Series Mosport Thursday test summary

PROMOTER TEST DAY SESSIONS HAVE AN IMPACT ON STAR MAZDA RACERS PREPARING FOR THIS WEEKEND'S ROUND 11 AT THE GRAND PRIX OF MOSPORT

Mosport International Raceway (August 27, 2009) -- The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear held two practice sessions during the 'promoter test day' on Thursday, August 27 prior to the beginning of official practice for this weekend's Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport. While a number of teams tested here in last week, this is the first time all 18 runners in this weekend's field have been on the track at the same time to see how things are shaking down as the series heads into the three-race home stretch of the 2009 season.

In the morning session, held from 9:20 am to 10:00 am, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder driver Conor Daly turned the fastest time of 1:15.607 (117.084 mph) in his #22 Andersen Racing / College Network / Indeck / Cytomax Mazda. Turning the second-fast time was Adam Christodoulou, with a lap of 1:15.983 (116.505 mph) in his #11 JDC Motorsports / Molecule / Alpinestars Mazda. His session was marred by a trip into the tire wall, one of two for the day, the second being by far the more serious. Peter Dempsey, the championship points leader set the third-fast time with a lap of 1:16.209 (116.160 mph) in his #3 Juncos Racing / HOOTERS / Motorsport Ireland / Queyside.ie Mazda. Alex Ardoin, who won the previous round at Trois-Rivieres, was 7th-fast with a lap of 1:16.669 (115.463 mph) in the #51 JDC Motorsports / Oral & Facial Surgery Center / Twister Trailer Mazda.

The quickest Master Series driver (ages 45 and older) was Mike Guasch, who has already clinched the 2009 Star Mazda Master Series Championship with six in-class wins driving his #91 JDC Motorsports / Molecule Mazda. His lap of 1:18.216 (113.179 mph) was good for 14th-fast on the morning time sheet. Japanese racer Toshihiro Deki, currently leading the Expert Series (drivers 30-44) was 16th-fast with a lap of 1:25.103 (104.020 mph) driving his #80 Star Mazda for his new team as of this weekend, Juncos Racing.

The second test session of the day was run from 2:25 pm to 3:05 pm and was interrupted several times by red flags, the two most series being separate incidents involving Adam Christodoulou and David Ostella, both of whom suffered severe damage to their cars that will keep the JDC Motorsports and AIM Autosport crews (respectively) busy well into the night working to get them repaired for the first official practice session, scheduled for 8:40 am to 9:05 am Friday, August 28.

The quick time of the session was set by Richard Kent, with a lap of 1:16.293 (116.032 mph) in the #33 Andersen Racing / Traka Allied Interior Products Mazda. Setting the 2nd-fast time before his crash in the closing minutes of the session, was Toronto racer David Ostella with a time of 1:16.447 (115.798 mph) in the #71 AIM Autosport/Global Precast Mazda. Third-fast was Peter Dempsey, turning a 1:16.634 (115.515 mph). Conor Daly wound up 4th with a lap of 1:16.707 (115.405 mph) while Adam Christodoulou turned the 5th-fast lap on the second lap of the session with a 1:16.937 (115.060 mph).

Among the Master Series drivers, Gerry Kraut, teammate to Mike Guasch and co-owner of the championship-winning JDC Motorsports team, was quickest with lap of 1:18.556 (112.689 mph) - good for 15th-fast overall -- in the #55 JDC Motorsports / Dougherty & Co. / Dougherty Funding LLC Mazda. Toshihiro Deki was again the quickest Expert Series driver with a lap of 1:25.454 (103.539).

The official track record by a Star Mazda race car at Mosport is a 1:14.169, set by Adrian Carrio in 2006. Despite being considerably off that pace during today's sessions, drivers expect times to drop dramatically tomorrow, and in qualifying, set for 9:20 am to 10:05 am Saturday, August 29. The 45-minute Round 11 of the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to take the green at 5:35 pm Saturday afternoon.

-credit: mazda