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| Article at www.7thgear.com Written by Anita Swirsky GETTING TO KNOW JONATHAN MACRI (ORLANDO, FL) September 4, 2003 - Toyota Atlantic star Jonathan Macri took some time out of his busy schedule recently to sit down with SeventhGear and fill us in on what’s new, what’s coming up, and a few other assorted and interesting tidbits about who this young 21-year old Canadian driver is, and what he’s all about. AS: With this your third season in the Toyota Atlantics, you are really having the best racing of your career… JM: (smiling) Yes, Absolutely AS: What is it going to take now to get you to P1? JM: Get the monkey off my back! (laughing) I mean really, actually we are halfway through the season and I almost feel like I’m cursed that I haven’t been able to win yet. In the last three years, it’s not like I’ve never been close to winning races, I’ve always been right there. I think our main thing is to qualify better. Instead of qualifying 5th or 6th and moving up three of four positions, it’s like moving into second and trying to close that gap, which isn’t impossible we haven’t been lucky getting the yellows back on our side. AS: What do you think it’ll take to improve the qualifying? JM: I think really just me working with the team, getting our set-up down for the qualifying sessions. For the races, I’ve always had good cars; it’s just for qualifying that we haven’t had perfect cars. AS: This is Polestar’s first year… JM: Yes AS: But there is a lot of experience on that team... JM: Yeah, exactly! AS: Is this just a question of gelling? (You, with the mechanics, the engineer.) JM: Working with the team, there are just so many different things that we’ve worked with set-up –wise that I’ve never worked with before. Obviously things that are going to make you go faster and stuff, but I don’t think they’ve figured out exactly what I’d like in a car, I don’t think that I’ve necessarily figured out 100% what I like on things that they’ve set up. We got put together so late in the year and we haven’t had much testing or anything, so we are just trying to get together as fast as possible. We are all learning so many new things. AS: Do you feel that you, as a driver, are learning new things? JM: Oh yeah! There are so many different things on the set-up that I’ve never used before! Jim (Co-owner and race engineer Jim Griffith) does his own shocks. When I was with P1 Racing, we were getting them from Motorsport Spares. We are almost changing valving like every session, which I’m not used to feeling this in the car, and I kind of have to get an idea of what I want my shocks to be now. There are so many things that we are experimenting with that we never did before. I mean, we are using some of the normal stuff like just springs and wings, but there are a lot of new things in the set up that I have to work with now. AS: Do you think this is going to help you ultimately with the step up into Champ Car? JM: Absolutely. I’m almost halfway thru my third year, and I’ve learned so many new things about the car. Even once we go testing, and in Toronto too, I kind of have a better idea of when things aren’t right - what is wrong. I have a better feeling; I mean even after the race, when things are wrong with the car, I can talk it over and get a better of idea of where we are and how we can make it better. AS: NTN Bearing Corporation is your primary sponsor, and they have followed you through your three years in the Atlantics. Can you talk a bit about their importance to you, and what that relationship is all about? JM: Obviously since Day One in Atlantics, they have been there with me, and none of my three years would have been possible without them. We’ve built an awesome relationship with them, and my parents usually take care of most of the hospitality work. They are always bringing clients to the track, and we’ll entertain. I think that they are really thrilled with the program we have going on right now, and now we are working on moving up to Champ Car with them, which is my number one objective. I think it’s the best thing that I have going, is that I have a sponsor and I have a really great relationship with them, and wherever they go, they want me to be driving their car. I’m just focused on keeping them happy as possible. AS: As we’ve said before, its midway thru the season, there are five races left. The game plan, the strategy; you’ve got 3 street races, 2 road courses. How do you make the distinction? How do you prepare for them and set-up for them? JM: Car set-up? AS: That, and mentally. The street courses will have a more cosmopolitan feel to them; you are more in a downtown core environment, different pressures, and different expectations. JM: I actually enjoy the street courses a lot. Like you said, the whole atmosphere part of it like you mentioned, being downtown. I feel that I actually work better in an environment like that. I feed off all the energy that is around. I find myself at the road courses to be more laid back, which is how that atmosphere is, how they operate. When it comes to focusing on the set-up, I know we have a quick car; it’s just a matter of getting everything good for the races. I need, no, I have to win a couple of races this year - is what it is. If I am moving up to Champ Car next year, obviously after three years, I’m not looking to come back to Atlantics, I’m looking to making the jump up and I just don’t think I’d feel really confident moving up to Champ Car if I never won anything at this level. So I think that is really one of my main objectives, is to just win. I think getting that first win in, that a lot of things will bloom after that. AS: Are you confident that it will happen? JM: Absolutely, yeah. When I used to race Formula Ford’s once I got that first win; I went a full season without a win, then got my first win in the second season I went three races in a row back-to-back wins. It’s just a matter of getting that first one in… AS: And getting that monkey off your back? JM: (grinning) Yeah! Exactly! I think that the next race is a good possibility, I’ve always like racing there. I’ve been fast, but I haven’t quite had the good results yet, but I’ve always been quick. AS: Now Trois Rivières is the one event that the Atlantics are on their own, you are the Main Attraction, no other rungs in the Champ Car Ladder. Describe what that kind of weekend is like for you? It is also a different language in that environment, is that an issue? JM: It’s a bit different for us, it’s not like Montreal where there is a lot more English being spoken. It’s still a really good weekend too, especially with the fans. There are always fans who want autographs and stuff, so aside from racing, it keeps you busy like that compared to other races. I think I get to focus, I mean energy-wise I kind of always compare a lot to Toronto, but I get to focus a lot more than compared to the Toronto race where I always have something to do. AS: The track is historical, it’s a narrow track, what will it take for you to win there? JM: It’s still based on winning any other race. Just being there, as focused as possible and working with the car, the set-up. It is such a tight track; there is no room for error. It’s not like Toronto where you can kind of get away in some of the corners running about a foot off the wall. There, you are just inches away from every corner, and coming out of corners and onto sidewalks it’s really unbelievable the way you use all of the road, and you just have to have the car set up so that you are real comfortable with running up to the concrete walls. Like I was talking earlier about qualifying, this series is so competitive. Everyone is qualifying so close, it’s unreal how fast they’ve been going. I think that everything just has to be perfect now. A lot of these teams are working so well together that they are always as fast they can possibly be every session. I mean a lot of the times we’ve been going out almost behind the session and then the next session we’re kind of catching up, then we go the race and we are there. AS: How does a new team like Polestar come into an established track? IS there historical data that the engineers have held on to? JM: Yes, most of the engineers they have their data from before. Jim and Bruce (engineer Bruce Potter) have been around for a long time; with Sigma and DSTP. It does help, although I’m a different driver from any driver that they’ve had before, which means that a lot of the set-ups that they’ve run in the past is not what we have been running this year because it doesn’t necessarily work for me. Usually when we go testing, we get an idea of car set-ups I like, we try to base them on courses that we are going to race on, and base the set-up really off of that. AS: Okay, so let’s take it away from racing for now. SO now you have two weeks downtime, what does Jonathan do with that time? JM: Go Party!!!! (laughing) It’s time to be at home, time to be with my friends really. I was completely off for about a day and a half, sick fighting a cold, getting some rest. On the weekend I went go-karting with one of my friends, then went camping with other friends and spent the time catching up, came back for the week, started preparing for the next race by working out. I do a lot of mountain biking now, and do that quite a bit. I’m actually putting together a go-kart that I’ve wanted. I have about a week off between Mid-Ohio and Montreal, so I’m going to try and get my shifter kart put together and getting prepared for that week. Yesterday I even spent some time going over go-kart data. Just going out lots and having fun. AS: So, there is life outside of being in the cockpit of racecar? JM: Absolutely! I’m only 21! As focused as I am, I’m still enjoying my life. AS: Do you think that is important to make sure that there is something outside of racing? JM: Oh Yeah. Obviously, although you never want to think about it, but what I have now is not a “for sure” thing. I don’t think that any Atlantic driver has a “for sure” thing right now. Obviously I still keep things kind of floating around, and I still do have a life at home. It’s not all about racing. Yeah, I definitely do have a life. When I come back here to see my friends, I’m just me again. It’s kind of nice to be back here. . AS: You mentioned go-karts just a moment ago. That is where you started when you were a wee tiny little thing.. JM: (smiling) I was 6 years old! AS: You raced for a little while, and then you stopped. You got into soccer, and in High School you were into Track and Field; you were away from racing. What brought you back? JM: Oh… having that urge. At the time that I left, I was still a fairly young kid, and the decision wasn’t necessarily mine and I didn’t fully disagree with it. It was just after being away from it, there had been some talk about me getting back into it, and it was what I wanted to do. It was fun, it was also a family thing. My mom came to the track with us, she was always there. My little brother, he was racing and so was my older brother. It meant fun and travelling – which I’ve always enjoyed, the long trips. It was the whole thing that I missed. We had always played competitively in soccer and that was really good, but the one thing that I had missed was being on the track – just me. Soccer is a team sport and I just wanted to be able to make an individual mark. The thing is, that in go-karting, I never thought that I really wanted to race cars. It was actually my older brother that wanted to race cars. He was the first one into it; I was three years younger than him. Go-karts, that was all I really wanted to take it to, focus on school. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to get into, either to be a civil engineer or a mechanic engineer, or something in that field. I never thought it was going to be cars. I never thought it was going to be possible. I just always took racing go-karts for what it was at the time. My first experience was winning a scholarship with Skip Barber, and went down to Florida. I think that at that time, just being acknowledged for a scholarship, it made me sit back and think. I had won championships in go-karts, but I never thought of myself as being above that or extraordinary, I was always fairly level minded. Being nominated or chosen for that kind of made me think “Maybe there is something to it”. So being in a car there (in Florida), I just absolutely fell in love with it! AS: And the rest is history! JM: Yeah! (smiling) AS: The fans. JM: The fans. (again smiling) In Toronto, my fans are awesome. I still live at home, so I almost still think of myself of really being a normal person. I can walk down the street and no one knows me. But when we have the autograph sessions in Toronto, people bring old photos for me to sign, it really makes me sit back, and it makes me feel good when they say “we’ve been following you since your Formula Ford days”, and “we are always root for you”. It’s a really good feeling, signing autographs and meeting people. It’s a good thing, and it’s also why we are here – for the fans really, to try and meet as many people as we can. I’m not one of those drivers who hide in his trailer. I’m always out signing autographs. It’s a great feeling knowing that people come back with my old hero card from every year asking for me to sign them. It’s great knowing that people are collecting them. It’s nice to know that they aren’t ending up in the garbage! In Cleveland, there is a kid who my parents met his dad in the stands a few years ago, and now he’s a huge fan of mine, and he’s got posters of me up on his wall. It’s really cool! AS: How does that make you feel, knowing that you are now a role model for young children? JM: I’ve never really thought about it really. But I’ve been brought up in a good family. A really good and well-rounded family, and I think of myself as having been a good kid. There is nothing really bad about me, and I think that I’ve always handled things in a fairly good manner. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to think, but I guess I see myself as a good role model. There is a young boy that is from Portland, Scotty, who I met about a year ago. He came out this year when we went testing there. He’s about 11 years old, When we were there for the race, he came to the track we with his hair dyed metallic blue just like my car! He’s such an awesome kid! He’s so intelligent. He knew everything about the cars, how fast they went, he knew a lot about set-ups. From watching me on the track he could tell what my car was doing, if it was loose or if it was pushing. AS: Ok, now if there was one thing that race fans and Jonathan Macri fans didn’t know about you, what do you think that would be? JM: Wow – there are a lot of things! Sports wise – I’m a HUGE NFL football fan! I was describing to a friend of mine last night how I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. AS: What team? JM: New York Jets. I’m actually new to the NFL; I haven’t always been a crazy fan. Last year, I really got into it, but I didn’t really have a team, then Chad Pennington who is the quarterback for the Jets. He’s an awesome player. The things that he does from the sidelines, the way he cheers on his players and gets them pumped up. He’s a really good team leader. The way he represents himself, I almost kind of reflect back in myself the things I try to do with my team. AS: Do you see yourself as the quarterback? JM: Sure, the driver is the centre. The team is built around him. Everything “feels” around him. If the driver is in a bad mood, the team is usually in a bad mood. SO I think that everything does come from the driver. I try to do everything I can do to get my team pumped up. So when it comes to football, I now travel to Buffalo with my friends. I don’t sit at home to watch it on the big screen – I’m there in my hat and toque in the dead of January, freezing – you have no idea how cold it is!!! AS: Earlier you spoke of the importance of your family, and the environment that you’ve been brought up in. Do you think that your career would have been possible without the love and support of your family? JM: No, absolutely not. Even aside from this sport, even if I always had financial support aside from my family, I still don’t think it would have been possible just because of the amount of work and effort that my family puts into it. Since the Atlantics, they are always at the track. NTN is not the kind of sponsor that only wants to slap a sticker on the car and only get exposure from that. They bring clientele to the track, and these people need to be entertained. It is what it is. I can only do so much. My family does such a fabulous job, and working and keeping such a great relationship with NTN. My brothers are 100% supportive as well. It’s a great feeling knowing how much your family cares about your sport. They’d pretty much do anything to help me get to the next level. If it hadn’t been for them, I would have never been able to have raced go-karts. AS: Is there any other form of racing that you’d like to try? JM: No, not really. I’ve do stuff for fun, like snowmobiles, but no… AS: But you wouldn’t want to race them. What about racing boats? JM: No way! I look at those guys and think they are crazy!!!! (laughing) They are nuts! Anything that isn’t on four wheels, no way! Although when I think about it, I think I’d like to try Rallying for fun. I have such respect for those drivers. But this is where my heart is, in open wheel. I’ve never driven a stock car or a sports car. This is it for me. AS: You want to be in Champ Cars. JM: Yes. AS: Do you think that the chance is there for Formula One? JM: Who knows? I haven’t positioned myself for that, but Champ Car is really where I want to be. AS: If money was no object, what vehicle would you chose to be your personal vehicle? JM: I’ve always wanted a Dodge Viper, but if money is no object, I need to find something more exotic! (pausing to think). Nothing really too big… maybe a BMW… no, I’d have to go with a Ferrari 360. And then I want a bike too! A Ducati! My parents would kill me! (laughing) I don’t know why I’d want one, but I do. AS: To wrap it up Jonathan, anything else you’d like to add about Polestar Motor Racing? JM: I want to thank them for being so welcoming to me. Jim (Griffith) and Bruce (Potter) and Pam (Pam Griffith, team manager) and our mechanics Jason (Robb) and Constantin (Gheorghe) they have all worked together last year, I was the new comer and they done such an awesome job at making me feel welcomed into the family. A lot of people don’t realise that racing really is a family sport and how much time we do spend together with the team. I’m not the kind of driver who goes to the track, does his thing and goes back to the hotel. I’m usually at the track till about nine or ten o’clock. Paul Kiebler, who is also the co-owner of Polestar has believed in me and has supported me 100% percent. AS: 5 podiums out of 7 races, you are all doing something right. Is the championship still feasible? JM: Absolutely! There are 5 races left, if anyone has a bad race, we are back in it. It’s why we are here. AS: Good luck getting it! JM: Thank you! |
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