2008 Atlantic Championship season

2008 Atlantic Championship season
Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
Season
Races 11
Start date April 20
End date October 3
Awards
Drivers' champion Finland Markus Niemelä
Chronology
Previous season Next season
2007 2009

The 2008 Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-fifth Atlantic Championship season. It began on April 20, 2008 and ended on October 4, 2008. Despite the merger of Champ Car's premier series with the Indy Racing League, the Champ Car owners continued to own and operate the Atlantic Championship under a new legal entity, Atlantic Racing Series, LLC.[1] Champ Car continued to sanction the first two events of the season at Long Beach and Laguna Seca with the remainder of the season running under IMSA sanction.[2] The Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Drivers' Champion was Markus Niemelä driving for Brooks Associates Racing.

Events

The original 12-race 2008 Atlantic Championship calendar, which featured many supporting runs during Champ Car World Series events, had to be scrapped as a result of the 2008 open-wheel reunification announcement. The Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Edmonton, Mont-Tremblant and Road America races, which had been part of the Champ Car schedule before reunification, remained in the calendar. The Road America races were changed, as the American Le Mans Series' Generac 500 weekend meet was changed from one to two races (a Saturday and Sunday race). The Edmonton race, now part of the IndyCar Series, also switched to a two-race format. The original races at Trois-Rivieres and Miller were not affected, since the Quebec race was part of the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres (which also features the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the Utah race was conducted as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series Sunchaser 1000 weekend.[3] On April 3 a revised post-reunification schedule was released featuring 11 races including the seven weekends that were kept (with two races at Edmonton and Road America), and two new races, one at New Jersey and a second Road Atlanta (as a support race to the Petit Le Mans).

Rd Race Name Circuit City/Location Race Date
1 United States Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach[4] Long Beach Grand Prix Long Beach, California April 20
2 United States Monterey Festival of Speed Atlantic Championship [5] Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California May 18
3 Canada Sommet des Legends Circuit Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, Quebec June 29
4 Canada Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 1 Edmonton Indy Edmonton, Alberta July 25
5 Canada Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 2 Edmonton Indy Edmonton, Alberta July 26
6 United States Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 1 [6] Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 9
7 United States Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 2 [6] Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 10
8 Canada Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières[4] Circuit Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières, Quebec August 17
9 United States Mazda Formula Zoom Zoom[4] New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, New Jersey September 14
10 United States SunRichGourmet.com 1000[4] Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, Utah September 21
11 United States Atlanta Atlantic Challenge Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 3

Television

The 2008 series was televised at 5 PM ET on Sundays starting on November 9, 2008 on Speed TV.[7]

Drivers and Teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 Atlantic Championship season. All teams used the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3 liter inline-4 engine and Cooper tires.[8]

Team No Drivers Sponsor Notes
Canada Jensen MotorSport 2 Finland Henri Karjalainen Did not appear at Road Atlanta
22 Canada Eric Jensen Trois-Rivières and New Jersey only
United States Forsythe Championship
Racing
3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Indeck
7 Mexico Davíd Garza Pérez Axtel/Madisa Cat/Tecate
Mexico David Martínez Injury replacement for Road America,
Trois-Rivières, New Jersey, Miller
United States Walker Racing 5 United Kingdom Greg Mansell Sunseeker
15 United Kingdom Leo Mansell Sunseeker
25 Canada Kevin Lacroix Uni-Select/Deans Knight/Wasteco
United States Condor Motorsports 6 Netherlands Junior Strous Shell/HTP/Muermans Group/Red White & Bluezz
9 Netherlands Dominick Muermans Hugenholtz Property Group/Jumbo Supermarkten/Muermans Group
11 Brazil Douglas Soares Banco BMG
77 United States Brian Thienes Bare Elegance/Valley Ball Cabaret Long Beach Only
United States Brooks Associates
Racing
8 Finland Markus Niemelä Mr. Jones Bar & Kitchen
88 Germany Andreas Wirth Wirsol/Sueba USA First 3 Rounds
United States Tom Sutherland ClickAway Computers & Networking
United States Pacific Coast
Motorsports
14 United States Carl Skerlong King Taco Did not appear at Road Atlanta (injury)
41 United States Frankie Muniz Hard Rock Cafe
United States Genoa Racing 17 United States Alan Sciuto Deans Ultra Plug Long Beach Only
Estonia Tõnis Kasemets Road America Only
United States J.R. Hildebrand Road Atlanta Only
19 United States Dane Cameron MAZDASPEED/Finlay Motorsports/Lynx Racing
United States Mathiasen Motorsports 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito RLM Investments/Discount Tire Centers/Stone Brewing
United States PR1 Motorsports 32 Canada Mike Forest Konica Minolta/Earthwater/Dynacor Media Long Beach Only
United States Newman Wachs Racing 34 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro Nuclear Clean Air Energy
36 United States Jonathan Summerton Nuclear Clean Air Energy
United States Paladin Motorsports 45 Canada Greg Minium Long Beach Only
Austria Christopher Zoechling X8ment4u.com Laguna Seca & Edmonton Only
United States EuroInternational 46 Venezuela Luis Schiavo Constructora Iriaca Did not appear at New Jersey or Miller
70 Canada Daniel Morad Metro Directories of Georgia Did not appear at New Jersey, Miller &
Road Atlanta
United States Polestar Motor Racing 66 United States Rich Zober Zober Industries New Jersey Only

Full series results

Rd Race Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team Report
1 United States Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach United States Jonathan Bomarito United States Carl Skerlong Switzerland Simona de Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing Report
2 United States Monterey Festival of Speed Canada James Hinchcliffe Brazil Douglas Soares Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Pettit Racing Report
3 Canada Sommet des Legends Netherlands Junior Strous Netherlands Junior Strous Netherlands Junior Strous Condor Motorsports Report
4 Canada Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton - Race 1 Canada James Hinchcliffe Mexico David Garza Pérez United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports Report
5 Canada Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton - Race 2 United States Carl Skerlong United States Carl Skerlong United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing Report
6 United States Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 1 United States Dane Cameron Estonia Tõnis Kasemets United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports Report
7 United States Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 2 United States Jonathan Bomarito United States Dane Cameron United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing Report
8 Canada Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières United States Jonathan Bomarito United States Jonathan Summerton United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports Report
9 United States Mazda Formula Zoom Zoom United States Carl Skerlong United States Carl Skerlong United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports Report
10 United States SunRichGourmet.com 1000 Finland Markus Niemelä United States Carl Skerlong Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing Report
11 United States Atlanta Atlantic Challenge United States Jonathan Summerton United States J.R. Hildebrand Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing Report

Race summaries

Round 1: Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach

The 2008 Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach was won by the young Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro making her only the second female driver to ever win an Atlantic Championship race after Katherine Legge.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 2 34 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 38 50:51.261 15
2 4 17 United States Alan Sciuto Genoa Racing 38 +1.285 0
3 5 25 Canada Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 38 +2.256 0
4 6 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 38 +2.983 0
5 1 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 38 +4.605 23
Race average speed:
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers
Cautions: 1 for 2 Laps

Round 2: Monterey Festival of Speed Atlantic Championship

Canadian James Hinchciffe took the pole at Laguna Seca with a 1:16.189 which was a track record qualifying run on by an Atlantic car on Saturday after taking the provisional pole on Friday. He then went on to dominate Sunday's race.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe/Pettit Racing 34 50:50.352 28
2 2 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 34 +2.391 6
3 4 6 Netherlands Junior Strous Condor Motorsports 34 +6.671 0
4 5 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 34 +13.027 0
5 11 9 Netherlands Dominick Muermans Condor Motorsports 34 +18.404 0
Race average speed: 89.803 mph
Lead changes: 2
Cautions: 2 for 9 laps

Round 3: Sommet des Legends

Dutch driver Junior Strous dominated the weekend by taking pole and leading every lap in the race. The win was his first ever in the Atlantic Championship, as was his pole position. He leads the season championship with 74 points over James Hinchcliffe and Markus Niemelä who are tied at 67.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 1 6 Netherlands Junior Strous Condor Motorsports 30 53:50.600 30
2 3 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 30 +0.487* 0
3 4 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 30 +0.966 0
4 5 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Championship Racing 30 +1.514 0
5 8 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 30 +2.057 0
  * Race finished under caution
Race average speed: 87.621 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 3 for 10 Laps

Round 4: Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 1

Polesitter James Hinchcliffe led from the green flag but was closely stalked by Jonathan Bomarito, who finally made the pass in Turn 1 on lap 31. A late race caution set up a one lap sprint to the finish with Bomarito holding off Markus Niemelä to become the fourth race winner in as many races this season. The win was Bomarito's third Atlantic victory and the first victory for his team, Mathiasen Motorsports, in 36 starts. In the points chase, Niemelä leads Hinchcliffe 94-93.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 2 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 38 45:18.942 8
2 5 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 38 +0.691 0
3 1 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Championship Racing 38 +1.151 30
4 4 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 38 +1.757 0
5 6 7 Mexico David Garza Pérez Forsythe Championship Racing 38 +2.170 0
Race average speed: 99.269 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 1 for 3 Laps

Round 5: Rexall Edmonton Indy Twin Races - Race 2

A1 Grand Prix veteran (but Atlantic rookie) Jonathan Summerton jumped into the lead from third on the starting grid and dominated the race, leading every lap on the way to his first Atlantic series win. He became the fifth different winner in five races and the first rookie to top a podium this year. James Hinchcliffe finished third and jumped to the top of the points table. He has 118 points, five more than Markus Niemelä.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 3 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 18 45:08.751 36
2 1 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 18 +2.222 0
3 4 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Championship Racing 18 +6.039 0
4 5 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 18 +6.719 0
5 2 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 18 +7.195 0
Race average speed: 94.398 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 1 for 5 Laps

Round 6: Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 1

Jonathan Bomarito became the first multiple time winner in the 2008 Atlantic series. He took the lead from pole sitter Dane Cameron at the standing start. On lap 10, Cameron passed Bomarito in Canada Corner but Bomarito was able to pass him back on the following lap, taking the lead which he would hold for the remainder of the race. James Hinchcliffe finished fifth, high enough to keep the points lead with 139 points. Markus Niemelä trails Hinchcliffe by 7 and Bomarito is only 9 points back. Atlantic and Champ Car veteran Tõnis Kasemets made his first appearance since last year's Atlantic round at Road America and finished on the podium in third.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 2 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 18 45:02.334 17
2 1 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 18 +0.411 1
3 8 17 Estonia Tõnis Kasemets Genoa Racing 18 +0.978 0
4 9 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 18 +6.384 0
5 3 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Championship Racing 18 +7.230 0
Race average speed: 97.068 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 6 Laps

Round 7: Road Race Showcase/Road America - Race 2

Race 1's winner Jonathan Bomarito led away from the pole, while behind him Jonathan Summerton was charging up through the field from ninth place on the grid. On lap 18, Summerton passed Bomarito in Turn 1, leading only the final two laps home to the checkered flag. Even with the second place finish Bomarito jumped to the top of the points chase. He leads with 157, three in front of the previous leader James Hinchcliffe and six in front of Markus Niemelä.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 9 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 20 46:39.544 2
2 1 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 20 +1.084 18
3 2 17 Estonia Tõnis Kasemets Genoa Racing 20 +6.202 0
4 10 25 Canada Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 20 +6.832 0
5 4 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 20 +8.993 0
Race average speed: 104.108 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 5 Laps

Round 8: Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières

Jonathan Bomarito led away from the standing start and was never seriously challenged on his way to his third Atlantic victory of the year. Bad days for James Hinchcliffe and Markus Niemelä allowed him to open a sizable lead in the season championship going into the final three races of the year. Bomarito leads the championship with 191, 28 points ahead of Jonathan Summerton who has 163. Hinchcliffe is still in third, but is 36 points back with 155.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 1 26 United States Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 44 50:17.453 44
2 2 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 44 +1.590 0
3 8 6 Netherlands Junior Strous Condor Motorsports 44 +5.682 0
4 11 34 Switzerland Simona De Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 44 +7.878 0
5 4 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 44 +10.015 0
Race average speed: 79.844 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: 2 for 9 Laps

Round 9: Mazda Formula Zoom Zoom

Carl Skerlong dominated the weekend, leading every session and leading every lap in the race to claim his first Atlantic victory. He even set the fastest lap, giving him a perfect score of 34 points for the weekend. Points leader Jonathan Bomarito finished ninth, which reduced his margin to 16 points over Jonathan Summerton and 22 over Markus Niemelä with two races left in the season.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 1 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 42 50:49.282 42
2 2 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 42 +2.464 0
3 4 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 42 +10.441 0
4 3 25 Canada Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 42 +22.772 0
5 6 6 Netherlands Junior Strous Condor Motorsports 42 +23.914 0
Race average speed: 107.948 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: None

Round 10: SunRichGourmet.com 1000

Markus Niemelä followed up his first Atlantic series pole position with his first series victory, leading every lap in the race. Three drivers are still alive for the series championship going into the final round of the season. Jonathan Bomarito, who finished sixth, now leads with 224 points. He has an eight point advantage over Jonathan Summerton and a 10 point lead over Niemelä.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 1 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 20 50:40.529 20
2 2 36 United States Jonathan Summerton Newman Wachs Racing 20 +0.446 0
3 3 19 United States Dane Cameron Genoa Racing 20 +2.296 0
4 6 14 United States Carl Skerlong Pacific Coast Motorsports 20 +2.828 0
5 4 34 Switzerland Simona De Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 20 +22.363 0
Race average speed: 106.229 mph
Lead changes: 0
Cautions: None

Round 11: Atlanta Atlantic Challenge

Markus Niemelä won the race and clinched the series championship on an eventful day at Road Atlanta. At the start Dane Cameron took the race lead from the standing start while Niemelä got around the pole sitter Jonathan Summerton for second place. Jonathan Bomarito, the points leader going into the race, dropped out of the race with mechanical troubles after only 10 laps. Going into a restart on lap 33, Niemelä was in second and Summerton was in third, but Summerton was in line to clinch the championship. On the restart, Niemelä got around Cameron to take the lead on the track and Kevin Lacroix passed Summerton for third, which put Niemelä in position to take the championship. Summerton attempted to pass Cameron to put himself back into the championship position but they made contact and both cars were knocked out of the race. Niemelä cruised the final laps under yellow. Niemelä finished the season with 245 points followed by Bomarito at 228 and Summerton with 224.
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps led
1 3 8 Finland Markus Niemelä Brooks Associates Racing 35 50:19.931 3
2 4 25 Canada Kevin Lacroix Walker Racing 35 +0.730* 0
3 7 3 Canada James Hinchcliffe Forsythe Championship Racing 35 +1.311 0
4 11 34 Switzerland Simona De Silvestro Newman Wachs Racing 35 +1.807 0
5 8 5 United Kingdom Greg Mansell Walker Racing 35 +4.174 0
  * Race finished under caution
Race average speed: 105.976 mph
Lead changes: 1
Cautions: 2 for 7 Laps

Final driver results

Points system

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Points 31 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus Points

Driver results and standings

Pos Driver LGB United States LS United States MTT Canada EDM1 Canada EDM2 Canada ELK1 United States ELK2 United States TRR Canada NJ United States UT United States ATL United States Points
1 Finland Markus Niemelä (R) 7 4 2 2 6 6 6 Ret 2 1* 1 245
2 United States Jonathan Bomarito 5* Ret 6 1 4 1* 2* 1* 9 6 Ret 228
3 United States Jonathan Summerton (R) 4 6 12 6 1* Ret 1 2 3 2 Ret 224
4 Canada James Hinchcliffe 10 1* 4 3* 3 5 8 Ret 16 10 3 196
5 Netherlands Junior Strous 8 3 1* 13 9 8 11 3 5 8 8 196
6 United States Carl Skerlong 23 2 3 19 2 4 5 Ret 1* 4 Inj 189
7 United States Dane Cameron (R) 11 17 5 4 5 2 17 5 Ret 3 Ret* 169
8 Switzerland Simona De Silvestro 1 10 9 8 Ret 9 18 4 11 5 4 167
9 Canada Kevin Lacroix 3 15 13 7 7 14 4 Ret 4 11 2 161
10 United Kingdom Greg Mansell (R) 13 Ret DNS 9 Ret 12 13 9 7 9 5 105
11 United States Frankie Muniz 15 13 11 12 13 11 10 12 10 14 9 102
12 Canada Daniel Morad (R) 6 9 Ret 11 8 Ret 9 6 95
13 Mexico Davíd Garza Pérez 12 7 8 5 10 Inj Inj Inj Inj Inj 6 94
14 Netherlands Dominick Muermans (R) 17 5 10 Ret 15 16 16 14 14 17 12 80
15 United States Tom Sutherland 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 6 7 10 78
16 Mexico David Martínez 7 7 7 8 13 74
17 Finland Henri Karjalainen (R) 14 16 Ret 14 11 Ret 14 10 15 12 70
18 Brazil Douglas Soares (R) 16 14 Ret 15 12 15 15 11 13 15 Ret 70
19 United Kingdom Leo Mansell (R) 19 11 Ret 17 Ret 13 Ret 13 12 16 11 68
20 Venezuela Luis Schiavo (R) 18 Ret DNS 16 14 10 12 16 7 60
21 Estonia Tõnis Kasemets 3 3 51
22 Germany Andreas Wirth 9 8 7 45
23 United States Alan Sciuto 2 27
24 Austria Christopher Zoechling (R) 12 18 16 18
25 Canada Eric Jensen 15 Ret 9
26 United States J. R. Hildebrand Ret 7
27 United States Rich Zober (R) 17 4
28 United States Brian Thienes 20 1
29 Canada Mike Forest 21 0
30 United States Greg Minium (R) 22 0
Pos Driver LGB United States LS United States MTT Canada EDM1 Canada EDM2 Canada ELK1 United States ELK2 United States TRR Canada NJ United States UT United States ATL United States Points
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
(Top 5)
Light Blue 6th-10th place
(Top 10)
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
(Ret)
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Driver
replacement
(Rpl)
Injured
(Inj)
No race held
(NH)

See also

References

External links

Preceded by
2007 Champ Car Atlantic season
2008 Atlantic Championship season Succeeded by
2009 Atlantic Championship season
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