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THE CART TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP Round 6, Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland June 30 - July 2, 2000, Cleveland, Ohio THE EVENT Round 6 of the 12-event CART Toyota Atlantic Championship will be held on the 2.106 mile temporary road course at ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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THE CART TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 6, Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland
June 30 - July 2, 2000, Cleveland, Ohio

THE EVENT

Round 6 of the 12-event CART Toyota Atlantic Championship will be held on the 2.106 mile temporary road course at Burke Lakefront Airport. Sunday's race will mark the 3rd time the Atlantic series has competed in Cleveland.

CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

Andrew Bordin (PPI Motorsports/Swift 008.a) moved into first place in the driver's standings after finishing second, and earning his third consecutive podium (finished 2nd), at the Grand Prix Air Canada in Montreal two weeks ago. Bordin, who finished third in Long Beach and second in Milwaukee, now has 67 points. The young Canadian also earned an additional point for leading the most laps during the Montreal race.

Prime candidates expected to challenge Bordin for the lead this weekend are: PPIM teammate Daniel Wheldon, (Jayhard/BG Products/Swift 008.a) of England, along with DSTP Motorsports, Buddy Rice, and Lynx Racing's, David Rutledge. Wheldon, who sits in second place in the driver's standings, trails Bordin by a mere two points. The young Brit has exploded onto the Atlantic stage in his rookie season, and has captured three of five pole positions, as well as three podium finishes so far. He is currently leading this year's rookie race by 15 points.

Phoenix, Arizona's, Buddy Rice was literally bumped off of the points lead for the first time this season at Montreal, when a first lap collision with Bordin left him with substantial suspension damage and a pit lane view of the action. Unfortunately for Rice, it was his second non-points earning race, and he was relegated to the number three slot in the standings, with 61 points.

Lynx Racing's David Rutledge was the man to beat at Montreal and is prepared to challenge for the win in Cleveland. The West Vancouver native scored his first ever Atlantic pole position in Canada, and then topped the weekend off by recording his first ever Atlantic win, earning Lynx its' first victory of the season. Rutledge narrowly edged out Bordin by slipping past his compatriot exiting the final turn on the final lap to take the checkered flag. Rutledge's pole and win earned him 21 championship points, enough to place him in fourth overall, with 60 points.

Other drivers to watch this weekend include rookie Martin Basso (3B Valve / Swift 008.a) of Michael Shank Racing who has recorded four top-six finishes. The Argentinean scored his first ever Atlantic win at Milwaukee. Rocky Moran Jr., (NTN Bearing / Swift 008.a) of P-1 Racing has recorded a top-10 finish every event this season, with a podium performance (3rd) during the second event at Miami. Brazilian rookie Hoover Orsi (U.S.Print / Swift 008.a) of Hylton Motorsports, has earned two third place finishes (Miami race #1 and Milwaukee) and is seventh overall.

Newcomer DeWayne Cassel of Peoria, Illinois will make his Atlantic debut at Cleveland in the number 25 car owned by Olsson Engineering of Lake Forest, Illinois.

<pre> TOP TEN

Bordin, Andrew          67
Wheldon, Daniel (R)     65
Buddy Rice              61
Rutledge, David         60
Basso, Martin (R)       50
Moran Jr., Rocky        47
Orsi, Hoover  (R)       38
Langhorne, William      26
Conte, Mike             20
Gurney, Alex            19

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday, June 30:

Practice        1:40 p.m.  --  2:20 p.m.
Qualifying      5:25 p.m.  --  5:55 p.m.

Saturday, July 1:

Practice        9:00 a.m.  --  9:40 a.m.
Qualifying      1:00 p.m.  --  1:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 2

Warm Up         8:30 a.m.  --  8:45 a.m
RACE            10:30 a.m. (27 laps / 74.16 miles)

ATLANTIC HISTORY AT CLEVELAND

Due to a rotating schedule with Indy Lights, Atlantic did not race at Cleveland in 1999.

Qualifying Record Memo Gidley: 1 min.: 08.953 sec, 109.950 mph 07/11/1998

Race Record Kenny Wilden: 31 min.: 54.902 sec. 87.103 mph 07/11/1998

Fastest Race Lap Kenny Wilden: 1 min.: 09.736 sec. 108.710 mph 07/11/1998 Past Winners: 1997: Bertrand Godin (CDN), Ralt RT-40-Toyota (Y)* 1998: Kenny Wilden (CDN), Swift 008.a-Toyota (Y)*

Past Polesitters 1997: Alexandre Tagliani (CDN), Ralt RT-40-Toyota (Y)* 1998: Memo Gidley (USA), Swift 008.a-Toyota (Y)*

* Run on Yokohama Tires

TELEVISION COVERAGE

ESPN2 and ESPN International will air the Cleveland race on Saturday, July 8 at 3:00 p.m. (eastern) and repeat broadcast on Thursday, July 13 at 4:30 p.m.

French language RDS will air the race on Saturday, July 15 at 8:30 a.m. while CTV Sportnet on Monday, July 10 at 7:00 p.m. local time.

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