 |
|
|
BACK TO NEWS | |
|
||||
|
||||
| June 15, 2002 – Macri and P-1 Racing Break Dorricott Top-3 Qualifying Sweep For open wheels racing aficionados, the CART Toyota Atlantic continues to satisfy the racing appetite for the third week in a row as it prepares to go to green for the Freightliner/G.I. Joe’s 200 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. Official Qualifying, however, was the first bit of business to be taken care of today. Coming off of a wining Provisional Qualifying session yesterday, with all its three drivers filling the top three spots, Dorricott Racing took to the track to repeat their previous day’s success. Unfortunately, for Dorricott Racing, Jonathan Macri, piloting his P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a, came to disappoint as he wedged his machine between Dorricott drivers Jon Fogarty in second spot and Alex Gurney in fourth, capturing third in Official Qualifying today. Dorricott Racing’s Luis Diaz qualified first. The second top- three Qualifier this season for the 20 year-old Gormley, Ontario racing ace, Macri and P-1 Racing started the Portland race weekend in good stead, having managed 4th place in the Friday morning Practice session and 6th in the afternoon Provisional Qualifying session. Persistence paid off for Macri and P-1 Racing with his 3rd place qualifier. “We ran well today”, Jonathan said. “A lot of minor changes were made to the car – quite a bit of fine-tuning for balance. I’m sure the new engine that was installed Friday night helped with speed; but it was probably also the lower track temperatures at second Qualifying that helped with lap times. We could have really challenged for first spot in Qualifying. I rang my best lap on new tires, but with only six minutes to go, I couldn’t put in too many laps. If temperatures stay the same for the race, we should be quick. P-1 Racing have been doing great work on the car. We’ve steadily progressed throughout the weekend so we should be in great shape for the race. I’m looking to walk away with a solid podium finish today. We’ve all worked hard and haven’t let up, so I am sure we’ll be there.” No doubt, Macri is on a mission to challenge hard at Portland’s 1.969-mile road course for a podium position, if not a win. To walk away with solid results would guarantee burial of the demon that thwarted his efforts at Laguna Seca last week, and, no doubt would raise him back to contender status for the 2002 Atlantic Championship. Jonathan currently stands in 10th place in the Championship with 22 points. Michael Valiante leads the Championship with 52 points. The Green Flag will wave at inaugural Atlantic race at Portland at 6:30 P.M. EST Saturday, June 15. The race will be televised on Speed Channel at 10:00 P.M. EST on same day tape delay. Report by Fedele Fortino |
|
|