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JDC MotorSports VIR race notes
JDC MOTORSPORTS EXITS VIR WITH NEW LAP RECORD AND TWO CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS Ardoin and Miller joined on the podium by two-time Master Series race-winner Guasch in Virginia MINNEAPOLIS, MN (April 26, 2009) -- While JDC MotorSports did not take ...
Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:52 PM
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JDC MOTORSPORTS EXITS VIR WITH NEW LAP RECORD AND TWO CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS
Ardoin and Miller joined on the podium by two-time Master Series race-winner Guasch in Virginia
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (April 26, 2009) -- While JDC MotorSports did not take home the overall win in Round Two of the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Mazda at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday (April 26), the Minnesota-based team did leave with a class win and the overall championship lead. Joel Miller and Alex Ardoin led the way with their first top-three results of the season and were joined in podium celebrations by Masters Series winner and fellow JDC driver Michael Guasch. Rookie standout Adam Christodoulou, having started from the pole position, finished seventh, not far ahead of Caio Lara in 10th, while Gerry Kraut took the checkered flag in 16th.
Given the team's results in the season-opener back in March at the historic Sebring International Raceway, where Christodoulou took top honors and Guasch captured the Masters win, it came as no surprise that all six JDC drivers were quickly up to speed during the promoter's test day at VIR. That being said, no one was expecting Christodoulou and Miller to lead all three hour-long sessions, routinely posting times under the lap record. Not to be out done, Lara and Ardoin were fourth and seventh fastest at the end of the day, while Guasch and Kraut were quickest among the Masters Series contingent.
When the event officially got underway via two practice sessions one day later, JDC MotorSports remained the team to beat at the fast 3.27-mile road course. Christodoulou, in the No. 11 Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports entry, once again was quickest, well below the lap record mark, with Miller and Ardoin not far behind, ending the day P2 and P3. Guasch, piloting the No. 91 Molecule/Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports car, again posted the fastest time by a Masters driver.
Come qualifying, the goal of the JDC MotorSports was to keep up the momentum. Christodoulou did exactly that, capturing his first-ever series pole position, with a fast lap nearly two seconds under the lap record. Early on it appeared the English rookie would be joined by his teammates at the front of the field, but Ardoin, Miller, and Lara all encountered slower traffic in the closing stages of the session, relegating them to fifth, seventh and eighth on the grid. Guasch remained the Masters driver to beat in qualifying, turning the 16th quickest time overall, good enough for P1 in the class. Kraut meanwhile turned 22nd fastest time, second among the Masters drivers.
Launching from the standing start on Sunday, it quickly became apparent that three of the six JDC MotorSports drivers were out to score the win, with Christodoulou, Miller and Ardoin involved in the multi-car battle for the lead. Miller in fact led the way for a good portion of the 17-lap race, which featured several laps behind the safety car. Given the full-course cautions, the race win came down to the final lap of the high-speed Virginia track. Christodoulou had the best opportunity to take home top honors, running second entering the final lap. That came to halt, when he slid off-course while attempting a daring pass for the lead, subsequently resulting in a seventh place finish. Managing to avoid his teammate, Ardoin, driving the No. 51 Oral & facial Surgery Center/Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports car, also tried a last lap pass, but came up just short, taking the checkered flag a mere 0.038s behind the race winner. Less than a car length further adrift, Miller, in the No. 2 Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports car, completed the top-three. Lara, piloting the No. 19 Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports entry, having been involved in a heated battle from start to finish, made it four JDC cars among the top-10, with a 10th place finish. Not much further back, Guasch made it two-for-two in the Masters class to start 2009, taking the checkered flag in 14th. Kraut in his No. 55 Dougherty & Co./Dougherty Funding LLC/Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports car enhanced his championship aspirations as well, with a 16th place result, second in the Masters Series.
"It is great to have had the speed we did this past weekend," said team owner John Church. "It's a little disappointing to not have scored the win, but I'm very happy with the team's performance. We leave here with five drivers in the top-10 in points heading to Miller."
The JDC MotorSports Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear drivers now have brief break until May 16th, when Round Three will be contested at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.
-crdit: www.jdcmotorsports.com
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