After his 7th-place finish at Chicago’s oval, Jonathan Macri and P-1 Racing planned to pound Toronto’s 1.755-mile temporary street course with the full, combined weight of their expertise, led by team owner Bill Fickling, team engineer Willi Oppliger, strategist and driver coach Kenny Wilden, crew chief Alex and team mechanics, Troy and Jacques. With the support of sponsors, NTN Bearings, Miller Genuine Draft and Battlefield Equipment Rentals, Macri and P-1 Racing would travel north across the border to attempt to capture their first win. It would be Macri’s chance to repay his gratitude to his team, sponsors, family, friends and fans in his hometown race.
Jonathan did just that by running a clean, text-book race that saw him duel with Atlantic’s top contenders. After withstanding early pressure from Alex Gurney (Dorricott Racing) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Hylton Motorsports), Macri, armed with his P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a, moved his open-wheels artillery into position to do battle with Rocky Moran Jr. (Sigma Autosports). After seeing the blue #31 car of Jonathan Macri painted in his mirrors for the last third of the 35-lap race, Moran finally succumbed to the assault on the penultimate lap of the race. Macri finished second to Michael Valiante (Lynx Racing), and climbed the podium, only latter to find that track officials had penalized Valiante for his “daring” yet illegal pass that saw him cross over the curb with all four wheels. A resultant Black Flag would have virtually obliterated Valiante’s chances for a podium and Macri would have taken the victory. Valiante was penalized 5 points by Track Stewards following the investigation initiated by Dorricott protests. Also, Rocky Moran, whose car failed a post race inspection was fined 14 Championship points and levied money penalties. As a result of the post race levies, Rocky Moran dropped from 3rd to 8th place. Valiante still leads with 89 points. Jonathan moves up to 6th with 63 points.
Interestingly, Jonathan believes that a win could have been his if Officials gave Valiante an on-track penalty, but winning this way was not how he wished to clinch his first victory.
“If they had taken action on the track, Michael would have been given at least a drive-through penalty,” Jonathan said. Sure I could have won the race had the infraction been called. But honestly, I would rather win on track and not because of an official’s decision. We are still really satisfied with 2nd. P-1 Racing has done a fantastic job, and I mean the whole team, from Bill Fickling, the owner, to Willi Oppliger, our engineer, the mechanics, Alex, Troy and Jacques and my driver coach Kenny Wilden. We all work really well together and we all rely heavily on each other. It really is a team effort so every podium finish is an accomplishment for every member of the team. We’ll be moving onto Cleveland this week. I didn’t do too well there last year. But we’ve got good experience going in and so we should be on target with the set-up. Actually, I was talking to Kenny Wilden and funny thing is that Cleveland is where he got the first win of his Atlantic career. So, maybe it’ll be mine. He says he’s got really good notes on the track so I’m thinking we should be in pretty good shape for Cleveland this weekend”
If the performance in Toronto was any indication of his success rate in the 2nd half of the season, Atlantic drivers are warned. If they are in front of the pack, chances are they will be either chasing Macri’s machine or worse, will have to stave off the onslaught of the blue metal blur covering their mirrors. The first win may have eluded him in Toronto. But, sitting in 6th place in the Standings with 63 points, Macri, only 16 points behind leader Valiante, is closer now to challenge for the Championship than he has ever been this season.
The Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland, the 8th-leg of the 12-race 2002 Atlantic Championship starts Friday July 12. The 2.106-mile race goes to green Sunday, July 14, at 10.55AM. It will be broadcast on Speed Channel at 5:00 p.m. EST.
For further information visit: www.jonathanmacri.com or www.toyotaatlantic.com
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