For the fifth leg of the CART Toyota Atlantic’s 12-race, 2002 schedule, teams and drivers have descended on to Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon in preparation for this weekend’s Atlantic Freightliner/G.I. Joe’s 200 presented by Texaco. Coming off a less than memorable race at Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, Jonathan Macri and P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a will be looking to re-affirm their competitiveness as they race for the podium.
“We didn’t get the results we were looking for at Laguna Seca,” Jonathan said. “We went into the race in high spirits, sitting in the front row at the starting grid. We’ll just have to look to our qualifying success at Laguna Seca and run with that very positive part of the race weekend. It demonstrates that we have a great team in P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a, and that we will need only to make sure our efforts and potential materialize into a much better showing at Portland.”
Twenty-year old, Gormley, Ontario native, Jonathan Macri and P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a have already demonstrated their preparedness for Portland, having successfully tested on the 1.969-mile scenic road course a few weeks prior to the start of the 4-race June stint.
“Testing went well at Portland. We managed to find a good base-line set-up for the car, and I found a good comfort zone there, so we should be in good shape for the race,” Jonathan said.
With Laguna Seca and its lacklustre results shelved and forgotten, racing for maximum points will be at the forefront of the collective minds of team and driver. Macri and P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a will need to put together the most competitive package for Portland. Positive results would go far to propel Macri and P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a back on to a winning course for the next Atlantic race at Chicago Motor Speedway and for the rest of the 2002 Atlantic season. No doubt, with the Atlantic season two races shy of halfway through its schedule, there is much racing to be run and many points to be had. Indeed, the opportunity for success for Macri and P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a in 2002 is amply abundant.
Jonathan currently stands in 10th place in the Championship with 22 points. Michael Valiante leads the Championship with 52 points.
Racing gets under way at Portland International Raceway on Friday,June14th with a practice session followed by afternoon provisional qualifying session. Saturday will see drivers on track early-morning for 2nd official qualifying. The Green Flag will wave at 6:30 P.M. EST. The race will be televised on Speed Channel at 10:00 P.M. EST on same day tape delay.
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