For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LindaKManfield@cs.com
Cell: 317-201-0729
Karam Leads Every Lap Again Sunday
To Beat Fielding and McKenna
In USF2000 Action at St. Pete Grand Prix
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 28 - Sage Karam of Nazareth, Pa. concluded a
perfect weekend at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday morning by
leading all 20 laps of Round 2 of the USF2000 National Championship, which
is presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda. By backing up his
victory in Saturday's season opener with another triumph on Sunday, Andretti
Autosport officials said Karam also gave Michael Andretti his 50th victory as a
team owner.
Being the first race on Sunday's card that featured the IZOD IndyCar Series
meant that the drivers had to be careful not to be too aggressive too
early, since their Cooper tires were cold and the track was green. That was no
problem for Karam, and he had an even bigger margin of victory on Sunday than
he had in Saturday's season opener for the series, which is part of both
the Road to Indy and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports driver development programs.
Karam had a whopping 16.732-second lead over the first of two drivers from
Cape Motorsports by Wayne Taylor Racing who shared the podium with him on
Sunday. Josh Fielding of Chesterfield, England took the runner-up honors,
while Patrick McKenna of Dublin, Ireland finished third for his second podium
finish in as many days.
Karam was able to get a good start initially and on the one restart on lap
five, and he had things his way throughout the race. He thanked Andretti
Autosport, his sponsors - The Michael Fux Foundation, Comfort Revolution, Bell
Helmets, Alpine Stars, Walters Web and artrotundo.com - and the series
sponsors, Mazda and Cooper Tires, from the podium.
The two Cape Motorsports cars were very evenly matched, although stronger
than the other in different sections of the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course.
McKenna said his car was better in the braking zones and Fielding's car was
better off the corners, and they finished the way they started.
Fielding's car is sponsored by euro-engines.com and premiermiller.com,
while McKenna's carries the colors of Motorsport Ireland, Willsborough Transport
and the Irish Sports Council.
Fourth went to the driver who finished third on Saturday, Terrick Mansur of
Aruba, who drives for Liberty Motorsports and promotes Aruba.com. Rounding
out the top five was ZSports Midwest's Benjamin Searcy of Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
who is sponsored by Combustion Technologies. Searcy got the $200 Tilton
Hard Charger Award on Sunday after starting 12th. JDC MotorSports' Raphael
Abbate of Sao Paulo, Brazil earned a similar award for starting 13th and
finishing sixth on Saturday.
Rounding out the top 10 on Sunday were: AIM Autosport's Anthony Furfari of
Woodbridge, Ontario; JDC MotorSports' Mikhail Goikhberg of St. Petersburg,
Russia; AcceleRace Motorsports' Ardie Greenamyer of Louisville, Ky.; Liberty
Motorsports' Matthew Powers of Danville, Calif. and the National class
winner, Pabst Racing Services' J.R. Smart of Fitchburg, Wis. JDC MotorSport's
Abbate; Pabst Racing Services' Martin Scuncio of Concepcion, Chile and JDC's
Martin Sala of Bogota, Columbia completed the final rundown. Sala suffered a
minor bruise on his right leg in an accident on the first lap that brought
out the event's lone yellow flag from laps one to four to clean up the
debris.
Staubli picks two drivers for a random $200 award for each race. Goikhberg
was that lucky winner on Saturday, while Powers got that prize on Sunday.
Karam now leads the Championship class' driver point standings over
McKenna, Mansur, Fielding and Furfari.
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing tops the team standings with 57
points to Andretti Autosport's 44. Liberty Motorsports, JDC MotorSports, AIM
Autosport, Pabst Racing Services and AcceleRace Motorsports follow after the
first doubleheader of the year.
With a street course under their belts, the USF2000 drivers will experience
racing on an oval at the next race May 29 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in
Indianapolis, Ind., when USF2000 shares the card with Star Mazda and the USAC
MOPAR national midgets.
Additional information is available on usf2000.com.
Post-race quotes follow:
Sage Karam: "On the start and the restart, I knew I had to get a good jump
and avoid the mayhem. I did that, and then checked out.
"I really learned how to race on cold tires in karting. I had a good idea
of when I could get on it.
"After winning Saturday a little pressure was off, but I still had a job to
do today."
Josh Fielding: "I couldn't keep up with Sage. Patrick and I were very equal
in lap times. At the start of the weekend I was 3 seconds off, so to get
second today is good. I'm a confident person; I'm always smiling.
"The team performed well and I couldn't ask for more. It was kind of
difficult, but I kept breathing and kept my head straight and pulled it off."
Patrick McKenna: "I only got close enough to Josh once. It was a good race.
We were stronger in different areas. I was better in the braking zones than
he was. He was better off the corners. We were so evenly matched it was
hard to pass him. He didn't make any mistakes. We have some work to do to
catch Sage."
J.R. Smart (National class winner): "I just brought it home unscathed. I
want to thank the event organizers for putting on such a great event. I'm
living the dream!"
About Mazda:
On any given weekend there are more Mazdas on the road courses of America
than any other brand of vehicle. MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and
other vintage Mazda models are all popular race cars because every Mazda has
the soul of a sports car. In fact, the largest road-racing class in the
world is Spec Miata. With more than 2,500 first- and second-generation Miatas
tearing up America's racetracks, it the most-raced production car in the
world. Mazda's involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with one
of the world's premier road courses, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey,
Calif., and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in the United States in 2010, Mazda North
American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. It oversees the
sales, marketing, parts business and customer service of Mazda vehicles in the
United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in
Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario. _Operations in
Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.
For more information see MazdaUSA.com.
About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company:
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the
design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car and light truck
tires and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing
tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has manufacturing,
sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of
companies located in 10 countries around the world.
For more information visit Cooper Tire's Web site at coopertire.com.