Saturday’s feature race at the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey is the last stop for the 2001 Cart Toyota Atlantic Championship Series. Atlantic drivers attacked the 2.238-mile permanent road course at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca with all the necessary racing bravado to make this race an exceptional finish to an exciting Atlantic racing season.
Nineteen year-old Atlantic rookie Jonathan Macri, a native of Gormley, Ontario, started on the front row, after having powered his P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Swift to a second place qualifying position, marginally missing the pole, captured by Joey Hand, by only .016 seconds. As Joey Hand and Jonathan Macri fought for 1st place, Rocky Moran, Jr. slipped past both into turn one. The top four drivers: Rocky Moran, Jr., Joey Hand, Jonathan Macri, and Hoover Orsi pulled away from the rest of the field until a full course yellow was shown on the fourth lap as a result of a spin by Badir Begovic in turn 3. At the re-start, Hoover managed to capture 3rd, relegating Jonathan to 4th, where he would finish his day, but not without applying massive pressure on Hoover for the remainder of the race, and winning the $1000.00 WorldCom “Fast Pace Award” on the penultimate lap.
“I’m a little disappointed”, Jonathan said. We’ve worked really hard this weekend and after capturing 2nd place in qualifying, fourth place wasn’t where I was hoping to finish. I got off well at the start, and tried to take Hand in turn 1, but Moran managed to get by both of us. At the restart of the first yellow, I didn’t get off the mark too well and Hoover got by me. For the rest of the race, I just focused on trying to get past Hoover. I was right on his gearbox for about three laps and just tried to apply pressure for the rest of the race. But I couldn’t get past him. Except for the end of the front straight, there aren’t too many places to pass on the track. I was looking for a podium finish. It didn’t go exactly how I wanted, but at least I was able to solidify my 5th place finish in the Championship Standings. The team did a fantastic job this year. I want to thank P-1 Racing and my main sponsor, NTN/Bearings, for all their support. They deserve a lot of credit.”
The race was won by Rocky Moran, Jr. Joey Hand took second while Hoover Orsi and Jonathan Macri rounded off the top four.
In his rookie season, Jonathan has attained the special recognition of a racer whose aggression is tempered by a controlled, mature style of driving. Finishing 5th in the Championship Standings, Macri, by his performance, has excited and charmed racing audiences and has made Atlantic teams take heed. The word is out. Macri’s mission to compete for the Championship next year should be taken very seriously by all concerned competitors. The off season will be a long one. No doubt, the 2002 Cart Toyota Atlantic Championship couldn’t start soon enough.
Report by Fedele Fortino
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