Under sunny but slightly overcast skies, Toyota Atlantic drivers took to the Toronto Indy street circuit today for their first of two qualifying sessions. Having put in a solid performance, running fourth quickest in this morning’s practice session, Gormley Ontario’s Jonathan Macri felt confident going into this afternoon’s qualifier.
“The car ran well during the morning practice,” Jonathan said. "I knew the track well enough so I could concentrate on running quick and studying the car’s performance.”
The second of four races to be held in Canada, surely, Jonathan could feel the kind of anticipation expected of a driver racing on his own home track in front of sponsors, family, friends and race fans. In fact, Jonathan’s enthusiasm may have gotten the better of him as the qualifying out-lap witnessed him spin out in turn eight, unfortunately.
“I guess I pushed a bit too hard too early,” Jonathan said. "My tires were still cold and the temperature change from asphalt to cement in corner eight bent my back-end out of shape and landed me into the tire wall”.
The downside to today’s qualifying session is obvious. Jonathan’s provisional qualifying session came to an abrupt end and he sits last on the grid. The upside, however, is that Jonathan is alright and his NTN Bearings Swift did not sustain the extensive damage that was first predicted. In fact the only damage incurred was a broken rear wing. Not quite the full story, however. As a result of the red-flag that followed the accident, Jonathan's second qualifying session tomorrow will be reduced from 30 to 22 minutes, a loss of eight minutes.
Well, no doubt the pressure has risen in Jonathan’s camp. There is no practice session tomorrow that precedes qualifying. With no warm-up nor practice sessions left, the P-1 Racing team needs to get the set-up right the first time. Today’s qualifying surely was not what Jonathan had in mind. The racing spirit is definitely in him, but Jonathan will, no doubt, probably be more cautious next qualifier, in timing when to unleash it.
Report by Fedele Fortino
|
 |