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| A full month has passed since the completion of the first leg of the 2002 Cart Toyota-Atlantic Series at Monterrey, Mexico. Atlantic teams and drivers have since shifted gears and their sights to Long Beach, California for the second stop of the 2002 Atlantic season. The feature support race of the FedEx Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, this weekend’s 32-lap race through the downtown streets of Long Beach promises to provide open-wheel aficionados with some highly competitive racing. For Jonathan Macri, Long Beach holds a special significance. It will be the first time that this Gormley, Ontario, racing ace will nestle into the cockpit of the new P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014a. To Jonathan’s exhilarating surprise, shipment of the new Swift 014a was made earlier than he had anticipated. Team P-1 Racing took little time before delving deeply into the car, investigating it part by part, in an attempt to fully understand the mechanical dynamics and characteristics of the new machine. Testing at Buttonwillow, California, on the 2nd and 3rd of April gave Jonathan the opportunity to get to know his new Swift. “It was great testing the new car,” Jonathan said. “I wasn’t expecting to get it this early in the season, and I’m really glad I did. I have spent some time in the 014a. I took my teammate’s car, Dave Cutler, for a few laps prior to Monterrey. But the seat wasn’t adjusted for me, and I didn’t spend a lot of time in it, so I really couldn’t make a proper comparison between the old and new Swifts. But now that I have had the opportunity to do a good amount of testing in the Swift 014a at Buttonwillow, and have had the car set up to suit me, I can say that the car is a definite improvement over the Swift 008a. The gearing is significantly better and so is the handling. The car felt really good and we were able to make some changes to improve performance. I think that we now have a good base set-up. What will be important at Long Beach is that we use the practice sessions efficiently so that we achieve the most optimal set-up for that track. I’m sure team P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft will be able to give me a really competitive car. They have been great to work with and I can’t thank my sponsors enough for their support. I’ve raced at Long Beach and know the track pretty well. We are looking to come away with some good results and I’m really anxious to try out the new car at Long Beach.” Jonathan managed an 8th place finish in his first outing at Long Beach in his 2001 rookie season. He currently sits in 8th place in the Atlantic Championship Standings. This year, the Atlantic series has seen an increase in the number of quality teams and equipment. At Monterrey, except for four drivers, all racers were racing the new Swift 014a. The wet track may have negated the superiority of the new Swift over the old. Notwithstanding a wet track at Long Beach, the superiority of the Swift 014a should be made apparent. Luckily, however, Jonathan Macri will not be at a disadvantage come race day. Wrapped in his new Swift 014a, the racing field should appear level to him. No doubt, come Sunday, Jonathan will be at the ready to ply his new race wares at Long Beach. This weekend’s Atlantic schedule begins with a 45-minute, 8:30 am practice session followed by an half hour, afternoon qualifying session beginning at 12:45 pm, on Friday, April 12. A second morning practice session (9:00 am) and the official afternoon qualifying session will be held Saturday, April 13. On Sunday, race day, Atlantic drivers will have an early morning 15-minute warm-up (8:20 am). The green flag will wave at 10:00 am local time (1:00 pm Eastern time). The race will be televised on a same day tape-delay basis on SPEED CHANNEL at 2.30pmEasterntime. Further information is available at www.jonathanmacri.com or on the Toyota Atlantic Series at www.toyotaatlantic.com |
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