will help me the next time around. I am looking forward to racing on my home track in Toronto, and am excited about our chances their.” As a result of today’s 9th place finish, Jonathan sits 8th place in the Drivers Championship Standing with 31 points, and moves in front of Michael Valiante and four points away from leader Joey Hand for the Rookie of the Year award. In all, considering that the weekend seemed to move against the Macri NTN contingent, 9th place was a satisfactory result. A few points gained, a slight move upwards in the standings and some much-needed rain-racing experience. Not a bad weekend, after all. If there is any place, however, for Macri to show his true racing colours, Toronto is that place. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, either. He will be racing at his home-town track and with any luck the spade of hard luck that Jonathan has experienced these past two races will come to an end. Toronto beckons and Jonathan is ready to break out. It should be exciting. Report by Fedele Fortino |
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