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| June 8, 2002- Jonathan Macri Qualifies 2nd at Monterey Twenty-year old Jonathan Macri, piloting the P-1 Racing-NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft 014.a will have a front-row view of the storied 2.238-mile road course at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, come race time. The Gormley, Ontario open-wheel racing dynamo finished second in the first qualifying sessions yesterday, lapping at a time of 1:19.809 seconds, and clocking a top speed of 100:951Mph, eclipsed by leader Ryan Hunter-Reay (Hylton Motorsports) by only 0.376 seconds. Hunter-Reay put down a lap time of 1:19.433, and a top speed of 101:429 Mph. Sunny skies and warm temperatures welcomed Atlantic racers once again to Mazda Raceway for a final qualifying session early Saturday morning. Qualifying seventh, Jonathan was not as disappointed as one might be inclined to fathom. “We had better results at yesterday’s qualifier,” Jonathan said. “We wanted to shoot for pole position today, so the team made a few adjustments to the car to free it up a little. It seemed to be a bit too tight yesterday – it was binding up a bit too much. I can’t really say for sure whether the changes improved performance. I didn’t beat yesterday’s time in final qualifying but the session was red-flagged a few times and we only got about 20 minutes of qualifying time because of it. Add to this the heavy traffic and you can see why I, as well as a lot of other drivers didn’t improve on yesterday’s times. We just couldn’t put too many laps down.” It’s deja-vu for Jonathan as he starts Laguna Seca second on the grid as he did last year. Unlike last year, however, when he slipped to 4th place by the race’s end, this year, he will be driving hard for the win. “I really feel comfortable racing Laguna. I’m hoping for better results than last year when I fell a few spots from a second-place starting position. I think things are different this year. We’ve done some really good testing earlier in the season and we’re going into the race with some real momentum and confidence resulting from my podium finish at Milwaukee. I think Milwaukee was a real turning point for myself and the team, and we’re looking for a win at Laguna. Laguna Seca represents a real opportunity for Jonathan to clinch the first win of his Atlantic career. P-1 Racing-NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft 014.a. have provided Jonathan with a winning car in addition to a great deal of support. Communication between team and driver is high with over a year of history. P-1 Racing and Jonathan experienced Laguna last year in his rookie season. Excellent work by the team, therefore, coupled with Jonathan and the team’s experience at Laguna, their sheer desire to win, and Jonathan’s mature racing demeanour and persistence should see P-1 Racing-NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft 014.a. and Jonathan through to winning top honours at Laguna Seca. Jonathan Macri currently sits in 9th place in the Atlantic Championship Standings with 22 points. Rocky Moran Jr. (Sigma Autosport) qualified third. Sepp Koster (Michael Shank Racing) and Jon Fogarty (Dorricott Racing) will be starting fourth and fifth on the grid, respectively. Report by Fedele Fortino |
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