|
2008 Atlantic Championship season
|
2008 Atlantic Championship logo post merger
The 2008 Atlantic Championship season is the thirty-fifth Atlantic Championship season. It began on April 20, 2008 and will end on October 4, 2008. Despite the merger of Champ Car's premier series with the Indy Racing League, the Champ Car owners will continue to own and operate the series under a new legal entity, Atlantic Racing Series, LLC.[1] Champ Car continued to sanction the first two events of the season at Long Beach and Laguna Seca with the remainder of the season running under IMSA sanction.[2]
Events
The original 2008 Altantic season of 12 races which featured many supporting runs during Champ Car World Series events had to be scrapped as a result of the 2008 open-wheen reunification announcement. The Long Beach, Monterey, Edmonton, Road America, and Mont-Tremblant races had been part of the Champ Car schedule before reunification. The Road America races were changed, as the American Le Mans Series' Generac 500 weekend meet was changed from one to two races (a Saturday and Sunday race). The Edmonton race, now part of the Indy Racing League, will also switch to a two-race format. The original races at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and Miller Motorsports Park were not affected. The Quebec race is part of the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres (which also features the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the Utah race is conducted as part of the Grand American Road Racing Association Sunchaser 1000 weekend. Neither race was affected by the reunification. [3] On April 3rd a revised post reunification schedule was released featuring 11 races including the seven weekends that were kept (with two races at Edmonton and Road America), and two new races, one at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta. The series, in addition to running as the featured race in Mont Tremblant and New Jersey, will run with the Champ Car World Series final event at the Long Beach Grand Prix, as well as the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series presented by DirecTV HD, American LeMans Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
| Rd |
Race Name |
Circuit |
City/Location |
Race Date |
| 1 |
 Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach[4] |
Streets of Long Beach |
Long Beach, California |
April 20 |
| 2 |
Monterey Festival of Speed Atlantic Championship [5] |
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca |
Monterey, California |
May 18 |
| 3 |
 Sommet des Legends |
Circuit Mont-Tremblant |
Mont-Tremblant, Quebec |
June 29 |
| 4 |
Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton Twin Races - Race 1 |
City Center Airport |
Edmonton, Alberta |
July 25 |
| 5 |
Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton Twin Races - Race 2 |
City Center Airport |
Edmonton, Alberta |
July 26 |
| 6 |
Generac Atlantic Twin Races - Race 1 [6] |
Road America |
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
August 9 |
| 7 |
Generac Atlantic Twin Races - Race 2 [6] |
Road America |
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
August 10 |
| 8 |
Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières[4] |
Streets of Trois-Rivières |
Trois-Rivières, Quebec |
August 17 |
| 9 |
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder[4] |
New Jersey Motorsports Park |
Millville, New Jersey |
September 14 |
| 10 |
Sunchaser Atlantic Challenge[4] |
Miller Motorsports Park |
Salt Lake City, Utah |
September 21 |
| 11 |
Atlanta Atlantic Challenge |
Road Atlanta |
Braselton, Georgia |
October 3 |
Drivers and Teams
The following teams and drivers are confirmed to be competing in the 2008 Atlantic Championship season. All teams are using the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3 liter inline-4 engine and Cooper tires.[7]
Full series results
Race summaries
- Sunday April 20, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. EDT
- Streets of Long Beach - Long Beach, California (1.968 mile street circuit)
- Time: 50 minutes
- Distance: 38 laps / 74.784 miles
- Race weather: 60° F, Sunny skies
- Television: SPEED
- Pole position winner: #26 Jonathan Bomarito, 93.286 mph (150.125 km/h)
- Race Summary
- The 2008 Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach was won by the young Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro making her only the second female driver to ever win an Atlantic Championship race after Katherine Legge.
- Canadian James Hinchciffe took the pole at Laguna Seca with a 1:16.189 which was a track record qualifying run on by an Atlantic car on Saturday after taking the provisional pole on Friday. He then went on to dominate Sunday's race.
- Dutch driver Junior Strous dominated the weekend by taking pole and leading every lap in the race. The win was his first ever in the Atlantic Championship, as was his pole position. He leads the season championship with 74 points over James Hinchcliffe and Markus Niemela who are tied at 67.
References
- ^ http://atlantic-championship.com/News/Article.asp?ID=3378
- ^ http://atlantic-championship.com/News/Article.asp?ID=3377
- ^ ""Set For 35th Anniversary Season"", champcaratlantic.com (2007-02-27). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b c d ""Champ Car Announces 2008 Schedules"", champcaratlantic.com (2007-11-05). Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
- ^ ""Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Announces Weekend Schedule for Festival of Speed"", Mazda Raceway (2008-03-05). Retrieved on 2008-03-06.
- ^ a b ""Road America Adds Speed World Challenge to August Line-Up"", Road America (2008-03-10). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ Champ Car Atlantic News
- ^ ""Daniel Morad signs with Eurointernational"", champcarworld.net (2008-02-03). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ ""James Hinchcliffe Reunites with Forsythe Championship Racing for Assault on 2008 Champ Car Atlantic Championship"", champcaratlantic.com (2008-01-16). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ ""Mexican Rising Star David Garza Signs with Forsythe Championship Racing Team for 2008 Champ Car Atlantic Championship Season"", champcaratlantic.com (2007-10-11). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Champ Car Atlantic News
- ^ Champ Car Atlantic News
- ^ a b c ""2004 Series Champions, Pacific Coast Motorsports Return to Atlantic Competition"", champcaratlantic.com (2008-01-31). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b ""Walker Racing Signs Greg and Leo Mansell for 2008"", champcaratlantic.com (2007-11-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ ""Kevin Lacroix to Pilot Uni-Select Entry for Walker Racing in 2008"", champcaratlantic.com (2007-08-12). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
See also
|
