Dorricott Racing Preview - Long Beach
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: James Hyneman
jhyneman@compuserve.com
DORRICOTT RACING LOOKS TO WIN AGAIN AT GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
- THIS TIME IN THE TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIIONSHIP -
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 11, 2002) - If early momentum is a
preface to the future, Dorricott Racing may be on another championship
trail when its talented driver trio races this weekend at the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach and round two of the 12-race Toyota Atlantic
Championship.
The 32 lap/62.976 mile Toyota Atlantic sprint around the
picturesque 1.968-mile, 11-turn seaside street circuit is scheduled to
begin at 10:00 a.m. (PT), Sunday, April 14. It is the featured support race
to the CART FedEx Championship Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach later
that day.
Second year Dorricott Racing driver Jon Fogarty, of Portola Valley,
Calif., returns to Long Beach coming off a season opening victory
Monterrey, Mexico. Fogarty, who started fourth at Monterrey in the Thomas
Fogarty Winery & Vineyards Swift 014.a, seized the lead on the sixth lap
from teammate and polesitter, Luis Diaz, of Mexico City, then held off a
late charge from Scotland's Ryan Dalziel to win by 0.884-seconds. It was
the first career Atlantic race for Fogarty as well as the 2001 CART Dayton
Indy Lights champions.
Dorricott Racing won at Long Beach last year in the Dayton Indy
Lights Championship behind current CART FedEx rising star Townsend Bell, of
San Luis Obispo, Calif. However, part of Bell's victory was due in part to
early race misfortunes of teammates Fogarty and former Dorricott pilot,
Damien Faulkner, of Ireland.
Fogarty, who started on the outside pole, was caught out on the
green flag and dropped a position. As the field screamed down the front
straight-away into the challenging but narrow first corner, Fogarty was
rear-ended by Danish driver Kristian Kolby. Kolby plowed his nosecone into
Fogarty's gearbox and diffuser and, in turn, pushed him into Faulkner.
Faulkner, who started fourth, never saw the contact coming as he spun and
stopped in the middle of the turn. Fogarty and Faulkner were uninjured but
their cars were unable to continue. Kolby, meanwhile, rambled back to pit
lane where he replaced his nosecone and continued without consequence to a
fifth place race finish.
Diaz channeled attention his way in Monterrey after winning the
pole position with a blistering track record time of 1:27.089 (86.973 mph)
around the 12-turn, 2.104-mile Fundidora Park to capture his first career
pole position in a major international racing series. It bodes well for his
first Atlantic effort at Long Beach as Diaz is looking to improve on his
ninth place finish in last year's Indy Lights race at Long Beach.
Alex Gurney, of Newport Beach, Calif., started third at Monterrey,
then moved into second place within the first couple of race laps. Trouble
struck a little past the middle of the race when Joey Hand, of Sacramento,
Calif., collided nose-to-tail into Gurney's Behr-Castrol Swift 014.a on lap
20. Gurney suffered severe rear wing damage and was forced to retire from
the race.
Fogarty leads the Toyota Atlantic Championship after round one with
21 points. This includes 20 points for the Monterrey win and one bonus
point for leading the most laps. He also assumed the lead for Toyota
Atlantic Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Diaz is in fourth place after Monterrey
with 13 points including two bonus points for leading each of two
qualifying sessions.
Speed Channel will provide a same-day delayed telecast of the Long
Beach Toyota Atlantic Championship race from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET
(11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PT), Sunday, April 14.
Dorricott Racing is a year-round professional motorsports
organization with its race shop located in Bakersfield, Calif. Detailed
race results, team, and sponsor information are available on Dorricott
Racing's official web site, http://www.dorricottracing.com.
# # #
