2006 Star Mazda Championship

Ron White rolls to victory at Mosport International Raceway

September 2, 2006. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. With the remnants of tropical storm Ernesto sweeping across the track, Ron White, of Santa Clara, California, pulled off a last lap pass for the second consecutive race weekend to capture his second victory of the year in Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Mosport International Raceway. Joining White on the podium after the soggy event were Gerardo Bonilla, who had led most of the race, and Michael Potekhen.

Making his second start of the season for the newly formed Ross Smith Racing, White slid his way from eighth on the grid in the #69 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda to battle Bonilla wheel-to-wheel through the last lap of the race, edging out the victory by 0.540 seconds. "I didn't even see the white flag for the final lap but saw that I was just a little bit better than Gerardo through the turn five and six section," White explained. "I got a good run through the corner and got a good draft off of him and tried to use sixth gear as we came down to turn eight. I didn't lift until I had to at the last minute and I was ahead."

Despite narrowly missing out on his second victory of the season, Bonilla was still satisfied with the race results after leading most of the event, "Ron White was really fast in the turn five complex and that was my weakest point so on the final lap I saw him coming up on me there and we both went into the corner excited and slid around a bit," Bonilla, pilot of the #9 Andersen Racing Team Skip Barber Mazda revealed. "We exited the corner side-by-side and were side-by-side down the entire back straight and then we went into turn eight both thinking we were going to win. Ron was able to edge out just a bit and I backed out as I figured second place was better than a crash. after all the work Andersen Racing Team has done for me."

Potekhen, driving the #53 Apex Racing Avenue Communities Mazda,was in the thick of the action all race long moving into third place early and watched first Charles Anti then Logan Gomez take over the position and then hand it back by spinning off the track in the slick conditions. "It was nasty out there today as you couldn't see anything and the track was really slick. It was like sticking your head out the widow of a car in blizzard when you're trying to drive 120 miles per hour," the Tempe, Arizona resident said. "Ron was able to get by with a good run on me coming onto the back straight when my traction control kicked in but we had a good car today and it feels good to be up front today."

With two races left in the 2006 campaign Adrian Carrio, who started on pole for the event in the #14 World Speed Motorsport Rockford Fosgate Mazda remains in first place after a seventh place finish, watching his lead slip slightly to 41 points over second place competitor Kevin Lacroix, who finished two spots ahead of him in fifth place. Ryan Justice sits in third place with 293 points overall after finishing in sixth place.

In the Expert Championship, for drivers aged 30-44, Bonilla earns the class victory and remains out front in the class championship with 176 points while Brian Thienes holds second place in his #77 JDC Motorsports Thienes Engineering Mazda with 138 points and Dan Tomlin III maintains third place with 130 points in the #56 Team Tomlin Mazda.

In the Masters Championship, for drivers aged 45 and older, Doug Peterson, driving the #87 American Speed Factory 3-Dimensional Services Mazda captured the class victory, finishing twelfth overall and sits on top of the class championship with 151 points. John Faulkner drove his #93 Phenom Racing Group Mazda to second in the class finishing seventeenth overall and climbs to second place with 133 points. Ken Losch drops from second to third in the class 132 points after finishing fourth in class in the #52 Apex Racing Avenue Communities Mazda.

In the Team Championship John Walko Racing climbs into first place with 192 points, World Speed Motorsports drops one spot to second place with 189 points and Apex Racing holds third place with 154 points.

The series now heads to Braselton, Georgia, for the penultimate round of the championship at the world renowned Road Atlanta circuit alongside the American Le Mans Series at the Petit Le Mans weekend on September 27-29. Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to air on Speed Channel at 1:00 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, September 9th. For more information please visit www.starmazda.com

Pole position goes to Carrio at Mosport International Raceway

September 2, 2006. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Adrian Carrio, of Monument, Colorado, shattered the track record this morning to capture the pole position for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Cloudy skies loomed over the 2.549-mile Mosport International Raceway but the anticipated rain never materialized as Carrio clocked a time of 1:14.169 (119.354 MPH) in the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda to capture his fifth pole position of the season.

"It felt really good to break the track record this morning as I spent a lot of time last night working with my engineer and driver coach to find that half-second on the track," the seventeen-year old Carrio explained. "The lap could've been a little bit better as I made a mistake in turn ten that was worth a tenth but the track was getting better and the tires were reaching their peak performance all at the same time. If the rain does come it will be nice to have the advantage of sight at the start of the race."

Starting alongside Carrio on the outside of row one will be local hero Mark Wilkins from Toronto, Canada. After setting the fastest time of the day on Friday Wilkins came back in qualifying to post a time of 1:14.608 (118.652 MPH) in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda during this morning's forty-five minute qualifying session. Forced to miss this event in 2005 due to injury, Wilkins is motivated this year and should be strong for this afternoon's race.

Lining up third for the race will be Gerardo Bonilla, winner of the opening round of the season at Sebring International Raceway. Driving the #9 Andersen Racing Team Skip Barber Mazda, Bonilla, from Orlando, Florida, registered a time of 1:14.797 (118.352 MPH), edging out Logan Gomez and his #23 Velocity Motorsport INDYana Kid Mazda by eight-thousandths of a second.

Carrio's fast lap this morning broke the track record of 1:14.685 set in 2004 by Dan DiLeo. DiLeo, who finished second in the he 2004 championship and was named Rookie of the Year, will make his first start in the series since the 2004 campaign. Driving the #8 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda, the Markham, Canada resident will line up fifteenth this weekend.

Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to get underway this afternoon at 1:05 PM Eastern Time.

Adrian Carrio paces final practice at Mosport

September 1, 2006. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Championship points leader Adrian Carrio, from Monument, Colorado, posted the fastest time in this afternoon's final practice session for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Mosport International Raceway. Hometown hero Mark Wilkins continues to hold the fastest time of the weekend heading into qualifying.

Carrio, driving the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda, lapped the 2.549-mile road circuit in a time of 1:14.587 (118.686 MPH) in the final forty-five minute practice session to edge out Ryan Justice, who set a time of 1:14.950 (118.111 MPH) in the #38 Northwest Autosport J&M Body Shops Mazda, for the top spot in the afternoon.

"It was a really good session for us as we made a couple minor changes that worked out for us this afternoon," the seventeen-year-old Carrio explained. "There were a few interruptions in the session so we'd only get a few laps at a time which was good with qualifying coming up as it helped me focus on getting a good lap in quickly. I also have to thank Telo and all the crew at World Speed Motorsports, my engineer Mike Doyle and driving coach John Olsen as their hard work has been key in my leading the championship."

While Carrio has been at the front of the field from the start of the season, Wilkins is only making his third start of the year in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda after finishing tenth in the 2005 championship and is thrilled to be up front on his home track after missing the race last year with a broken foot. "It was a heartbreaker to not be able to race here last year so it feels great to back with the opportunity to see what I can do here in the car," Wilkins, whose time of 1:14.361 (119.046 MPH) in the morning session was well under the current track record of 1:14.685 set in 2004 by Dan DiLeo, commented. "It has taken me a couple of races to get back up to speed, especially at that first race at Trois-Rivieres, but the team found something when we tested here and I've run a lot of laps here and know where to place the car so I'm looking forward to the race."

With practice complete Ron White, who scored his first victory of the season at Road America two weeks ago, was second fastest on the day with a time of 1:14.588 (118.684 MPH) in the #69 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda, Carrio's time from this afternoon leaves him third overall on the day, Justice holds down fourth place, while Kevin Lacroix, fro St. Eustache, Quebec, sits in fifth place with a fast time of 1:15.189 (117.735 MPH) in the #74 John Walko Racing Uni-Select Auto Parts Mazda.

Qualifying for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is slated to begin on Saturday, September 2nd at 8:00 AM Eastern Time.

Mark Wilkins laps under track record in first official practice from Mosport

September 1, 2006. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Mark Wilkins, from Toronto, Canada, kicked off official practice for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear by lapping under the track record set in 2004 by fellow canadian driver Dan DiLeo. Driving the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda, Wilkins, who was forced to miss his hometown race in 2005 as he recovered from a boating mishap, lapped the 2.549-mile circuit in a time of 1:14.361 (119.046 MPH).

Joining Wilkins with times below DiLeo's track record of 1:14.685 was Ron White, winner of Round Nine at Road America two weeks earlier, who clocked a time of 1:14.588 (118.684 MPH) in the #69 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda during this morning's forty-five minute session.

Championship points leader Adrian Carrio, who had set the fastest time of the day on Thursday during unofficial practice, was third fastest this morning with a time of 1:14.736 (118.449 MPH) in the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda.

Twenty-nine drivers posted times in the session which was run under clear skies and mild temperatures, with two brief red flag periods for incidents involving Logan Gomez, Steve Hickham Jr. and Jon Brownson breaking up the session.

Practice for Round Ten continues this afternoon with a final forty-five minute session scheduled to start at 4:35 PM Eastern Time.

Practice for Round Ten begins at Mosport International Raceway

August 31, 2006. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Championship points leader Adrian Carrio, of Monument, Colorado, topped the time sheets today in unofficial practice for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, being held this weekend at Mosport International Raceway with the American Le Mans Series Labour Day Grand Prix if Mosport. Carrio, driving the #14 World Speed Motorsports Rockford Fosgate Mazda, lapped the 2.549-mile circuit in a time of 1:14.751 (118.425 MPH) to lead the field.

Ryan Justice, currently third in the championship, set the fastest time of the opening session at 1:14.855 (118.261 MPH) and lowered that time in the second session with a time of 1:14.827 (118.305 MPH) in his #38 Northwest Autosport J&M Body Shops Mazda to sit just behind Carrio with the second fastest time of the day.

After missing this race last year as he recovered from a boating accident, Mark Wilkins, a local driver from Toronto, Canada, clicked off the fastest time of the final session for day at 1:14.926 (118.149 MPH) in the #3 AIM Autosport Bluetooth Mazda as he makes his third start of the season.

Twenty-nine drivers participated in today's practice sessions including current Mosport lap record holder Dan DiLeo, who posted a time of 1:14.685 in the 2004 event. DiLeo, making his first appearance of the season in the #8 Ross Smith Racing Maxwell Paper Products Mazda, finished second in the 2004 championship and was that season's Rookie-of-the-Year.

Official practice for Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear gets under way on Friday, September 1st at 9:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time with the first of two forty-five minute sessions on the day.