ATLANTICS: Lynx Racing Preview, Trois Rivieres
26 July 2000
BATTLES BIG AND SMALL
Fast Facts: Lynx Racing in the Player's Grand Prix de Trois Rivières, July
28 - 30
- Lynx Racing graduate Patrick Carpentier won both races of the
double-header held at Trois Rivières in 1996. Carpentier and 1998 Lynx
graduate Memo Gidley will both be competing in the CART race at Chicago
this weekend.
- Current Lynx driver David Rutledge won from the pole at the Canadian
Grand Prix in Montreal and finished second at Long Beach. He is sixth
in the points. His teammate, Mike Conte, has finished consistently in the
top 10 and is eighth in the points.
- Lynx Racing is the only championship-winning racing team and driver
development program in auto racing today owned by women, Peggy Haas and
Jackie Doty.
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While Lynx graduates Patrick Carpentier and Memo Gidley are
waging war in the CART FedEx Target Grand Prix of Chicago this weekend, the
team's newest crop of future champions, David Rutledge and Mike Conte, will
be fighting a smaller but no less fierce battle at the Player's Grand Prix
de Trois Rivières, the 8th round of the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship,
July 28 - 30.
This is Canada's most historic street race, first run in 1967, and
holds special memories for the Lynx team as well. It was here in 1996,
that Lynx driver Patrick Carpentier (now driving for the Player's/Forsythe
team) won, from the pole, both races of a two race weekend. Carpentier
went on to win nine of 12 races that season, breaking virtually every
record in the long and storied history of the Atlantic series.
The current Lynx lineup comes to Trois Rivières working toward
clear goals. David Rutledge, 22, of Vancouver BC, is looking to put the
effects of bad luck aside and regain the form that saw him make a dramatic
last lap, last turn pass to win the Atlantic support race at the Air Canada
Grand Prix in Montreal. In the two races since, Cleveland and Toronto,
Rutledge has suffered at the hands of others, both times being knocked out
of the race by unavoidable contact with another car.
"In a situation like this it's a case of keeping your mental
balance, and making a few changes in the way you do things," says Rutledge,
who drives the #19 Lynx Racing Swift 008.a. "At both Cleveland and Toronto
we started out the fastest in the first session but, for various reasons,
we didn't qualify well and it's mid-pack where the accidents happen.
Because of our travel schedule Mike and I haven't had time to go to the
kart track like we usually do, and going cold into a race can make a big
difference. But we spent a full day at the track with Steve Cameron (Lynx
Racing's team manager and driving coach) earlier in the week, so we're both
feeling sharp and ready to race."
Mike Conte, 31, of Seattle, Washington, has scored an unbroken
string of top-10 finishes that have him sitting 8th in the championship
points (Rutledge is 6th). His races in the mid-pack have been even more
eventful than those of his teammate, full of bumping and shoving, but
without the dire consequences of a DNF.
"It's pretty crowded in the middle of the field, and my goal this
weekend is to qualify higher, give myself a little more racing room and try
to move up to a podium finish," says Conte, who drives the #17 Lynx
Racing/Champs Karting Swift 008.a. "The course at Trois Rivières is a real
setup challenge because the race is run on city streets that are very bumpy
and crowned toward you going into the turn and away from you on the exit.
It takes a delicate touch to get the most out of an Atlantic car here, and
our engineers and shock absorber technician are going to be wearing out
their laptops figuring this one out. That said, it's a pleasure to race
here because this town really is the heart of Atlantic racing, and it's the
one place we race where we're the main show. You get a 'center-stage'
feeling here that really makes the weekend special. I just wish my French
was better."
The 45 lap (68.43 mile) Atlantic race, held on the 1.521-mile temporary
street course, is Sunday's main event on the weekend schedule and is
scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m.
Former Lynx driver Buddy Rice (now racing for DSTP Motorsports) continues
to lead this year's championship after posting his fifth podium finish of
the season in Toronto two weeks ago.
2000 marks the 10th anniversary of Lynx Racing, one of the most unique
organizations in auto racing today. Created and owned by two women, Peggy
Haas and Jackie Doty, Lynx is both a championship-winning racing team and a
uniquely successful driver development program that focuses on a driver's
spiritual and psychological growth in addition to their on-track skills.
In addition to racing in the Atlantic series, Lynx also sponsors Sara
Senske, one of the top female drivers in open-wheel racing today, in the
Barber Dodge Pro Series.
The Lynx mission is to seek out young drivers with the desire and
potential to become champions at the highest levels of the sport and
provide them with the funding, equipment and training to take the last step
toward realizing that potential, a process the team calls 'destiny by
design.' Lynx alumni include CART FedEx drivers Patrick Carpentier, Alex
Barron and Memo Gidley.
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On Track Schedule
Friday, July 28
9:25 a.m. - 9:55 a.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Practice
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Qualifying
Saturday, July 29
9:25 a.m. - 9:55 a.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Practice
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Final Qualifying
Sunday, July 30
8:05 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Warm-Up
1:45 p.m. CART Toyota Atlantic Race / 45 laps --
68.43 miles
CART Toyota Atlantic Television Coverage (EDT)
ESPN2 Saturday August 12 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Repeat Tuesday August 15 5:00 a.m. - 6:00 am.
ESNP Intl. Saturday August 12 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Repeat Tuesday August 15 5:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.
RDS Sunday August 6 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
CTV Monday August 7 7:00 p.m. (Ontario and Pacific Regions)
Tuesday August 8 7:00 p.m. (East and West Regions)
Repeat Wed. August 9 3:00 p.m. (East Region only)