Macri’s Review and Reflections on his 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Season!
The waving of the checkered flag at Denver’s 1.65-mile temporary street course in late August signaled the completion of the Atlantic’s inaugural race there as well as the final stage of one of the most competitive, drama-filled seasons of CART Toyota Atlantic’s 29-year history. Who would have bet when the first race went to Green at Monterrey, Mexico, in early March that the series would travel to all 12 scheduled stops before the Championship could be decided?
For 20-year-old Jonathan Macri, piloting the P-1 Racing – NTN Bearings/Miller Genuine Draft/Battlefield Equipment Rentals Swift 014.a, 2002 looked to be a breakthrough year. And why not, especially after having clinched 5th spot overall in the 2001 Championship, and having walked away with the BBS Rising Star Award.
The 2002 Atlantic season laid further claim to Macri’s racing talent, as he drove his blue/white #31 car to 3 podium finishes – two second-place finishes at Portland and Toronto and a third-place spot at Milwaukee. Jonathan’s 7th place standing in the Championship, though respectable, skewed his overall performance, however. Championship contention eluded him early on in the season when contact incidents at Long Beach and Laguna Seca witnessed Jonathan walk away with no points. A contact incident at Trois-Rivieres, in the 9th leg of the season would further derail Jonathan’s ambitions for a top-three finish in the Championship. However, discounting these races, in all but one race, Jonathan showed consistency and speed, improving on his start-grid position in all races, finishing an average of four places further ahead of his starting-grid position.
“We had a good year, overall. We had a few hang-ups but we also had some real success, finishing three races on the podium,” the Gormley, Ontario native said. “We seemed to lose a bit to other teams in the last third of the season. Our performance improved throughout the season but not as much as other teams. The fact that we didn’t test during the three-week hiatus after Cleveland might have put us at a bit of a disadvantage. Overall, though, we did a great job. It was good to come back to P-1 Racing. A real understanding between the team and me continued to develop where we left off last year. I owe a lot to them for their support: team owner Bill Fickling, team engineer Willy Opplinger, driver-coach Kenny Wilden and team mechanics Alex, Troy and Jacques. I also owe a lot of gratitude to all my sponsors: NTN Bearings of Canada, Miller Genuine Draft, Battlefield Equipment Rentals, Mopal Construction Ltd, Baldhead Systems Inc., Con Lawn Construction-Landscaping and Cobra Power Inc. who supported me in my racing efforts with their sponsorship. And I thank my fans, family and friends who have followed and supported my racing ambitions. It’s been a great season and I’m looking forward to being back next year.”
A hard-fought Championship, the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship went far beyond its mandate of providing exciting, competitive open-wheel racing - no doubt, a year that will be remembered.
Though only six months away, the start of next year’s Championship would seem too far in the future for Jonathan Macri. But then again, this would be expected, coming from a racing ace whose heartbeat seems so closely synchronized with the ebbs and flows of an open-wheel racing machine.
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