After an early-morning warm-up, CART Toyota Atlantic drivers returned to the 1.521-mile street course to start the 27th running of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The feature event of the Trois-Rivieres race weekend, a field of 27 cars attacked the technically challenging track with the waving of the Green Flag at 1:20 p.m. Jonathan Macri, piloting the P-1 Racing-NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft/Battlefield Equipment Rental Swift 014.a, had his job cut out for him, starting 7th on the start-grid. After falling back a place at the start, Macri quickly reclaimed 7th from Luis Diaz (Dorricott Racing) by the end of lap 1, out breaking Diaz in corner 6. Jonathan then caught and passed Roger Yasukawa (Hylton Motorsports) for 6th spot on the 3rd lap, once again out breaking him in corner 6. By lap 7, Joey Hand (DSTP Motorsports) was in reach of yet another assault by Macri, and so it was. Jonathan captured 5th from Hand and was well on his way to reeling in Jon Fogarty. Once caught, Fogarty was put under steady pressure from Jonathan, all the more so because Fogarty’s slower pace allowed Diaz to catch Macri. Jonathan attempted a pass on Fogarty in corner 6. However, as Jonathan approached corner 8, Diaz attempted a pass on Macri from the outside. Unfortunately, Diaz’s front wheel clipped Macri’s rear wheel, sending Macri spinning into the wall. After a successful run up through the field, and a potential podium position, Macri’s race came to an abrupt and early end.
“The weekend hasn’t ended well, at all,” a frustrated Jonathan said. “The team managed to make all the right changes after this morning’s warm-up. The car was quick, so I was able to work my way through the field. It’s upsetting. We started the weekend well, but didn’t qualify high enough. That becomes a real problem because you usually find yourself in more trouble the deeper you are in the field. This race, though, was going really well. I knew I had the car to really challenge for at least a podium finish once I settled into 5th spot. It’s unfortunate for the team and myself. We’ll have to focus now on Road America.”
“Unfortunate” is right and no doubt a tad understated. As tight and technical a track as Trois-Rivieres was, Macri managed to find space to pass, using corner 6, especially, to outbreak and overtake his fellow competitors. Jonathan will want to store this race weekend in the farthest recess of his memory.
With three races to go in the 2002 Atlantic season, Macri and P-1 Racing find themselves facing a much tougher road in their quest for a top-three finish in the Championship.
Currently sitting in 7th place in the Standings, Macri is a full 30 points away from third place driver Ryan Hunter-Reay.
With his win, Michael Valiante (Lynx Racing) increased his points-lead to 123. Alex Gurney (Dorricott Racing) and Marc DeVellis finished second and third. The forth and fifth spots were claimed by Jon Fogarty (Dorricott Racing) and Rocky Moran Jr. (Sigma Autosport).
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