Official Discussion Thread: Round 6 - Cleveland

Allan Craighead

Hi all,

Following two exciting races in Portland, the Champ Car Atlantic Championship drivers are back in action this weekend in Cleveland. Racing at the wide-open Burke Lakefront Airport we can expect lots of close, exciting racing. Now that Matos' win streak is over we'll see if he can return to his winning ways or perhaps another rookie will visit victory lane. eFormulaCarNews.com is in attendance, with news and notes posted here in the forums and full reports on the front page of the website. If you have any comments, questions and notes about the event, post them here. Check back often.

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
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Allan Craighead · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:58 am Post subject:

Morning race fans,

the Atlantic drivers have just completed their first practice session on the Cleveland Airport circuit. Canadian James Hinchcliffe led the majority of the session, posting the fastest time when the checkered flag waved, narrowly edging his Sierra Sierra Enterprises teammate Raphael Matos. The only incident of note in the session, was Wickens who suffered a mechanical failure. the drivers will be back on-course at 2:30 p.m. for the first qualifying session, which secure a front-row spot for one driver. here are the times from the session:

1 James Hinchcliffe 1:07.683
2 Raphael Matos 1:07.912
3 Alan Sciuto 1:08.108
4 Franck Perera 1:08.337
5 Simona De Silvestro 1:08.415
6 David Garza 1:08.684
7 Ronnie Bremer 1:08.689
8 Matt Lee 1:08.763
9 J.R. Hildebrand 1:08.803
10 Justin Sofio 1:08.877
11 Ryan Lewis 1:08.966
12 Carl Skerlong 1:09.143
13 Jonathan Bomarito 1:09.200
14 Junior Strous 1:09.256
15 Robert Wickens 1:09.613
16 Tom Sutherland 1:09.921
17 Kevin Lacroix 1:09.969
18 Adrian Carrio 1:10.113
19 Giacomo Ricci 1:10.265
20 Richard Heistand 1:10.296
21 John Edwards 1:10.314
22 Brian Thienes 1:10.514
23 Mike Forest 1:10.667
24 Frankie Muniz 1:11.174
25 Adrien Herberts 1:11.573
26 Bret MacDonald 1:12.830

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:20 pm Post subject:

Hi gang,

Just few notes from the paddock following qualifying.

- Wickens did not suffer a mechanical failure in practice, but was in fact involved in a minor incident.
- The PR1 Motorsports team was forced to replace a sidepod on Bomarito's car following contact in practice.
- A number of drivers were surprised that grip level did not increase more following Champ car practice.
- Kevin Lacroix reported that he is still learning the track and expects to be significantly quicker in Saturday's sessions.
- The Red Bull Team Forsythe squad is struggling with the bumps at Cleveland, much like it did at Houston.
- Both Sierra Sierra Enterprises cars ran out of gas late in qualifying.
- The Polestar Racing Group team were replacing the gears on Bremer's car following qualifying.

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:04 am Post subject:

Hi all,

The morning practice session has just ended here. Working on setups for the final qualifying session this afternoon, drivers repeatedly made stops for changes to their cars. practice was halted twice for incidents involving Alan Sciuto and Junior Strous. When the checkered flag waved French rookie Franck Perera was quickest. Here are the times from the session.

Practice 2 Results

1. Franck Perera 1:05.933
2. Raphael Matos 1:05.941
3. James Hinchcliffe 1:06.200
4. Jonathan Bomarito 1:06.381
5. Junior Strous 1:06.408
6. Ronnie Bremer 1:06.637
7. J.R. Hildebrand 1:06.832
8. Ryan Lewis 1:07.077
9. Giacomo Ricci 1:07.145
10. Simona De Silvestro 1:07.251
11. Matt Lee 1:07.275
12. Robert Wickens 1:07.317
13. David Garza 1:07.359
14. Carl Skerlong 1:07.406
15. Kevin Lacroix 1:07.459
16. Adrian Carrio 1:07.533
17. Alan Sciuto 1:07.571
18. John Edwards 1:07.867
19. Brian Thienes 1:07.917
20. Tom Sutherland 1:08.031
21. Richard Heistand 1:08.167
22. Justin Sofio 1:08.232
23. Adrien Herberts 1:08.514
24. Frankie Muniz 1:08.802
25. Mike Forest 1:08.959
26. Bret MacDonald 1:12.343

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:50 am Post subject:

Hi all,

The checkered flag has just waved in Cleveland to end the second Atlantic qualifying session. Securing his third pole of the season is Raphael Matos, who edged his teammate James Hinchcliffe in the session. A full report and results will be on the front page of the website short. Here are the provisional top-10 from the session.

Combined Qualifying Results

1. Raphael Matos 1:05.405
2. James Hinchcliffe 1:05.545
3. Franck Perera 1:05.619
4. J.R. Hildebrand 1:05.683
5. Jonathan Bomarito 1:05.710
6. Giacomo Ricci 1:06.223
7. Matt Lee 1:06.274
8. Simona De Silvestro 1:06.312
9. Ryan Lewis 1:06.354
10. Ronnie Bremer 1:06.397

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:36 pm Post subject:

Hi guys and gals,

Here are few post qualifying notes from Cleveland.

- Perera was disappointed with his third place qualifying spot, believing he had a car that could challenge for the pole before the session started.
- Hinchcliffe only had three new tires for his late session run, as the team misplaced one of the new slicks.
- Lacroix had a misfire in the session which hurt his times in the session.
- Perera ran out of gas late in qualifying.
- Skerlong suffered a flight tire after switing to new tires and was unable to post a quick time after pitting to change tires.
- Many of the top drivers figure the start will be key as passing difficult with all the high-speed corners. the best place to overtake in turn one and turn three.
- Matos has elected to start from the outside of the front-row, giving him a clean line for the standing start and the prefered braking line for turn one.

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:32 am Post subject:

Well race fans,

The Atlantic race here in Cleveland has just ended and scoring yet another win was Raphael Matos. Leading every lap the Brazilian was followed across the stripe by J.R. Hildebrand and Franck Perera. Below are the provisional top-10. A full race report will be posted shortly.

1. Matos
2. Hildebrand
3. Perera
4. Ricci
5. Wickens
6. Hinchcliffe
7. Bremer
8. Garza
9. Sciuto
10. Sofio

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com