Dorricott Racing Preview - Montreal
MONTREAL, Que., Canada (Aug. 22, 2002) - There is only one way
Dorricott Racing's Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, and Luis Diaz can better a
near perfect performance and All-Dorricott podium last Sunday at Road
America. It is to do it again but this time at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in
Montreal in round 11 of the 12-race Toyota Atlantic Championship.
The 27-lap (74.16 mile) Atlantic sprint around the 13-turn,
2.747-mile world-class road course is the featured support event at the
Molson Indy Montreal and is scheduled to drop the green flag at 3:30 p.m.
ET, Saturday, Aug. 24. It will mark the 21st time since 1978 the Atlantic
series has competed in Montreal.
In what has become a near grudge match between Dorricott Racing and
Canadian opponent and series leader Michael Valiante, Dorricott Racing
makes it first career Atlantic visit to Montreal heavily underestimated in
what it could achieve. Simply stated but not readily accepted by opponents,
Dorricott Racing could leave Montreal leading the Toyota Atlantic
Championship.
With two races remaining including Montreal, Fogarty has closed the
gap on Valiante to 14 points, 136-122. Third and fourth place belong to
Gurney and Diaz with 106 and 104 points, respectively. Furthermore, Fogarty
continues to lead in his secondary Atlantic quest for Atlantic Rookie of
the Year honors over Diaz and fifth place Ryan Hunter-Reay (102 points).
Fogarty, of Portola Valley, Calif., has posted eight top-five
finishes including his second place finish at Road America. Excluding three
bonus points that are up for grabs this weekend, Fogarty must finish fourth
or higher to guarantee himself a shot at a Championship face-off with
Valiante in the season finale through the streets of Denver. Much will
depend on whom wins the two points for pole and provisional pole along with
bonus point for leading the most laps on race day.
Narrow vision suggests that Dorricott Racing will be disadvantaged
at Montreal due to no prior team familiarity with the track other than two
previous Gurney appearances. Valiante's team, Lynx Racing, has been
dominant at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve the past two years taking poles
and wins with Canadian driver, David Rutledge. Valiante was runner-up last
year to Rutledge running a very close second in his first race at the
track.
However, Valiante has only qualified well in one event in 2002 when
he won the pole at Trois-Rivieres. Dorricott Racing, meanwhile, has ruled
Atlantic qualifying by capturing five of 10 pole positions. Diaz earned
poles at Monterrey, Mexico, and Portland, while Fogarty led qualifying at
Chicago, Toronto, and last weekend at Road America.
Fogarty has started nine of 10 races in the first two rows. Outside
poles at Portland and Cleveland were complemented by second row grid spots
at Monterrey, Long Beach, Laguna Seca, and Trois-Rivieres (4th). His worst
starting position has been sixth at Milwaukee.
Moreover, Fogarty's powerful showing at Road America offers support
that his Atlantic stretch drive is all "upside." When considering his
Atlantic track record pole at Road America, qualifying fourth at Laguna
Seca in round four, and finishing third place at Portland in round five,
Fogarty is a proven product on permanent road courses. Besides seeking to
win the Atlantic Championship in his rookie Atlantic season, he is also
attempting to become the first driver to win the season opening race
(Monterrey, Mexico) and continue to win a Championship since Mark Dismore
did it in 1990.
Diaz, of Mexico City, comes to Montreal for his first time as the
"hot ticket" in Atlantic Racing. His overwhelming display of skill and
speed at Road America in winning his second event of the year
re-established him as an Atlantic title contender. His first Atlantic win
also came on a permanent road course at Portland where he won flag-to-flag.
Diaz's third place finish at Cleveland in round eight began his late-season
championship rally.
Gurney, of Newport Beach, Calif., isn't exactly "cool" either.
After starting his Behr/Castrol Swift 014a on the outside pole at
Trois-Rivieres in round nine, he finished second place with a masterful
performance and equally strong car. Gurney then qualified fourth at Road
America and finished third place.
He is the only Dorricott driver to have ever raced at Montreal. In
1999, Gurney started 11th and finished fifth place. He followed this up in
2000 with starting and finishing in seventh place.
Gurney has been a consistent high qualifier and finisher all
season. He was fifth place in his first Canadian visit of this season at
Toronto. He finished second place at Long Beach, and has qualified seven
times in the first two rows as well as being a leading contender in nearly
every race. Gurney earned championship bonus points at Toronto and
Trois-Rivieres for winning the provisional poles, and has started in row
two in five races.
Dorricott Racing's top-three finish at Road America was a new
record for Atlantic and CART-sanctioned programs. It is the first time in
CART history that a CART-sanctioned team has earned two all-podium finishes
in a CART-sanctioned event. Dorricott Racing also captured the top-three
spots at St. Louis in the 2000 Dayton Indy Lights Championship.
In regard to the Toyota Atlantic Championship, Road America marked
the first time in the series 29-year history that an Atlantic team has
finished a race first, second, and third place.
pee Channel will broadcast Saturday's Round 11 race from Montreal
LIVE on Saturday, August 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT).
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.
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