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| All eyes were on CART Toyota Atlantic drivers as they raced through the streets of Toronto’s Molson Indy circuit today. Sunny skies and slightly cooler temperatures added to the excitement for both racers and fans alike. Of those drivers running in today’s race, fans paid special attention to Gormley Ontario’s Jonathan Macri, piloting his NTN Bearings Swift. Even race announcers seemed generous in their praise of Jonathan swearing by it that he was in fact the real deal and that his ascendancy in the world of open wheel motor sports was a foregone conclusion considering his raw talent and grit. But was the praise heaped on Jonathan well warranted? I mean, a 9th place finish isn’t quite what you would call a stirling performance? Yes, this is true, but only to that person who didn’t follow the drama that unfolded in the NTN racing camp this weekend. To put things into proper perspective, Jonathan’s crash in the provisional qualifying session yesterday afternoon demonstrated an aggressive, perhaps overanxious racer. Not uncommon, especially for a racer running on his home track and attempting to impress sponsors, family, friends and fans. If Saturday’s provisional qualifying session was evidence of Jonathan’s inability to handle pressure, how do we explain the excellent results posted by him in the second qualifying session Saturday morning? Having to race a qualifying session of 22 minutes instead of 30 (a penalty imposed on Jonathan as a result of the accident and subsequent red flag); also having to go out in a car that had not had the benefit of a qualifying session to make final adjustments before the next day’s session, and, lastly, having to race, once again, before sponsors, family, friends, and fans, would the pressure faced by Jonathan not have risen by at least twofold? I would think so. However, under double the pressure to put in an excellent run in the second qualifying session today, Jonathan managed a solid 6th place finish. As for the race itself, Jonathan started 8th (result of combined qualifying sessions) but had his hands full wrestling with a car that was handling with a severe under steer in the fast sweeping corners and an over steer in the tight corners. . “I don’t really know,” Jonathan said. “We adjusted the handling characteristics of the NTN car after the qualifying session this morning to try to get rid of the under steer problem, but the adjustments seemed to do little for this, and actually caused the car to over steer in tight corners. It was really loose, and so I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to, especially exiting the turns onto the straights, and there’s where I lost time. It’s unfortunate because Toronto is a tough track to pass in the best of circumstances, but if your car is loose, it’s virtually impossible.” And so Jonathan did the next best thing to passing – he defended his position and earned some points along the way. No, race announcers did see what most Atlantic racing experts see – a young highly gifted driver capable of excelling given the right set of circumstances. After today’s race, Jonathan drops to 9th position in the Championship Standings and 4th in the rookie-of-the-year race, 10 points behind DSTP'S driver Joey Hand. Finishing first is Canadian driver David Rutledge and second is Hoover Orsi leading the Standings with 94 and 90 points consecutively. Tony Ave, Jonathan’s team-mate holds third spot with 53 points. Report by Fedele Fortino |
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