Long Beach: Ryan Lewis race notes

Ryan Lewis' Champ Car Atlantic season finally got going at Long Beach last weekend. After the nail-biting wait for his US visa to come through the British driver was delighted to finally get his Championship back on track. The results weren't what he had hoped for but he's racing again and loving every minute!

The chances didn't roll Ryan's way in qualifying as the red flag came out during his fastest lap leaving him with a 17th place starting slot for his first race of the season.

The Long Beach race is a fantastic event and Ryan was looking forward to putting on a good show for the crowds. He posted the fourth fastest time in morning warm up and fought hard during the race, steadily making his way through the field from 17th to 10th. Unfortunately he was battling oversteer and a brush with the wall at turn eight, after 23 laps of the 31-lap race, ended Ryan's afternoon.

"We were looking really strong during the race," said Ryan. "Things were looking good, but I had a lot of oversteer and the car was sliding around, progressively getting worse. I hit a bump in the middle of turn eight and just slightly tapped the wall, bending the toe link and that was the end of our day unfortunately."

Ryan moves straight on to Houston in Texas now as the next round of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship is in just a few days' time.

-credit: ryanlewisracing.co.uk