EDWARDS SCORES SECOND ATLANTIC VICTORY IN RACE 1
JOLIET, Ill. (July 25, 2009) - In the first Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda race of the Harrah's Autobahn Grand Prix presented by Mazda doubleheader, John Edwards picked up his second series victory and led a 1-2 sweep for Newman Wachs Racing on the team's home turf.
Edwards started from the pole position in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine and led every lap, beating teammate Jonathan Summerton to the stripe by 6.486 seconds to get the win. It was the first 1-2 sweep for Newman Wachs Racing - which is based some 60 miles from Autobahn Country Club in Mundelein, Ill. - in three and a half years of Atlantic competition. The team was formed prior to the 2006 season by late actor Paul Newman and longtime Chicago-area racer Eddie Wachs.
It was Edwards' first Atlantic win since taking the season opener at Sebring in March and was his fourth podium result of the season, allowing him to move into sole possession of second place in the championship standings with half of the 12-race season now in the books. Edwards will also start tomorrow's second half of the doubleheader from the pole position.
"It's never easy, but I definitely had a handle today," Edwards said. "Once my tires came up to temperature, the car was great and I just kept pulling away and gapping the field up to four or five seconds, I think. Once I got the gap, I just kind of cruised trying to maintain the same lap time. Anytime I heard someone was faster than me, I was able to go even faster the next lap. I've got to say, I'm a little bit disappointed that Jonathan got fast lap there on the last lap when I decided to lift since I had a four or five second gap. I think we could have pushed and challenged him for that, but good on him for doing that and I'm really happy for Eddie Wachs and the whole Newman Wachs team. It's their first 1-2. I couldn't say enough about the team. It just shows through in the results, how good a job they're doing."
Summerton came home second in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI car to score his fourth podium result of the season. However, it was the first podium for Summerton - who drove the first four races of the 2009 season with Genoa Racing - since rejoining Newman Wachs Racing prior to last weekend's round at Lime Rock Park. Summerton drove for Newman Wachs throughout his rookie Atlantic campaign last year and earned five podium results, including three victories. He starts second in tomorrow's race.
In addition to the second-place race result, Summerton also earned the $1,000 "Hard Charger" bonus and an extra championship point for moving from third on the starting grid to second at the finish and was the highest finisher among the drivers who improved one spot. Summerton gained the spot after Simona De Silvestro -who started second - jumped the race start and was ordered to surrender her position. That occurred on the second standing start of the race, as a malfunction with the lights required the initial start to be aborted.
"Definitely, with the light situation there at the beginning, it was a little bit of a hiccup there for everyone," Summerton said. "My first start was really, really good. I was really on the ball. Then, the second start, I just didn't get enough wheel spin. The car bogged down and I almost lost a position. It was a little scary at the beginning, but I guess Simona jumped the start and basically we took advantage of that. I was able to drive away from there and come back up and do that fastest lap at the end. The car's just really good."
De Silvestro kept the pressure on Summerton throughout the 45-minute race but was never able to retake second place. She settled for third in the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry for Team Stargate Worlds and retained the lead in the championship standings by 10 points, 103-93, over Edwards at the halfway point of the season, with Summerton another four points behind Edwards in third. It was De Silvestro's fifth podium result in six races this season.
"I jumped the start, so I kind of threw myself off a little bit there," De Silvestro said. "I had to give my position to Summerton. Our car is doing pretty well, so I could keep pressure on him, but unfortunately, he drove a great race. He didn't do any mistakes. I was hoping every lap that he'd maybe drop a wheel or something. He was very quick. I'm pretty happy with third place. I think we have the car to keep up with John. For tomorrow, I need to just try to get a really good start and move up a few positions. I'm happy for taking the points today. I didn't do any mistakes today or throw off the car or something, so I'm pretty happy with third place."
Belgian racer Frederic Vervisch came home fourth in the No. 17 Quartier/Isomo/Shinokki machine for Genoa Racing to earn his fourth top-five result of the season. He leads the Rookie of the Year point standings by 18 points, 72-54, over Condor Motorsports driver Borja Garcia (No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us), who finished sixth today. Tonis Kasemets earned his third top-five result of the season with a fifth-place run in the No. 35 Fatburner entry for Polestar Motor Racing. Kasemets, who is originally from Estonia, now makes his home in Mundelein, Ill.
RACE 1 RESULT AUTOBAHN COUNTRY CLUB, JULY 25, 2009
POS CAR NAME TEAM LAPS STATUS
1 36 John Edwards Newman Wachs Racing 20 Running
2 34 Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 20 Running
3 78 Simona De Silvestro Team Stargate Worlds 20 Running
4 17 Frederic Vervisch Genoa Racing 20 Running
5 35 Tonis Kasemets Polestar Motor Racing 20 Running
6 6 Borja Garcia Condor Motorsports 20 Running
7 77 Frankie Muniz Team Stargate Worlds 20 Running
8 19 James Winslow Genoa Racing 20 Running
9 7 Max Lefevre Condor Motorsports 20 Running
10 1 Markus Niemela Jensen MotorSport 1 Not Running
11 3 Michael Nacol Jensen MotorSport 0 DNS
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EDWARDS SWEEPS JOLIET
JOLIET, Ill. (July 26, 2009) - After scoring the maximum number of points available from the Harrah's Autobahn Grand Prix presented by Mazda doubleheader John Edwards has dramatically tightened the race for the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda title.
Edwards completed his weekend sweep with another lights to checkered victory on Sunday in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing. It was his third victory of the season and also of his Atlantic career, and he is now tied with Simona De Silvestro for the series lead in 2009 victories. The 18-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio started from the pole position for both races of the doubleheader - the first two poles of his Atlantic career - and earned a total of 42 points from the weekend. He now trails championship leader De Silvestro by just five points, 119-114, with five races remaining.
"We had a problem in the first practice session (during Thursday's promoter test day) and only got two laps, but after every session since then, I've been quickest," Edwards said. "In this race, I was quickest on every lap until the last one, maybe two laps, when I lifted a bit and Simona did a 2:05.6, I think. That was the only lap that anyone was faster than me, and my engineer kept coming on the radio, telling me, "That's a good pace. You can slow down there and just hit your marks." I told him, "I am hitting my marks. I'm cruising a little bit, just to be safe." The car was just so hooked up this weekend. Even this race compared to yesterday's race, we just tweaked it a little bit and it was even better today. The car was a dream to drive. I have to thank the team a lot, because I couldn't have done this alone."
One day after finishing third in the first race of the Illinois doubleheader, De Silvestro earned her sixth consecutive podium result with a second-place run in the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry. As she did on Saturday, De Silvestro chased Jonathan Summerton in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI machine for much of the race. This time, however, the alternator failed on Summerton's car, enabling De Silvestro to move up one step on the podium. She finished 12.654 seconds behind Edwards, while Summerton was relegated to 11th in the final race standings.
"Especially after yesterday, because I did a mistake at the start, it was a little bit better," De Silvestro said. "Today, it was kind of the same race as yesterday, because I was stuck behind Summerton for most of it. I tried to push him every lap, but he never did a mistake. I got really lucky that something broke on his car and I finally could go by him. I really want to thank Team Stargate Worlds. It took us a little bit of time to get up to speed compared to the Newman Wachs cars, but I'm really happy with the car we had now. In qualifying, we didn't get such a good run and starting third, it's really hard to pass with these cars. I'm really happy with second, especially with collecting the points. A little bit of luck is also nice sometimes."
Summerton's heartbreaking mechanical failure also led to joy for Tonis Kasemets, who picked up his first podium of the year with a third-place run in the No. 35 Fatburner machine for Polestar Motor Racing. The Estonian who now lives 60 miles up the road in Mundelein, Ill. spent the entire race with his mirrors full of rookie Frederic Vervisch, but he managed to keep the Belgian driver at bay throughout.
"A podium is always nice," Kasemets said. "That's why we're here. We want to win the race. It's good to come with a third. We got a little lucky, but it's better to get lucky than smart any day. Yesterday, (Vervisch) got me on the start and we were joking that I have to get him today on the start. The chips fell my way. I started in his position and I got him on the start. He pushed me really hard all race long. On some parts of the racetrack, I was better than him and some he was better than me. We had really a fight for position between me and him. The Newman Wachs cars and Simona, they were in their own league, as always. We'll have to work hard to catch them."
Vervisch wound up fourth in Genoa Racing's No. 17 Quartier/Isomo/Shinokki entry. It was his fifth top-five result in seven starts this season and he now leads Borja Garcia in the Rookie of the Year point standings by 20 points, 84-64. Garcia finished fifth today in the No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us machine for Condor Motorsports. It was the Spanish driver's fourth top five in his last five starts.
RACE 2 RESULTS AUTOBAHN COUNTRY CLUB, JULY 26, 2009
POS CAR NAME TEAM LAPS
1 36 John Edwards Running Newman Wachs Racing 22
2 78 Simona De Silvestro Team Stargate Worlds 22
3 35 Tonis Kasemets Polestar Motor Racing 22
4 17 Frederic Vervisch Genoa Racing 22
5 6 Borja Garcia Condor Motorsports 22
6 1 Markus Niemela Jensen MotorSport 22
7 77 Frankie Muniz Team Stargate Worlds 22
8 7 Max Lefevre Condor Motorsports 22
9 19 James Winslow Genoa Racing 22
10 13 Eric Jensen Jensen MotorSport 21
11 34 Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 16
DNS 3 Michael Nacol Jensen MotorSport 0
