Mont-Tremblant: Alan Sciuto race report

Alan Sciuto Racing: Sunday at le Circuit

July 1, 2007 (Mont Tremblant, Quebec) -- After the long trip from his hometown of Orange, Calif. to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Alan Sciuto had a weekend to forget during the sixth round of the Champ Car Atlantic season.

After missing the opportunity to qualify at the front of the field due to a sudden rainstorm during second qualifying, Sciuto's work was cut out for him as he took the sixteenth starting position. Initially optimistic at making progress through the field, it took a couple of laps for Sciuto to realize his car had a serious handling problem. The game plan quickly changed from progressing forward, to merely hanging on to the oversteering Swift 016a.

On the final lap, Sciuto was chasing David Garza through turn seven when Garza ran out of fuel. Sciuto had to check up before he made his way around the Mexican driver, but as he did John Edwards ran by both of them -- even score for Sciuto, who crossed the line in twelfth place after the thirty-four lap race.J Inspection of the car following the race pointed to a dead shock, as damage to the undertray was a symptom. It is back to the drawing board for the team as they travel to Exhibition Place in Toronto for next weekend's Champ Car Atlantic race.

Alan Sciuto

"Something obviously went bad on the car, as we didn't make any setup changes before the race since we were very happy with it -- and it developed a major oversteer in the high-speed sections. Turn seven was flat out in the last three sessions, but the car was so bad in the race that I had to lift through there each time.

"It just wasn't our weekend, between missing our chance to be at the front in qualifying, to the problems in the race. It sort of sums up the way the season has gone. But we'll fix it and be back at it next week in Toronto."

-credit: asr