More than a month has passed since the running of the 2nd leg of the Cart Toyota-Atlantic Championship at Long Beach. Once again, excitement is nearing the red line on the RPM gage as the Atlantic Championship resumes with the running of the famed Milwaukee Mile.
For 20 year-old Jonathan Macri, piloting the P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a, sheer enthusiasm is as much an appropriate description of his attitude this year as it was this time last year just prior to racing the 1.032-mile oval.
“The five week break between races didn’t go by fast enough,” Jonathan said. “I’m anxious to run Milwaukee. It’s a fast track with short straights and fast corners. Passing opportunities are ample since it is a wide course. We’ve made some really good progress with the car testing at Portland and Phoenix in preparation for Milwaukee and Portland and established a good base-line set-up. Kenny Wilden, my driver coach will also be trackside to provide advice. We’ll be ready for Milwaukee and aim to collect some good points.”
The third leg of the Atlantic Championship Series, and the first of a four-race stint in June, good results will be the order of the day for Macri and P-1 Racing, not only for the purpose of improving his position in the Championship Standings, but also as a lead into the three races that will follow Milwaukee: Laguna Seca, Portland and Chicago.
“We need to run a clean race and come away with points. If we can run in the top-five, we’ll be setting ourselves up for good runs at the other courses. You especially want to run clean when the first three races will be run on back-to-back weekends. You definitely want to avoid accidents. Accidents cost you points and they are really tough on the crew. Running Milwaukee last year was a good example of that. I was involved in an accident during qualifications the day prior to the race that caused extensive damage to the car. The crew worked throughout the night to repair the car for race day. Fortunately, to their credit, they managed to rebuild the car but it cost them in Montreal the week after. The crew was absolutely exhausted. June will be a long, tough haul for all teams. You don’t want to make it any more difficult by damaging the equipment.”
Last year, the Milwaukee Mile saw Jonathan slice through the field from a last-place starting position to capture a 6th-place finish. In 2002, a good qualifying position coupled with his experience should see him in real contention for a podium finish at Milwaukee.
A test session is scheduled for May 30th. Two practice sessions will be held on Friday, with qualifying Saturday and the race on Sunday, June 2nd. The race will be televised LIVE on Speed Channel at 4:00 pm EST Sunday June 2nd.
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