Miami, Florida (September 27, 2003) – After the final qualifying session this afternoon, #84 NTN Bearings driver Jonathan Macri will start 9th on the grid for tomorrow’s race on the downtown streets of Miami. While the cars pulled onto the track during today's second qualifier, the drivers and crew were overwhelmed by the intense heat and humidity while watching as storm clouds began inching in. Weather was the least of the teams worries, however. After many complaints after yesterday’s sessions, track officials decided to work on the bumps in the track overnight in order to shave them down and decrease the amount of problems the track was producing.
Despite the better road conditions, Macri, who turned a lap time of 49.390, still felt the track had some areas where his car’s four tires would all be off the track at the same time. “In the beginning my car was really understeering but the crew quickly got that resolved”, Macri stated. “We continued to have a looser car but we will improve it overnight and hopefully do better tomorrow. The track is just tricky and at a certain point all the cars go airborne over a certain bump. Regardless of all that, we will come out tomorrow and just do our best. That is all we can do.” Macri, never losing his confidence in himself or his team, looks forward to doing better on Sunday. “Although it is really hard to pass on this track, people make mistakes which can allow us to move up. This is what happened to us fortunately in Denver, so I never get the feeling that I am trapped in a position.”
Tomorrow's on track activities begin at 8:00 a.m. with pre-race warm up session. Round 12 of the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship series is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. EST on Sunday September 28, 2003. Speed Channel will televise the race from the streets of downtown Miami at Bayfront Park on race day at 12:00 p.m. EST, with re-broadcasts September 29 at 3:00 p.m. EST and Friday, October 3 at 5:00 p.m. EST.To track Macri’s race results, log on to www.jonathanmacri.com. For further information on the Toyota Atlantic series, log on at www.toyotaaatlantic.com.
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