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Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.

Edwards Wins at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Goes Third-to-First in Points to Become Youngest Atlantic Champion in Series History on Tiebreaker

John Edwards picked up his fourth Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda victory of the season and leapfrogged both Jonathan Summerton and Simona De Silvestro to become the youngest champion in the 36-year history of the series with a dominating performance at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday afternoon.

Edwards started from the pole position and led throughout the 50-minute race in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine from Newman Wachs Racing, beating Summerton to the stripe by 1.380 seconds to get the victory. He and Summerton ended the season tied with 182 points and four victories apiece. Edwards took the title based on the fact that he earned four second-place finishes to Summerton's three runner-up results.

Both Summerton and Edwards overtook De Silvestro, who entered the race as the points leader. De Silvestro tangled with 2008 series champion Markus Niemela in the track's famed "Corkscrew" turn on the opening lap, sending De Silvestro's car into the tire barrier and out of the race. She wound up 10th in the final race standings and third in the championship.

At the age of 18 years and seven months, Edwards becomes the youngest champion in the 36-year history of the series. Michael Andretti was previously the youngest Atlantic champion at 20 years, nine months and 30 days of age. It was the second consecutive year that the driver who was third in the championship entering the season finale ended up winning the title, as Niemela also overcame a 10-point deficit and leapfrogged two drivers to win the '08 crown. It was also the second consecutive championship for Edwards, who claimed the 2008 Star Mazda title at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last year. Edwards finished the year with nine podiums in 12 starts.

"Someone told me after I got off the podium that I looked like I was on 'Cloud 36,' and I think that's about where I am right now," Edwards said. "I couldn't believe after the safety car that Simona was out, so it just came down to Jonathan and I and whoever won the race. I just put my head down and in the beginning, pushed a bit harder. I pulled out a bit of a gap and then at the end, I was just trying to not make mistakes.

"For the last 30 minutes or so, my engineer came on and told me there were 30 minutes to go. That 30 minutes went by like six hours to me. I was just waiting for them to throw the checkered. Finally it came out and they told me I was the champion. It was really hard to believe after coming in in third, that for the second year in a row, the driver in third before the last race ended up winning the championship. I can't say enough about the team."

Summerton came up just short in his championship bid aboard the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI machine for the second consecutive season. He was also in the mix in last year's three-driver battle royal for the championship with Niemela and Jonathan Bomarito and wound up third in the standings last year. The 21-year-old American Formula 1 hopeful also earned nine podium results this season, tied Edwards and De Silvestro for the series lead in victories with four apiece and led the series with five pole positions.

"We had a really good car all weekend," Summerton said. "Both of our cars have been great. Both engineers, for the past, probably, five race weekends, we've definitely had the cars to beat. We should have been, probably, 1-2 every single race in the past five races without the mishaps that went on. Definitely, we did a great job here this weekend.

"It was a shame that aerodynamics play such a big role in these corners here. I was able to close up as close as I did to John at the beginning, and that was about all I could do was just sit there. We've been running very close lap times all weekend. He was doing very good. Basically, I just had to sit there and hope he made a mistake, which he never did. I backed off, cooled down the tires and started trying to catch back up. We were able close the gap right back up, but I still had the same problem, just no aero on the front. Really, it's disappointing it comes down to finishing positions throughout the year to be tied in points. Definitely, 1-2 in the championship, I don't think Newman Wachs could ask for more."

Niemela managed to recover from the opening lap incident with De Silvestro to cross the finish line third in the No. 1 Jensen MotorSport car for what would have been his first podium result of the season. However, series officials determined that the contact between Niemela and De Silvestro was avoidable and penalized him two positions in the final race standings.

Niemela's penalty moved Belgian rookie Frederic Vervisch onto the podium for the fifth time this season in his first start aboard the No. 6 Condor Motorsports entry. Vervisch had already clinched series Rookie of the Year honors and fourth in the overall championship prior to the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Vervisch also earned the $2,000 "Hard Charger" bonus and an extra point for improving from a seventh-place starting spot to third at the finish.

"I'm really happy to bring the car home in third place," Vervisch said. "I wish it didn't have to happen in such a way. I'd like to thank (Condor Motorsports owner) Carlos (Bobeda) and all the guys at Condor for giving me the opportunity to get in the car this weekend. It was important to finish all 12 races in order to earn Rookie of the Year."

Tonis Kasemets closed out his season with a fourth-place effort in the No. 35 Fatburner machine for Polestar Motor Racing. It was the sixth top-five performance of the season for the Estonian racer and it enabled him to secure fifth in the championship.

Summerton Keeps Championship Hopes Alive with Road Atlanta Victory;

Three-Way Title Fight Set for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

For the second year in a row, the battle for the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda title will go down to the final race of the season, and Jonathan Summerton is once again one of three drivers in contention for the championship.

Summerton leapfrogged his Newman Wachs Racing teammate, John Edwards for second in the standings and closed to within seven points, 176-169, of leader Simona De Silvestro following his fourth victory of the season on Friday afternoon at Road Atlanta. The 21-year-old American started from the pole and led every lap in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI machine, beating De Silvestro to the stripe by 4.208 seconds.

It was Summerton's third victory in his last four Atlantic starts and was his eighth podium result in 11 races this season. Summerton is currently tied with De Silvestro for the series lead in victories and will head for the season finale in Monterey, Calif. carrying the momentum of four consecutive podium results.

"Coming from (last month's race at) Mosport and a dominating weekend there, we were fastest in all the practices and qualifying and we won the race there, it was the same thing here," Summerton said. "We were very, very quick in all the practices and qualified on pole and won the race. I think we're in for a good run at Laguna Seca. I hope John will be there also with us up there strong. Basically, I can only do what I can do and focus on winning races. The rest is out there. We're going for a championship and I know it can be done. The way the car has been the last three or four races, I can't complain. I know we're going to have a strong car in Laguna. Hopefully, we can do it in dominating fashion again there."

After seeing her streak of podium finishes snapped at eight consecutive races due to a crash at Mosport, De Silvestro returned to the podium for the ninth time in 11 races with her runner-up result in the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Games/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry for Team Stargate Worlds. De Silvestro started third and got the drop on Edwards on the race's standing start, and she managed to keep Edwards at bay throughout the race to score valuable second-place points.

"We had a really good podium streak before the big crash in Mosport," De Silvestro said. "It was a little bit unfortunate that I had that. I'm really happy to be back here on the podium. It's really important for me for the championship to be back up front. In the race, I knew I had to get a really good start, so I really focused on that and it happened, so I was really happy. Just from then on, Summerton had a little bit faster car than we had. A really big thanks to my whole team for putting the car together. It was really important to get back on the podium for the points."

Edwards settled for third in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy ride for Newman Wachs Racing, scoring his eighth podium result of the season. With 166 points, the 18-year-old American is now 10 points behind De Silvestro in the championship race and he also now trails teammate Summerton by three points. It is important to point out, however, that the driver who was third in the championship standings following the penultimate round - Markus Niemela - wound up taking the series title when all was said and done in the season finale, so Edwards is very much alive in the title chase.

"I got a bad start, and that's really where the race was lost," Edwards said. "I had a couple of chances where I was drafting her, but I never really got close enough until about two laps from the end. That was the lap that Tonis (Kasemets) decided to spin or something in the chicane, so his car was stalled and there was a yellow flag. I went to pop on Simona, I popped out and had a run, but unfortunately the yellow flag didn't allow me to complete the pass. That was unfortunate, but the reality is that I gave the position to her at the start and that ruined my race."

Making his first Atlantic start since the Sebring season-opener - where he didn't complete a lap due to an opening-lap incident - Jonathan Bomarito scored a fourth-place result in the No. 77 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Games/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry for Team Stargate Worlds. Bomarito will also be in the cockpit of the No. 77 machine when the series moves to his hometown in two weeks, as he will once again fill in for the injured Frankie Muniz.

Niemela completed the top five in the No. 1 Jensen MotorSport machine. It was the Finnish racer's fourth straight top-five performance and his sixth top five of the season.  

De Silvestro Extends Atlantic Championship Lead with Win in Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres

August 16, 2009

Series points leader Simona De Silvestro is now the most prolific woman driver in the 36-year history of the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.

Already the winningest woman in series history, the woman with the most pole positions and the woman with the most laps led, De Silvestro broke a tie with Katherine Legge for most wins in a single season with her fourth victory of the season and the fifth of her career in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. She also became the first woman to win a race in any class in the 40-year history of the iconic Quebec street race.

Driving the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies machine for Team Stargate Worlds, the 20-year-old Swiss racer started from the pole position and led every lap to win by 0.886 seconds over John Edwards. Jonathan Summerton finished third. De Silvestro now leads the Atlantic Championship point standings by 21 points, 156-135, with three of 12 races remaining.

"We had a pretty good start and then we kind of pulled away," De Silvestro said. "I pushed really hard the first few laps to make a gap to both John and Summerton. It was good. Then, in the middle, the (local) yellow flags were a little bit disturbing, because I couldn't see what was really happening, so I kind of had to slow down where the cautions were. I caught them, a little bit, at the wrong moments and that's, I think, where Edwards could close the gap to me. With 10 minutes to go, I was protecting my racecar because we had to finish, and we had a strong racecar.

"I want to thank my whole team for giving me such a great car this weekend. I thought we would be struggling a little bit on the street course, but apparently not. We managed pretty well and made a great car. I'm really happy. The whole Atlantic series, coming here to Three Rivers, it's exceptional because of all the fans. It's so much fun to be here and so many people kind of know you, so you feel like Formula 1 drivers. That's pretty cool. I really enjoy coming here."

Edwards finished second in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy entry from Newman Wachs Racing. It was the sixth podium result in nine starts this season for Edwards, who rebounded nicely from a disappointing race last weekend at Mid-Ohio.

"It was a bit of a weird race," said Edwards. "In the first half, Simona was flying and I think the closest I ever got to her was within a couple tenths on one lap, but every other lap she was between two and five tenths quicker on each lap. I think she pulled out to, I don't know, between a five- and seven-second gap. Then, in the middle of the race, I started to speed up and she started to slow down, and Jonathan made a mistake, so I had no pressure from behind. I kept pushing and knew there was a lot of race to go. I started reeling her in and I think I finished second by a second or so, so I closed the gap and was doing faster laps than her for about the second half of the race. It looked like she just had the car to beat in the beginning, but if we could have gotten pole, we could have stayed in front of her, because it's so hard to pass here. Nonetheless, it's a great day for the team. I need to thank everyone at the team and the series for putting it on. This is such a cool event at Three Rivers. The crowd's really great and it's really fun to come here. Thanks to Newman Wachs, the Atlantic series, Mazda, Cosworth and Cooper Tires. They all put on a great show here today."

Like his Newman Wachs Racing teammate, Summerton also picked up his sixth podium in nine starts with a third-place ride in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI machine. It was the third top-three performance in the last four races for Summerton, who is one of the leading contenders to drive for the new U.S.-based Formula 1 team in 2010. The 21-year-old from Kissimmee, Fla. is third in the championship standings with 127 points.

"We had a great start," Summerton said. "I think I had a better start than the two in front of me, but the problem was where we were starting. We were already on the inside of the track and I had nowhere to go to my right and, of course, to the left was John, so I kind of got boxed in there. It was kind of disappointing, because it's one of the few starts where I've had a really good one on everybody else. After all that, we had a little bit of a mistake in the middle of the stint and then we were able to run the fastest lap, so it was really good. The car felt great. It just stinks we couldn't have been there for qualifying on pole, because I think we had a car to win the race."

Tonis Kasemets picked up his fourth top-five result in his past five starts with a fourth-place run in his No. 35 Fatburner ride for Polestar Motor Racing. The result enabled him to move back into fifth in the championship standings. Defending series champion Markus Niemela rounded out the top five in the No. 1 Ville de Trois-Rivieres/Jensen MotorSport car. It was Niemela's fourth top-five run of the season. Niemela's team owner, Toronto's Eric Jensen, was a late addition to the entry list but walked away with the $2,000 "Hard Charger" bonus. Jensen started 11th in the No. 3 Jensen MotorSport machine and finished eighth.

2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda

Summerton Picks Up Second Atlantic Win of 2009 at Mid-Ohio; De Silvestro Extends Points Lead

Jonathan Summerton won the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda battle at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday night, while points leader Simona De Silvestro took a significant step towards winning the season-long war with a second-place run.

One day after blistering the previous Atlantic track record in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI machine for Newman Wachs Racing, Summerton moved out into the lead from the race's standing start and held off a charging De Silvestro to earn his second victory of the season by two seconds. Summerton's first 2009 win came in the first race of the June doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park while he was driving for Genoa Racing. The 21-year-old from Kissimmee, Fla. won twice in his rookie Atlantic season last year with Newman Wachs. He remained third in the championship standings behind De Silvestro and his NWR teammate John Edwards.

"I'd just like to thank the team for everything they've done all weekend," Summerton said. "We started off the weekend a little rough. In the first few practices, we were down out of the top five, and then we slowly worked our way back up. For qualifying, we tried something new and it definitely worked. The lap time we did there in qualifying was with a little mistake, so I was really happy to still be on pole with that. Coming into this race, we just had to have a clean start. From there, I knew we had a car that could lead the race all the time.

"We both (Summerton and De Silvestro) had good starts and going into Turn 2, I think we both just missed the braking points or weren't expecting the track to be slow slippery. We overbraked ourselves and luckily both of us were able to continue on and keep racing. Later on in the race, through traffic, Simona was able to get side-by-side with me. She did a hard, fair race with me there and I really appreciate that. We were able to hold on and basically I just kept running lap after lap consistently and trying to keep my tires. In the last few laps, I decided to try and go for it. I think we were able to do the fastest lap, so I'm pretty happy."

De Silvestro was also pretty happy following the race with a second-place run for her seventh consecutive podium result in the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry from Team Stargate Worlds. The 20-year-old Swiss driver came into the race with a five-point lead over Edwards in the championship standings, but saw her fortunes improve dramatically as the lights went out to start the race.

From her third-place position on the grid, she saw Edwards - who started second - have trouble getting off the starting grid. She quickly moved up to second and challenged Summerton for much of the race, including a couple of bold side-by-side maneuvers before settling for second place. Edwards, meanwhile, lost several positions on the start in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine and was involved in an incident with Tonis Kasemets (No. 35 Fatburner) and Frankie Muniz (No. 77 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies) in Mid-Ohio's famed "Keyhole" turn on the opening lap, removing Edwards from contention in the race. As a result, De Silvestro now leads Edwards by 16 points, 135-119, with Summerton another six points back with four races remaining in the season.

"My start was really good," De Silvestro said. I even caught Summerton a little bit on the start. I don't know what happened to John. He went off the line pretty well, but then kind of stalled, so I don't really know what happened, so then I could pass him. Then, we went into Turn 2 and I almost crashed into Jonathan because it was really slippery and we almost both went off, but we kind of kept it there.

"My pace was, I think, a little bit faster than Summerton, so we could keep up with him, and when I lost a little bit of ground, I could kind of take it back. Lapped traffic played a little bit my way, but it was really difficult. I got next to him twice, but he kind of pinched me and it's better to finish second than to crash out and lose a lot of points. The whole race, I think, we were a little bit faster than him. As I said in qualifying, we missed it a little bit, but we definitely put the car right for the race. I'm really happy. I really want to thank the team and Mazda, Cosworth and Cooper Tires, because they're making this championship great. The racing is really competitive. I really want to thank them for making it happen."

Rounding out the podium was Spanish rookie Borja Garcia in the No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us ride for Condor Motorsports. It was Garcia's third podium result of the season and was his fifth top-five performance in his last six Atlantic starts.

"On Thursday when I arrived here, I went fast on this track," Garcia said. "I like the track and also the car worked really good. The race, for me, was good, especially because the setup on the car is finally really good. I can drive fast. The problem that I had was the start, because John (Edwards) stalled the car or had a problem with the clutch of something. I lost a little bit of speed in the exit and (Frederic) Vervisch passed me. After that, Frederic Vervisch was maybe one or two second slower than me and I could pass. When I passed him, I could do my pace. I think I went faster than (Jonathan) Summerton and Simona (De Silvestro), but always in the race, when I found the traffic, I lost a little bit just when I was catching Simona. Finally, third place is a good result. We'll see what happen next week in the street race."

Defending series champion Markus Niemela matched his best result of the season with a fourth-place performance in the No. 1 Jensen MotorSport machine. It was also Niemela's best run since joining Jensen MotorSport prior to Round 5 at Lime Rock Park last month. Belgian Frederic Vervisch came home fifth in the No. 19 Quartier/Isomo/Shinokki entry for Genoa Racing. He leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 16 points over Garcia.

Michael Mallinen picked up his fourth C2 victory of the season in the No. 71 Mallinen Properties entry from Swan Racing. He emerged victorious ahead of teammate Hans Peter (No. 80 Team Phenix/Swan Racing) who encountered a mechanical problem while leading midway through the race.

"Hans is good friend of mine and we've raced together for many, many years," Mallinen said. "In fact, he was the driver at Swan Racing before I came in, and he came back. He was faster today. He should have got the win, but you know how racing is. Sometimes things happen. I hit a curb on Lap 2 on the back and whacked my left front wheel and I had a bad vibration, so I was kind of nursing it all the way home. I was just trying to stay out of the way. Hans had some bad luck and here I am, so I'll take it."

British rookie James Winslow earned his second $2,000 "Hard Charger" bonus of the season and an extra championship point with his run from ninth on the grid to sixth at the finish in the No. 18 C.A.R.S./E.T.T./D.H.S. machine for Genoa Racing. It was also the best Atlantic result of Winslow's career.  

Championship Chase Tightens with Autobahn Weekend Sweep for Edwards

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 flag 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.  

Edwards Scores Second Atlantic Victory in Race #1 at Autobahn Grand Prix Doubleheader

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.

De Silvestro Becomes Winningest Woman In Atlantic Championship

History at Lime Rock

2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda points leader Simona De Silvestro became the winningest driver in the 36-year of the series with another dominating performance at Lime Rock Park.

Driving the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies machine for Team Stargate Worlds, De Silvestro started from the pole position and led every lap en route to a 10.004-second victory over John Edwards. It was the third victory of the season for De Silvestro and the fourth of her career, moving her one win ahead of Katherine Legge, who won three races in her lone Atlantic season of 2005. The win also enabled De Silvestro to extend her lead in the championship standings to 17 points, 89-72, over a second-place tie between Edwards and Jonathan Summerton after five of 12 races.

"I had a good qualifying in the rain (on Friday), so I started on pole," De Silvestro said. "I think pole is a big advantage at pretty much every track we go to. The race was good. Borja (Garcia), in the beginning, put a little bit of pressure on me, because he was right behind me and he was, I think, a little bit quicker in the beginning. Then, I could settle in. I think the first lapped cars I got, I got through cleaner than he did, so that gave me a little bit of a gap and then I just concentrated on my race. I went through traffic really well. Then, I heard that John was passing Borja for P2, but my lead was pretty extensive. It looked easy, but it was pretty hard to keep the concentration up because I was kind of on my own out there. It was fun. It's always fun to win like this with such an advantage. My team did a great job. They give me a car every weekend that I can win with, so I hope we can keep it up like this."

Edwards charged from fifth on the starting grid to finish second in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy entry for his third podium result in five races this season. His gain of three spots from start to finish earned him the $2,000 Hard Charger bonus and an extra championship point, allowing him to move into a tie with Summerton, his Newman Wachs Racing teammate, in the point standings.

"I got the Hard Charger, and I don't think I've ever had to work so hard to finish second in my life," Edwards said. "It was really a hard-earned podium finish, because we didn't have a good qualifying. I was really trying to come from behind in the race. Once I got clean air and up to second, I was able to run the same speed as Simona and I think I got fast lap in the race. At least we know that the car is good and we didn't lose 10 seconds to Simona. Unfortunately, we just had a lot of traffic in the beginning that I had to get by. We're really looking forward. It's too bad that the person we're fighting most in the championship won the race, but we know we're on pace with her now. It's only halfway in the season. We've still got a lot left to go."

Garcia finished third after starting second in the No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us machine for Condor Motorsports. It was the second Atlantic podium of the Spanish rookie's career. He also finished third in the first race of last month's doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

"I didn't start really good, because I had a lot of (wheel) spin, but after the first five laps, the car was good," Garcia said. "I stayed behind Simona, but after Lap 5 or Lap 6, I started to lock the right front tire. After that, I had a lot of understeer, and it was impossible to continue the same pace like Simona and also the same pace like Edwards. I think the only thing was to finish third. It's a good result and we'll see what happens next week."

Making his first start of the season for Newman Wachs Racing, Summerton came home fourth in the No. 34 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NEI car. It was the fourth top-four performance in five races this season for Summerton, who drove the first four races for Genoa Racing.

Tonis Kasemets matched his best run of the season with a fifth-place performance in the No. 35 Fatburner machine for Polestar Motor Racing. The Estonian driver previously finished fifth in Round 2 at Miller Motorsports Park in May and has finished seventh or better in every race this season.

De Silvestro Takes Over Points Lead with New Jersey Victory

Twenty-year-old Swiss racer Simona De Silvestro climbed to the top of the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda point standings with her second victory of the season in Sunday's second race of the Mazda Formula X presented by Cooper Tires weekend doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Driving the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies entry for Team Stargate Worlds, De Silvestro parlayed her second pole position of the season into the victory, just as she did last month at Miller Motorsports Park. Unlike the race at Miller, however, where De Silvestro drove away from the field from the moments the lights went out for the standing start, De Silvestro had a good view of Jonathan Summerton in the No. 19 Barker Specialty/Geller Group/Genoa Racing in her mirrors throughout the 45-minute race.

While Summerton kept the pressure on, however, De Silvestro was more than equal to the task of keeping him at bay and went on to win by 0.910 seconds. It was her third career Atlantic Championship victory and it gave her an eight-point lead in the championship standings over Summerton, 68-60, with one third of the 12-race season now in the books.

"I'm really happy about winning today because I worked really hard in qualifying to get pole," De Silvestro said. "I knew that was going to give us an advantage in the start. I got a pretty good start, so I could take the lead. It's really hard to pass, but I knew Jonathan could maybe get a chance in traffic. I didn't get so lucky sometimes in traffic and he got a little more lucky, so he kind of closed the gap to me. I just could keep it in front. My car went off a little bit at the end, but I think it was a little bit the same for everybody. I'm really happy to have finished first today. I have to thank Team Stargate Worlds and our engineers, Burke Harrison and Gerald Tyler, for a great job all weekend."

Summerton started second and picked up his third podium result in four races to move into the second in the point standings. He took his first victory of the season and the third of his Atlantic career in Saturday's first race of the Mazda Formula X doubleheader.

"Basically, the track is very hard to pass on," Summerton said. You can get within seven tenths of a second of the car in front, and then you start losing downforce and a lot of issues start coming up in the corners. I knew I couldn't overtake her as far as pure speed went with the way the traffic and everything was working for us, and with the draft and everything like that. Basically, I just kept pressure on her and hoped she would make a little mistake here or there, but she never really made any. It was a great job from her side. We did a great job, we had a good car, very consistent, just unlucky with the whole circumstance of not getting out front in the start."

Frederic Vervisch made it two Genoa Racing cars in the top three with a third-place run in the No. 17 Roularta/Isomo/Genoa entry. It was the Belgian rookie's third podium result in four career Atlantic races and came after he was docked two positions on the starting grid for interference during qualifying. He started fifth as a result of the penalty, but moved up to third by the completion of the first lap and remained there to the checkered flag. The performance earned Vervisch an extra championship point and the $1,000 Hard Charger Bonus for improving the most positions from start to finish.

"I was punished and I had to start fifth instead of third, so I tried to have a good start," Vervisch said. "My start was okay, but not the greatest start. Then, I could pass (Borja) Garcia in Turn 1 and Markus (Niemela) had a fight with Jonathan (Summerton) and I was quite lucky to pass him (Niemela) without damage. I just tried to follow the two first guys and see what happened, because it's really difficult to overtake. I had the pace and I was close behind Jonathan. I lost some downforce on the front end and I understeered and put my left wheel in the grass in Turn 9, I think. Then, I struggled to get back on track and I lost a lot of time. The only thing I could do was try to come back. I did some good lap times and I was a bit faster, but the traffic was probably not in their advantage, but definitely also not in mine. I lost also some time with that. It's good to be back on podium, so I'm happy."

Defending series champion Markus Niemela picked up his second fourth-place result in as many days in the No. 1 Mr. Jones/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NWR machine for Newman Wachs Racing. Spanish rookie Borja Garcia completed the top five with a fifth-place outing in the No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us machine for Condor Motorsports. Garcia finished third in race 1 on Saturday.  

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Summerton Wins in New Jersey for Third Career Atlantic Championship Victory

Rising American racing star Jonathan Summerton returned to Victory Circle for the first time since last August and brought Genoa Racing its first Atlantic win since 1994 in the first race of the Mazda Formula X presented by Cooper Tires at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon.

Summerton started Genoa Racing's No. 19 Barker Specialty/Geller Group/Genoa machine from the pole position and led lights to chequered flag en route to a 7.334-seconds victory Simona De Silvestro. It was Summerton's third career Atlantic Championship victory, and his first since winning the second race of a doubleheader at Road America last year. It was Genoa Racing's first win since 1994, when Greg Ray drove a Genoa Atlantic machine to Victory Lane at The Milwaukee Mile. Summerton starts second in tomorrow's second half of the Mazda Formula X doubleheader.

"I never dropped a wheel or anything, so lucky for me," said Summerton. "The car was great all the time. We had a good start. The track was a lot slipperier than I think all of us expected, so the first lap was a little crazy. Of course, me not having anybody to reference off, it was a little loose and a little bit hairy at times. By the second lap, I was used to everything and just put my head down and tried driving away."

De Silvestro took her second consecutive podium result with a second-place run aboard the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/Maakoa/Chetenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies machine for Team Stargate Worlds after winning the last time out at Miller Motorsports Park last month. It was De Silvestro's third career podium result in Atlantic competition and moved her into a 47-47 tie for the series points lead with John Edwards after three of 12 races. De Silvestro starts from the pole position in tomorrow's race.

"It was a little bit of a hectic race for me. My start wasn't the greatest, so (Frederic) Vervisch got by me in the first corner, so I was third, and I was trying to keep up with them. Then, my gearbox was playing a little bit badly and my second gear got stuck in Turn 10 and I went through the grass. Borja (Garcia) got me there, but my car was really good so I could pass him again, and then Vervisch had a little bit of a problem. I think Team Stargate Worlds did a really great job, and I'm just happy to get the points today. I hope to win tomorrow."

Heralded rookie Borja Garcia earned his first career Atlantic Championship podium with a third-place performance in the No. 6 Celebfilms.co.uk/CJConsulting.us machine for Condor Motorsports. Garcia came out on top in the best battle of the race, which also included Newman Wachs Racing teammates Edwards and Markus Niemela. Expectations were high for Garcia at the start of the season after he was quickest in preseason testing at Palm Beach International Raceway, and he delivered on those expectations today.

"I'm really happy," said Garcia. "After the first two races, I had a lot of bad luck, especially in the races and finding the setup. Now, I think I'm in the correct line for the setup. It's my first podium and I'm really happy to be here for my team, Condor Motorsports and also the Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship. I'm really happy. I need to work really hard, because after the first test in Palm Beach, the car also worked really good, but after the first and second race, I didn't find the correct setup, Today, the car is good, not perfect, but I think the key to my race was the start. I did a really good start. Also, I tried to finish on the podium in the race."

Niemela, the defending series champion, came home fourth for his best result of the season in the No. 1 Mr. Jones/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NWR machine. Edwards completed the top five in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine with a fifth-place run after starting eighth. He also earned the championship point and $1,000 "Hard Charger" bonus for improving the most positions from start to finish. The race was run without a full-course caution.

De Silvestro Sweeps Utah Weekend En Route to Second Atlantic Victory

Simona De Silvestro had a perfect weekend at Round 2 of the 12-race 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship, the $50,000-to-win Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park.

The 20-year-old Swiss racer led both practice sessions on Friday, took her first career Atlantic pole position on Saturday and dominated Sunday's race to score the second victory of her Atlantic career. Driving the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/CME/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies/Maakoa machine, De Silvestro sped into the lead as soon as the lights went out on the race's standing start and quickly checked out on the rest of the field, leading throughout the 50-minute, 31-lap race. The Team Stargate Worlds driver won by 11.7 seconds ahead of John Edwards.

It was De Silvestro's first Atlantic win since the 2008 season opener at Long Beach, where she became the second woman in series history to win a race behind Katherine Legge, who won three races in 2005. On Saturday, De Silvestro became the second woman in series history to win a pole position behind Danica Patrick, who took a pole position at Portland in 2004. De Silvestro became the first woman in series history to win a race after starting from the pole position.

"It feels awesome," said De Silvestro. "We had the perfect weekend. We led every session, we had pole, and I think we had fastest lap during the race. Team Stargate Worlds just did a great job. The car was really good. I just could drive every time the same lap time and we kind of pulled away. It looked easy but it was pretty hard to be consistently fast, especially running after ALMS (practice). It was pretty slippery. I'm just really happy to have won my second race in the Atlantic series."

Edwards, who earned a $50,000 check for his victory in Round 1 of the 2009 championship at Sebring in March, quickly moved up from fourth on the starting grid to second on the opening lap in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy car for Newman Wachs Racing. While De Silvestro set sail, Edwards spent the remainder of the race with Belgian rookie Frederic Vervisch filling his mirrors. He was able to keep Vervisch behind him throughout the race to secure second place and keep the lead in the point standings after two of 12 races. The 18-year-old Edwards leads De Silvestro by five points, 36-31 in the race for the $1 million title.

"When we're talking about the championship before the year, we're always thinking about top three, top five, so my goal today was to move up from fourth up into the top three," said Edwards, of Cincinnati, Ohio. "Luckily, (Jonathan) Summerton went off during the first lap and gave me second, but there was just no catching Simona today. We're definitely focused on the championship. So far, I've had a first and a second, so I'm still in the lead, and hopefully we can keep that podium streak going in the next two rounds."

Vervisch came home third to earn his second podium result in as many Atlantic Championship starts in the No. 17 Genoa Racing entry. The Belgian previously finished second in the season opener at Sebring and is just one point behind De Silvestro and six out of the championship lead with two races now in the books. He also leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 17 points over James Winslow.

"A podium is, of course, good," Vervisch said. "We couldn't win today because Simona was too strong, but we could have had second because, definitely, we were quite a bit faster than John. Just at the last part of the track, we had some problems with the car to have a good exit. That made it really difficult to overtake. I'm happy that I finished the race and have the points, but I'm not happy that I'm not second, because we had a pace, for sure, to be second. He defended it well, he did a good race, and Simona did a great job and her team also. I'm happy with the result."

Scoring a career-best fourth place result and making it two Team Stargate Worlds cars inside the top four was Frankie Muniz in the No. 77 Stargate Worlds/CME/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies/Maakoa entry. Muniz started seventh and spent most of the race battling for fourth with Borja Garcia and defending series champion Markus Niemela. He capitalized on last-lap contact between Garcia and Niemela to take fourth, earning the $2,000 Hard Charger bonus and a bonus championship point for improving the most positions from start to finish. The actor-turned-racer's previous best result was a ninth-place run at Toronto in 2007.

Atlantic veteran Tonis Kasemets completed the top five in the No. 18 Genoa Racing machine. The Estonian finished seventh at Sebring with Polestar Motor Racing before moving to Genoa Racing for Round 2 in Utah. After dropping to the tail of the field due to an opening-lap off-course excursion, Summerton fought his way back to finish sixth in the No. 19 machine to give Genoa Racing three of the top six finishers.

Michael Mallinen claimed the C2 class victory in the No. 71 Mallinen Properties machine for Swan Racing and finished 10th overall.

Following the race, series officials excluded Garcia from the final results when it was determined that he violated IMSA Code 5.5 (blocking) and 5.6 (avoidable contact) in the incident with Niemela.