|
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – With
the green flag for the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship’s
debut in Mexico quickly approaching, the roster that will make
up the 2002 Championship is starting to finalize, and it
appears to be a wide open race for the season ending trophy.
On the current roster, only two drivers have won a race in
Atlantic competition. 2001 Rookie of the Year, Joey Hand,
returns with DSTP Motorsports with two wins last season and
Rocky Moran Jr., fresh off of winning his first career
Atlantic race at the season ending race last year at Laguna
Seca, joins forces with Sigma Autosport.
Also returning for 2002, are a group of drivers
that knocked on the door for their first wins and appear to be
a lock to break into victory lane this season. Headlining
this list is Lynx Racing’s duo of Michael Valiante and Grant
Ryley who both grabbed runner-up finishes last year. Jonathan
Macri and Rodolfo Lavin will return with their respective
teams this year of P-1 Racing and Michael Shank Racing. Macri
had a solid rookie season with P-1 finishing fifth in the
Championship. Lavin finished seventh in his rookie debut with
Michael Shank Racing and reports from winter testing have
raised Lavin into the Championship hunt. Alex Gurney will
return to Atlantic competition after spending a year
overseas. With Atlantic experience, Gurney’s addition to
Dorricott Racing’s debut in the Atlantic Championship could be
the edge they need to contend for the title.
Dorricott Racing leads the
list of first year teams eager to challenge long time Atlantic
teams for this year’s title. Rookies, Jon Fogarty and Luis
Diaz will join Dorricott on their trek from the Dayton Indy
Lights Championship over to the CART Toyota Atlantic
Championship. Hylton Motorsports will try to defend their
2001 Atlantic Championship with Ryan Hunter-Reay taking over
the driving duties for Hoover Orsi. Reay finished fifth in
the Barber Dodge Pro Series last year and will be joined by
the runner-up in the series, Sepp Koster, who will team with
Lavin at Michael Shank Racing. Fellow Barber Dodge driver,
David Wieringa, will join the series as another example of the
CART Ladder system at work. Wieringa will join Moran Jr. with
the new Sigma Autosport team. Worldspeed Motorsports’ Alex
Figge, will fill the seat vacated by Grant Ryley after
competing in the USF2000 Championship last season. Scuadra
Fortia will make its Atlantic debut this season with a two car
effort. Eduardo Figueroa from Mexico and Argentinean driver,
Waldemar Coronas will pilot the two cars. Several more teams
are schedule to announce more drivers in the upcoming weeks.
The teams will take to the
track for the first time on Thursday, March 7, 2002 as they
prepare for the season opening race in Monterrey, Mexico on
Saturday, March 9, 2002. Here is the complete listing of the
current 2002 teams and drivers:
|
No. |
Driver |
Country |
Team |
|
#1 |
Ryan
Hunter-Reay(R) |
USA |
Hylton
Motorsports |
|
#2 |
TBA |
TBA |
Jensen
Motorsports |
|
#3 |
Rocky
Moran Jr. |
USA |
Sigma
Autosport |
|
#4 |
David
Wieringa(R) |
USA |
Sigma
Autosport |
|
#5 |
Sepp
Koster(R) |
BLG |
Michael
Shank Racing |
|
#6 |
Frank
Dancs |
USA |
Condor
Motorsports |
|
#8 |
TBA |
TBA |
Transnet
Racing |
|
#11 |
Rodolfo
Lavin |
MEX |
Michael
Shank Racing |
|
#12 |
TBA |
TBA |
Brooks
Racing Assoc. |
|
#14 |
Alex
Figge(R) |
USA |
World
Speed Motorsports |
|
#16 |
TBA |
TBA |
Margraf
Racing |
|
#18 |
Bob Siska |
USA |
RJS
Motorsports |
|
#19 |
Michael
Valiante |
CAN |
Lynx
Racing |
|
#23 |
Grant
Ryley |
USA |
Lynx
Racing |
|
#24 |
Steve
Romak(R) |
USA |
Autospa |
|
#25 |
DeWayne
Cassel(R) |
USA |
JPT
Motorsport |
|
#26 |
David
Cutler |
USA |
P-1
Racing |
|
#27 |
Joey Hand |
USA |
DSTP
Motorsports |
|
#31 |
Jonathan
Macri |
CAN |
P-1
Racing |
|
#32 |
Jon
Fogarty(R) |
USA |
Dorricott
Racing |
|
#33 |
Luis
Diaz(R) |
MEX |
Dorricott
Racing |
|
#34 |
Alex
Gurney |
USA |
Dorricott
Racing |
|
#43 |
Waldemar
Coronas(R) |
ARG |
Scuadra
Fortia |
|
#67 |
Marc
Devilles(R) |
USA |
Sierra
Sierra |
|
#77 |
Scott
Lampkin(R) |
USA |
Crossover
Motorsports |
|
#81 |
Carl
Russo(R) |
USA |
Performance Development & Racing |
|
#86 |
Eduardo
Figueroa(R) |
MEX |
Scuadra
Fortia |
|
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
Michael
Shank Racing |
|
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
Indy
Regency Racing |
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Martin Basso
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