Hacquard Faces Road Atlanta in Penultimate Round

Braselton, Georgia October 02, 2008 – Taylor Hacquard’s rookie year competing in the 2008 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear starts to wind up this weekend with the penultimate race of the season, Round 11, hosted at Georgia’s Road Atlanta circuit on Friday 3rd October.

Forming part of an impressive support package to the American Le Mans Series ‘Petit Le Mans’ challenge, the Star Mazda field races on Friday before Saturday’s 10-hour sports car endurance race gets underway. The weekend marks Hacquard’s first trip to the 2.54-mile permanent road course located in Braselton, Georgia but as the 18-year-old Vancouver resident has already proved this season, he’s a fast learner and a strong racer.

Taylor arrives at Road Atlanta following a pair of top-ten performances last time out at the New Jersey Motorsports Park double-header. Racing the #15 Wolfe Auto Group/World Speed Motorsports entry, Hacquard earned his sixth and seventh top-ten finishes of the season, climbing to ninth overall in the Star Mazda Driver Standings, and the top-ranked Canadian, on 250 points.

While aiming to maintain his impressive race record, the B.C. teenager is keen to improve his qualifying performances and crack the top-ten for the third time this year, Taylor’s best grid slot to-date coming in the second round at Miller Motorsports Park where he secured seventh on the grid.

“It’s great to be here at Road Atlanta,” said Hacquard. “It’s still early in the week yet there’s a really good atmosphere building up towards the weekend’s races. I’m really hoping we have a strong qualifying run here. I’ve shown I can race pretty well but if I can qualify a few spots higher than I usually do then I can really help myself out. That’s my main focus for the weekend, improve my qualifying performance and continue to race strong.

“From my first laps of the track, Road Atlanta might prove to be a tricky place to overtake, there are a couple of obvious passing zones but it’s quite a narrow race track, you really have to stick to your racing line to maintain your speed. It’s hard to believe this is the penultimate round; the season’s really flown by. I’ve had a good rookie year and I’m hoping for a strong showing at Road Atlanta. I wasn’t overly happy with my last two performances so I’d like to turn things around before heading into the season finale later in the month.”