2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear - Round 3

ALTON, Va. - Dane Cameron of JDC Motorsports, driving the No. 19 Ocean Tomo 300 /mockett.com Pro Formula Mazda, won the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear's Round Three race at VIRginia International Raceway Saturday.

"It feels really good to get a win here," Cameron said. "We qualified third, but that's not where we wanted to be. I had a really strong race car."

Ron White, in the No. 69 Team G.FRO Ad-Tech Pro Formula Mazda, came in second."We started in eighth position," White said. "I started picking 'em off right from the start, then we had the yellow, everybody regrouped, and I started moving on up. I came in second place, gaining little by little. The Team G.FRO car did really well. It was a fun race."

Marco Di Leo finished third in the No. 21 Maxwell Paper Racing Maxwell Paper Pro Formula Mazda, followed by the No. 7 Velocity Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda driven by pole-sitter James Davison.

The only yellow flag of the race came when the No. 25 Andersen Racing Team Pro Formula Mazda driven by Ricardo Vassmer and the No. 68 Team G.FRO Pro Formula Mazda driven by Tyson Sy got together. Vassmer's car caught fire and was destroyed. Sy's car was also destroyed, but both drivers were examined by on-site medics and released.

The No. 77 Pro Formula Mazda of Velocity Motorsports driver Jamie Morrow completed one lap before going off course in Turn 11 and retiring soon thereafter.

"We've been having trouble all weekend with the throttle position sensor," Morrow said. "I got one complete lap,and a good start as well."

Nick Haye, driving the No. 37 JDC Motorsports NHR Racing Pro Formula Mazda, who started in the rear due to post-qualifying technical non-compliance, finished eighth.

"I think I got a top-10 and we started, like, last," Haye said. "I'm definitely happy with the result of the race."

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will take the track in Salt Lake City for Round Four of the 2007 Championship on May 19.

ALTON, Va. - JDC Motorsports driver Dane Cameron, driving the No. 19 Ocean Tomo 300 /mockett.com Pro Formula Mazda led Saturday's warm-up session for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear's Round Three race at VIRginia International Raceway this afternoon.

Lorenzo Mandarino, in the No. 23 Northwest Autosport Pro Formula Mazda, was second, followed by Ron White in the No. 69 Team G.FRO Ad-Tech Pro Formula Mazda, Devin Cunningham in the No. 33 AIM Autosport Discovery Channel Pro Formula Mazda, and Nick Haye, in the No. 37 JDC Motorsports NHR Racing Pro Formula Mazda.

The Star Mazda Championship race will go green at 3:15 p.m. EDT.

ALTON, Va. - James Davison claimed the pole for Velocity Motorsports Saturday's 2007 Star Mazda Championship Round Three race at VIRginia International Raceway, in the No. 7 Easternats Pro Formula Mazda with a best time of 1:47.607, one thousandth of a second faster than Marco Di Leo, who qualified second in the No. 21 Maxwell Paper Racing Pro Formula Mazda sponsored by Maxwell Paper Racing.

This is the first pole for the Star Mazda series at VIR, on the track's 50th anniversary.

“I have to say I'm happy to get it on paper after Sebring and Houston," Davison said. "I've had some setbacks, but I've just gotta overcome that."

The Melbourne, Australia native is the second driver to earn the pole position in the Series this season, with JDC Motorsports driver Dane Cameron taking the first two rounds in the No. 19 Ocean Tomo 300 /mockett.com Pro Formula Mazda.

Cameron qualified third for Saturday's race.

"It's a bit of a mind game," Davison said. "The qualifying session with the weather conditions."the track was drying out and quite early on I went out and set my time and sat in the pits for the rest of the session."

Dan Di Leo, who drives the No. 20 Maxwell Paper Racing Maxwell Paper Pro Formula Mazda, also sat in the pits during qualifying, due to gear box issues. After morning practice, he said he hopes to be able to start the race and work his way from the rear.

Jonathan Goring, in the No. 14 Andersen Racing Pro Formula Mazda, qualified foruth, followed by Russell Walker in the No. 28 John Walko Racing Pro Formula Mazda entry, Lorenzo Mandarino in the No. 23 Northwest Autosport Pro Formula Mazda, and Nick Haye, in the No. 37 JDC Motorsports NHR Racing Pro Formula Mazda.

Post race inspection found Haye to be under the weight limit, so he will join the other drivers hoping to work their way up from the rear of the pack.

Ron White qualified eighth, in the No. 69 Team G.FRO Ad-Tech Pro Formula Mazda, Devin Cunningham on the No. 33 AIM Autosport Discovery Channel Pro Formula Mazda and Tyson Sy in the No. 68 Team G.FRO Popsy Pro Formula Mazda.

"We were struggling since practice started yesterday," Sy said."In qualifying, I got the fastest lap on the last three laps of that session, so I should have done better. I think I'll really be good tomorrow for the race."

The Star Mazda Championship's 2007 Round Three race from VIRginia International Raceway will go green Saturday at 3:15 EDT.

ALTON, Va. - James Davison of Velocity Motorsports led the Star Mazda Championship's rainy practice session Friday morning at VIRginia International Raceway with a speed of 94.770. Dane Cameron followed him across the line with a speed of 94.620, with Nick Haye posting the third-fastest time, followed by Devin Cunningham and Cole Morgan.
Davison, from Melbourne, Australia, said his experience on a wet track in this type of car is pretty much limited to the race at Sebring, but he feels confident if the weather is less than ideal.

“The track is different in the rain,” Davison said. “Reflecting on Sebring, we were very confident in the rain.There are another couple of drivers who have experience in the rain, like Lorenzo Mandarino, Ron White and Dan Di Leo.”

Ricardo Vassmer brought out the first red flag, taking out part of the tire wall in Turn 8. After a red flag in Turn 3, the session went green with 15 minutes left on the clock, but Jamie Morrow got into the tire wall in Turn 14, bringing out the checkered flag for the session.

“The track conditions have changed every session,” Marco Di Leo, driving the No. 21 Maxwell Paper Racing entry, said. “We have to get a good set up for qualifying and go from there. It looks like it's going to be dry, so everyone will have a dry line for qualifying.”

Di Leo's brother, Dan Di Leo, in the No. 20 Maxwell Paper Racing car, has been having gear box issues and may not be able to race this weekend.

“The gear box broke on the out lap two sessions in a row, and again in the third,” said Dan Di Leo, who was black flagged by radio. “We didn't get as much track time as we'd like. We've been here for two days and have a total of 15 laps. It doesn't look like we are going to make qualifying, but we hope to get it sorted out for the race.”

Mandarino posted the fourth fastest time from combined practice times and White was sixth.

“This track has a lot of grass runoff, sloped toward the wall,” Davison said. “If the car speeds up, you're heading toward the tires. I predict there will be a lot of red flags.”

ALTON, Va. - The Star Mazda Championship hit the track for the first time at VIRginia International Raceway Thursday, hitting the track four times for hour-long practice sessions, with Velocity Motorsports driver James Davison and JDC Motorsports driver Dane Cameron leading two sessions each.

“I think we found some things the car likes for this track and we’re definitely headed in the right direction for qualifying tomorrow,” said Cameron, who led the second and final sessions. “We’re one of the only teams that didn’t have the opportunity to test here, which put us behind in the first session.”

Davison, whose team is based in Prospect Hill, N.C., feels an affinity for his team's home track.

“The track is great," Davison said. “It has corners that take quite a lot of committment. I like these kinds of tracks.”
Cameron led the final practice session with a time of 1:47.635 over Lorenzo Mandarino's time of 1.48.179. Davison's team decided against going out for the final practice session.

“The team's done a great job,” Davison said. “I didn't go out for the final practice session. The team felt we had achieved enough for the day, that there wasn't really anything else we could accomplish by going out again. So we decided to stay in.”

Qualifying for Saturday's race will be Friday at 11 a.m. EDT.