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| July 13, 2002 - Macri Qualifies 11th at Cleveland Today, sunny skies and warm temperatures awaited CART Toyota Atlantic teams, drivers and fans at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, for Official Qualifying, in preparation for tomorrow’s 32-lap Atlantic race, part of the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland. The eighth race of what has become a highly fought Championship, drivers did more than brave the technical 2.106-mile temporary street circuit, with 11 drivers smashing the qualifying record set by Martin Basso in 2001. Coming off a three-race podium showing, the last in Toronto, where he captured 2nd, Jonathan Macri, piloting the P-1 Racing/NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft Swift 014.a, was looking to lay down a quick qualifying run today, after yesterday’s Provisional Qualifying saw him go off course, skidding sideways into the tire wall. However, Macri’s fastest lap time of 1:06.636 (113.776 mph) could garner only an 11th place start grid position for the 20-year-old driver. “The weekend didn’t start off too well,” Jonathan said. We were competitive in both practice sessions ending up 6th, but the 1st qualifier put us back. There was quite a bit of understeer in the car. I lost the rear-end going into the corner and ended up in the tire wall. Luckily, we only had a bit of nose damage. This put us in a tougher position for the 2nd qualifier. We made some good progress after this morning’s practice. The car doesn’t feel too bad. It is just that we’re looking for more speed. If we can find the speed and try to steer clear of any contact, especially in turn 1, we should be competitive.” Dorricott Racing’s Jon Fogarty, currently in second in the Championship, 14 points behind Lynx Racing’s Michael Valiante, captured pole position, his 4th pole of the season. Ryan Hunter-Reay, racing for Hylton Motorsports, qualified 2nd. Third spot was captured by Waldemar Coronas for Squadra Fortia, with Luis Diaz (Dorricott Racing) and Michael Valiante rounding off the top-5 spots. With 63 points, Gormley Ontario’s Jonathan Macri currently sits in 6th place, 26 points behind leader Michael Valiante. The Green Flag will wave at 10:55 a.m., Sunday morning. Speed Channel will broadcast the Cleveland race on same day delay on Sunday, July 14, at 5:00 p.m. ET, and replay it on Monday, July 15, at 4:00 p.m. ET. Canadian Fans can watch the race on RDS on Saturday, July 27, at 8:30 a.m. Report by Fedele Fortino |
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