AIM
Takes victory at VIR with Dempsey
Goncalvez just misses podium, Ostella
ninth in a strong run
AIM
Autosport’s Star Mazda squad left
Virginia International Raceway with the
win on Sunday and had all three drivers
in the top ten for the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear. They
are second overall in the team
championship while Peter Dempsey in the
Motorsport Ireland / Queyside.ie No. 3
AIM Autosport / Mobil 1 / MIKE Formula
Mazda leads the driver’s championship.
Dempsey, who qualified on
the front row for the start, had his
work cut out for him in a race that ran
mostly under full course caution.
Running in second, he was shuffled back
to fourth on the first restart and would
have to wait until two laps from the end
of the race to get past the three team
mates running ahead of him. Peter would
use every inch of the track going in a
drag race to the first turn on the final
restart to take the lead position. A
last lap challenge from pole sitter Adam
Christodoulou worked in Peter’s favor
and in another drag race to the
checkers, he prevailed by a margin of
.038 seconds.
“I really needed this
win” Dempsey commented(pictured below)
. “It was doubtful that I would even be
at VIR until the last moment, so getting
the win is what was needed to allow me
to continue in the championship. I have
to thank everyone at AIM Autosport for
the fantastic job this weekend and now
we concentrate on taking the momentum of
this win forward.”
AIM Autosport’s other cars also had good results finishing in the top ten. In fact, Jorge Goncalvez (72) had a great run to finish in fourth place coming through from twelfth on the starting grid. The Venezuelan took advantage of restarts to move through the pack and record his best result so far. He is now sixth in the championship. David Ostella (Global Precast No. 71) did a great job of recovery after running off course to avoid and accident in front of him. He would cross the line in ninth place after starting from tenth on the grid. David is tenth in the championship.
“All three drivers did a great job this weekend.” said team principal Keith Willis. “We fought a variety of issues with all three cars but had good feedback from the drivers to end the weekend with strong results.” Willis continued, “Peter knew what he had to do this weekend and he just went out and did it. Jorge quietly went about his business and returned a fantastic result moving up eight positions and David put in a solid effort and kept his head. His quick thinking and fast response kept him in it at the end. David is developing as a very smart driver with good skills.”
AIM Autosport’s other cars also had good results finishing in the top ten. In fact, Jorge Goncalvez (72) had a great run to finish in fourth place coming through from twelfth on the starting grid. The Venezuelan took advantage of restarts to move through the pack and record his best result so far. He is now sixth in the championship. David Ostella (Global Precast No. 71) did a great job of recovery after running off course to avoid and accident in front of him. He would cross the line in ninth place after starting from tenth on the grid. David is tenth in the championship.
“All three drivers did a great job this weekend.” said team principal Keith Willis. “We fought a variety of issues with all three cars but had good feedback from the drivers to end the weekend with strong results.” Willis continued, “Peter knew what he had to do this weekend and he just went out and did it. Jorge quietly went about his business and returned a fantastic result moving up eight positions and David put in a solid effort and kept his head. His quick thinking and fast response kept him in it at the end. David is developing as a very smart driver with good skills.”