Atlantic
Montreal: Dorricott Racing preview
MONTREAL, Que., Canada (Aug. 21, 2003) - The only direction Dorricott Racing's Luis Diaz is aimed is "up" and Montreal's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is the type of race course that gives Diaz reason to believe he can make a significant ...
Published: Aug 21, 2003, 5:53 PM
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MONTREAL, Que., Canada (Aug. 21, 2003) - The only direction Dorricott Racing's Luis Diaz is aimed is "up" and Montreal's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is the type of race course that gives Diaz reason to believe he can make a significant improvement in the season standings.
The 27-lap (73.143-mile) Atlantic sprint around the 13-turn, 2.709-mile permanent road circuit is the featured support event at the Molson Indy Montreal and is scheduled to drop the green flag at 3:15 p.m. ET, Saturday, Aug. 23. It will mark the 22nd time since 1978 the Atlantic series has competed in Montreal.
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is one of CART's most picturesque and driver friendly circuits. It's near perfect track complexion, various passing angles, and anything-but-dull configuration is what makes it a road racer's favorite. For Diaz, it is not only a type of track he is most familiar, it is also an opportunity to jump ahead of numerous drivers and move within reach of the top-five. Diaz, who finished seventh at Mid-Ohio in round nine and posted the third fastest lap of that race, only trails sixth-place Joey Hand by 12 points, 80-68. Furthermore, Diaz is only 29 points behind fifth-place Aaron Justus who has 97 points.
With three races remaining including Montreal, Diaz knows he must close the gap and Montreal offers one of his better remaining chances to do so. The odds favor Diaz based on the overall reliability and performance of his car this season. Diaz is currently tied for second place for "laps completed" with 332 recorded race laps. Furthermore, only Jonathan Macri has completed more road course laps than Diaz but only by three-laps, 271-268.
Diaz is one of only three drivers to start from the pole this season. His pole at Monterrey, Mexico, was his third career pole position while driving for Dorricott Racing. Only series leader A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Dalziel have won poles in 2003. Former Dorricott driver Jon Fogarty won the pole in 2002 with a track record speed of 105.683 mph (1:32.280). Diaz is also one of only five drivers in Atlantic that have led a race this season.
Dorricott Racing alumni have succeeded worldwide in open-wheel racing and other highly regarded motorsports series. Former drivers include current CART Champ Car star Oriol Servia (Patrick Racing), Casey Mears (the leading candidate for 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie-of-the-Year honors/), Townsend Bell (F3000), Jason Bright (Australian V8 Supercar), Robbie Buhl (IRL), 2002 Toyota Atlantic Champion Jon Fogarty, Luiz Garcia Jr., Shigeaki Hattori, Sports Car standout Philipp Peter, Damien Faulkner, Alex Gurney, Bob Dorricott Jr., and IRL driver and former Motocross champion Jeff Ward.
Speed Channel will provide a same-day delayed broadcast for the Montreal Atlantic race on Saturday, August 23, at 4:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. PT). Encore telecasts are scheduled for Sunday, August 24, 3:00 a.m. ET (12:00 midnight PT), and Friday, August 29, at 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT)
Dorricott Racing is a year-round professional motorsports organization with its race shop located in Bakersfield, Calif. Detailed race results, team, and sponsor information are available on Dorricott Racing's official web site, www.dorricottracing.com.
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