Jonathan Macri, Gormley, Ontario’s young open wheels racing ace will be preparing for the seventh leg of the Cart Toyota Atlantic Championship at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois. Part of the Target Grand Prix, this race will be the first of the second half of the season.
With 35 points, Jonathan currently is running in 9th place in the Championship and in third place in the Rookie-of-the-year standings. However, he is looking to improve upon his results in the second half of the season.
"In the first part of the season, I spent a lot of time just trying to come to grips with the tracks, to adjust to my NTN Bearings Swift, my new team and the whole Atlantic experience," Jonathan said. "I came into the season never having raced on most of the tracks, except for Toronto and Montreal. Also, racing on ovals was a totally new experience for me. I guess it’s all part of the learning curve. Anyway, it’s what I expected and my objective going into my rookie year reflected my expectations - to run clean races, to learn the tracks, to adjust to the car and to finish races. I think that the experience has been valuable and that it will pay off. In fact, having raced on the one-mile ovals at Nazareth and Milwaukee, I’ve raised my confidence level. Hopefully, I can bring what I’ve learned to Chicago’s oval and look forward to racing there."
Running in his rookie year in the Atlantic, Jonathan’s patience and positive attitude speak volumes to his character and racing statistics attest to the success of Jonathan’s strategy in the first half of the season. He has the 3rd highest number of laps completed, only one lap less than Martin Basso and David Rutledge, both having completed all laps. It would then appear that in addition to his talent, undoubtedly, these qualities were critical in guiding Jonathan to capturing the 2000 Canadian Formula Ford 1600 Championship. In addition, it would seem fair to say that a good dose of patience, a positive attitude, and highly competitive spirit and an intelligent racing strategy will eventually pay hefty dividends towards Jonathan’s success in the Atlantic series.
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