Driver Database News

Just announced, Canadian racing driver Kyle Marcelli will make the transition back behind the wheel of a single seater this coming weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Kyle continuing to represent Lafarge on the International stage will pilot the Team GDT Star Mazda entry in the Championship finale located in Monterey, California.

Fresh off a streak of wins behind the wheel of Intersport Racing’s L1 machine in the IMSA Lites Championship Marcelli will be looking to wrap up what has been another successful season on a high note. Continuing their ever growing relationship, Lafarge a global leader in construction material will be partnering alongside Marcelli for this coveted event.

“I’m very exciting for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of a single seater and the opportunity to race at the famed road course. Team GDT is filled with a great bunch of crew and I’m excited to work with them in racing to victory.” Said Kyle Marcelli

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to run a proven race winning driver such as Kyle. The team has worked very hard to develop and produce a front running package for this year and next. We have in place all the ingredients, engineering, driver coaching and a great mechanical staff to be a consistent front runner.” Said GDT Team Manager Paul Mata

Kyle would like to thank his partners Lafarge, GP Masonry and Landscaping Supplies, Brown Window Corp, Barrie Trim and Mouldings, Alpinestars, The Robert Simpson Brewing Company, Simplepay.ca, Century Craft Custom Home Builders, Spherion Staffing Solutions and Intersport Racing for there continued support.

For more information visit: www.kylemarcelli.com.

In its debut season in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, Juncos Racing will go into the final round of 2009 this week at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as the Championship leaders. After 12 races, Juncos Racing has achieved four wins, four poles, and 15 top-ten finishes among five different drivers.

Driver of the #3/Juncos Racing/Motorsport Ireland/Quayside.ie/The Collection machine, Peter Dempsey, showcased his talent in a dominating performance at Road Atlanta just over a week ago. The young Irishman was fastest in three out of the four official sessions, qualified on pole, and won the race by a crushing 7.7 seconds. The 23-year old is currently leading the Championship by 15 points over the only other remaining title contender, Adam Christodoulou of JDC Motorsports.

Should Christodoulou win both the pole position and the race, Dempsey needs to finish in at least sixth position to win the overall Championship. After finishing third in the Championship last year, Dempsey has returned to the Star Mazda Championship for 2009 determined to stay focused, consistent, and ultimately win the title he’s been craving.

“Heading to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the position we are in shows how determined the team is, and I really hope we can make our dream of winning the Championship happen”, says Dempsey. “At this point we need to keep on top of everything to make sure we get the results we need. I am 100% ready for the last race and so is my team. We are going into this weekend with a lot of confidence after our success at Road Atlanta.”

Toshihiro Deki, driver of the #80/Juncos Racing car, will enter the final round with a four-point lead in the Expert Series Championship over Chris Cumming of World Speed Motorsports. In his rookie season, the Japanese native has won three races in the Star Mazda Championship Expert Series races (for drivers ages 30-44) and is looking for his fourth and final win of the 2009 season in California this weekend.

In addition to two Championship leads, Juncos Racing also remains third in the Team Championship standings out of 11 teams, an admirable achievement for a first-year team.

With two very talented competitors representing Juncos Racing, the team will take on the 13th and final race of the 2009 Star Mazda Championship this weekend, October 8-10, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

Fighting through a weekend of adversity, Star Mazda Championship contender Adam Christodoulou continued to tighten up the championship points race with a podium finish at Mosport International Raceway in Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Just as the Mosport Circuit features ups and downs and twists and turns, so too was the path Christodoulou would take over the course of the race weekend.

The weekend looked promising from the start with the Birmingham, United Kingdom resident quickly jumping to the top of the time sheets in the early stages of the opening test session before the first twist of the weekend would strike.

“I was fastest at the time and everything was looking good until I made a minor error out of corner three, just clipping the grass on the exit, I tried to save it but the grass was damp and I became a passenger. I ended up making contact with the tyre wall, taking off my front wing and causing damage to the front left corner of the car,” Adam commented. “Once we got the car back to the trailer Dave my mechanic was straight onto the job and through a tremendous effort the car was fixed just before the next session.”

Back on track in the second session and looking to climb the charts once again Christodoulou suffered his second setback of the weekend after a bump at the apex of the flat out sixth gear turn two sent his #11 Molecule Labs / Alpinestars/ JDC Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda off the circuit.

“I hit the small bump on the inside of the track, lifting the front wheels and once the car landed it bottomed out and before I could save it I was on the grass going backwards down the hill. I realized it wasn’t going to be good so I braced myself for impact and I hit the wall with some serious speed causing even more damage than the previous session,” He revealed. “The Mosport safety crew were at my wreck within seconds; I got out the car and was checked over by the paramedics. Luckily I was ok, and the strong structure of the Star Mazda had taken all the impact. Once again we had a big job of getting the car fixed and I’ve got to thank everyone from the JDC Motorsport team for all their support and help putting the car back together, every one chipped in, the crew worked late hours, and the car was fixed by the morning.”

Returning to the circuit for the second day of practice Christodoulou would work on putting the previous days events behind him and after cracking the top ten on old tires in the morning session was pleased to post the second fastest time in the final practice session, just five-hundredths off the fast time from the session.

Adjustments made in anticipation of the morning qualifying session were washed away as torrential rains had swept across the track over night and though the storm had relented during qualifying the track surface was still wet enough to require a wet setup and a heavy fog made visibility a challenge. “Several red flag periods for cars that went off chopped up the session and I was a little bit annoyed only qualifying 4th, but we had the car set up for the wet conditions and the track dried up quicker than expected,” Adam stated. “Still I was happy that I out qualified my main championship contender Peter Dempsey.”

With an early morning qualifying session and a late afternoon race the weather forecast became the obsession of the day as the teams watched and waited to see if the storms would return and how to adjust their cars for the conditions. As the afternoon arrived it became apparent that the race would be run in the dry and attention was made to getting the cars just right for the 45 minute race.

As the green lights went out for the standing start everyone worked their way through turn one safely for what would be a caution flag free event. Battling his teammate Alex Ardoin on the opening laps, Christodoulou was able to gain the upper hand and move into the third spot and started focusing on catching up to the leaders. As the leaders started to encounter lapped traffic, Adam was able to climb into second place as race leader Conor Daly spun after making an outside pass attempt in turn eight before recovering and returning to the circuit. While the lapped traffic would initially help Adam it also cost him later in the race.

“I was now in second but it wasn’t going to be easy as Conor didn’t lose much time and was chasing me down. Traffic was all about timing and trying to get around the lapped traffic without losing time or speed,” Adam said. “Conor was getting closer lap by lap and I could see him trying to get the draft down the straight, unfortunately he finally got the run he needed to draft past down the straight and went down my inside. The flag came out and I brought the car home in 3rd. It wasn’t quite the win, but I was more than happy to finish 3rd after the disastrous start to the weekend and the main thing was I closed up the gap in the championship. I went into round eleven, 10 points shy of the championship, and I’ve now reduced it just 7 points.”

With two rounds left in the championship the series now heads to Road Atlanta for Round Twelve of the Championship during the Petit Le Mans race weekend on September 23-25.

Making his first appearance on a temporary street circuit Adam Christodoulou experienced a weekend full of ups and downs yet still managed to make up ground on points leader Peter Dempsey in Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear for the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres.

Driving the #11 Molecule Labs JDC Motorsports Mazda, the UK native started the weekend on a lofty note after topping the opening practice session on the 1.521-mile circuit. “The 1st session on the

Friday went surprisingly well, at 1st it was a bit daunting knowing that there is very little room for error, it’s a bit like the oval scenario, if you make a mistake then there’s a nice concrete wall to support you either side of the track,” Adam explained. “I took my time getting to know the place before I started pushing, at the end of session one I was battling it out for fastest lap, we put new tires on and we topped the charts.”

After going over data and making a few changes to the car, Christodoulou would post the second fastest time in the final practice session of the weekend. “The 2nd session went really well, ending up second in the standings. I was happy with my pace and I knew that it was going to be close in qualifying.”

Hopes of a pole run were dashed in qualifying when a red flag was brought out as championship points leader Dempsey made contact with the wall under the Arch corner as Christodoulou was preparing to set his flying laps. “At the start of qualifying I was 2nd out the pits and the drivers in the previous qualifying session were already producing times quicker than testing, so I knew the pace was going to be quick. We chose to go out on old tires for the start of the qualifying to get a base line before we put on new tires but unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan,” Adam revealed.

“Unfortunately for me, my main rivals made contact, causing one of them to have a puncture putting him in the wall. By the time the track was cleared qualifying was finished. I wasn’t happy with qualifying, because I knew I had the pace to be on the front row but I was left in fourth position for the start of the race.”

Sunday’s championship battle started on pre-grid as Dempsey’s team failed to get his car to pre-grid on time, forcing him to start from pit lane while the rest of the field moved up a position. Christodoulou would rocket off of the standing start to jump into the lead by the second corner but an opening lap incident further back in the field would force him back into third place. ”Because we hadn’t completed the lap I had to give back the positions I had made up at the start, putting me back to 3rd. I felt robbed. It was an extremely close race, there was a group of 6 cars all battling it out trying to get ahead of each other.”

Fighting an engine that was down on power in the closing laps Christodoulou was hanging on in third place when a restart on the closing laps presented an opportunity to gain another position. As the green flag came out on the final lap Christodoulou sought to move into second place.

“There were only minutes to spare before the chequered flag dropped and we had one last restart with one lap to go, I tried a move for 2nd place, but couldn’t pull it off allowing 2 cars past. I couldn’t believe it, I had 3rd place and I made a minor error moving me back to 5th, I attempted to make at least one place up but the chequered flag was out and the race was over. The racing was so close and it showed. If anyone made a slight error they paid for it losing positions or not finishing.”

“I had mixed emotions after the race, I was annoyed I didn’t make it on the podium, but I was happy to finish the race and I gained valuable points in the championship so that there is only a 10 point difference in the championship now with 3 rounds to go,” Adam said. “And for Trois-Rivieres itself the atmosphere was unbelievable, the crowds were packed, there were plenty of activities going on during the day and evenings of the race weekend.”

The series now heads to Mosport International Raceway in Ontario, Canada, for Round Eleven of the

Championship on August 27-29.

Round 8

Qualifying report
After four practice sessions, we felt confident that we had a car that could put us towards the front of the field. The only thing was, nobody told us that parts of the track was still damp from the rain shower the night before, and that there was a river floating across the track in one of the corners. I headed out on track and quickly found out that the track was incredibly slippery. With every lap gone by, lap times got lower and lower and we found ourselves in P2 for most of the session. Right towards the end, some other teams took a gamble and went out on another set of new tires. This improved their times massively and we got relegated to P5 at the end of the session. Not where we wanted to be, but still something to race for.

Race report
I made a terrible start from P5 and immediately fell down to P7 before the first corner, but started my recovery heading into turn two. I took the inside line and looked set to take over sixth place when the car on the outside spun his car and went nose first into my side pod. I was very lucky that the side pod took most of the beating, and the rear toe only got slightly altered. From there on it was one of those races where everybody runs on a string and no passes are being made. With three laps to go there was a safety car period, and a few corners after the drop of the green flag I managed to make a pass and sit in P5 as the last lap started. The race was not over by a long shot yet though. On the entry to a high speed left hander, I ran too wide and went straight off the track. I managed to get the car back on track, but with the field bunched up from the safety car, I crossed the finish line in a disappointing 10thplace. Making a mistake like that is not good at all, but I’ve learned a lesson for sure.

Round 9

Qualifying report
The session was held late at night on Saturday and the track proved to be very fast. The session lacked any sort of drama, but I also never really got a great feeling when driving around. The first half of the session we were on the pace, but got shuffled back to a disappointing P8 when other teams switched to new tires for the latter half of the session. All the guys at Mundill and I were hoping that the Sunday race would make up for themisfortunes throughout the Saturday.

Race report
Finally, I managed to get a good start off the line and after spending turn one on the very outside of the track I found myself in P6. A few corners later I was challenging for fifth, but any illusion of a top five finish got lost when I was hit from behind going into a tight chicane. I spun off the track and fell to the back of the field. The first few laps I was not happy with the car at all, but around mid race the balance was improved and I posted a lap time that was third quickest. I did not manage to climb quite as high up as I would have liked to, but brought the car home in 12thand at least got some points.

Weekend thoughts
It was an exceptionally tough weekend and unfortunately we dropped from P6 to P8 in the championship battle. There should still be room to improve in the standings before the end of the season as four rounds remain though. I think that the guys at Mundill did a great job in giving me a car that could handle the abuse of the Autobahn track. Most people involved in motorsports know that Sebring in Florida is known as one of the bumpiest and most demanding tracks in North America. Well guess what, this track is even rougher than Sebring and is cause for a very interesting car set up as well as a difficult task for the mechanics to keep the car running. I liked the track, but desperately wanted to be higher up on the sheets. We’ll move on from this and put all of our efforts to succeeding at the next event.

Next event
On August 16thwe will enjoy one of the most high profile events of the season; The Grand Prix Trois Rivieres in Quebec, Canada. The race will be held in the streets, and will represent my first ever street race in an open-wheel car. My previous street racing experience is limited to the 2002 Monaco Kart Grand Prix. I’ve only heard great things about this event and the crowd turnout is supposed to be very good, so I’m very excited. Being that it is a street race, there will be very little room for driver errors, much like on the ovals. I’m looking forward to a new challenge and together with the Mundill crew we’ll push even harder than before and aim for the top.

Mentions
I’d like to thank Mundill for their hard work throughout the season, and would love to be able to give them another win as the season draws to an end. My sponsors Trallfa Industries and Colosseum Dental should also be mentioned. They have been with me since the start of 2007 as my main sponsors, and were the first companies that enabled me to go open-wheel racing. Antenor and ZAT Graphics are new partners for this year, and I look forward to my continued work with them.

I’ll be back with another news update soon, but until then, check out www.anderskrohn.com

Adam Christodoulou Carries JDC Motorsports Onto Podium at Autobahn; Doubleheader Championship Contender Scores Two Second Place Finishes

Returning to the road courses after making his first two appearances on oval tracks, UK standout Adam Christodoulou finds himself in the thick of the championship battle after recording two second place finishes as the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear visited Joliet, Illinois, for the inaugural Harrah’s Grand Prix of Autobahn presented by Mazda doubleheader weekend.

Driving the #11 Molecule Labs/ AlpineStar/ Miller Millling Co. sponsored JDC Motorsports entry, Christodoulou, who has recorded victories at Sebring and Miller Motorsports Park, entered the weekend seeking to recapture his championship points lead after falling from the top spot in Iowa. Adding to his motivation was the first opportunity to race in front of his family this season.

“The weekend here was one to remember as the facilities were excellent, there were thousands of spectators, plenty of autograph signings, TV interviews and best thing of all was my biggest fans arrived to America for the first time, my Mom and Dad,” Christodoulou explained. ” We had a bit of a slow start unfortunately when my car suffered with a minor electronic problem in the opening practice, but my mechanic Dave and the rest of JDC work hard on the job and by the important part of the weekend started, everything was sorted, and the car ran faultlessly.”

Battling a damp track and stiff competition in Saturday’s early qualifying session Christodoulou would scrap his way to the second spot on the grid alongside points leader Peter Dempsey. “Everyone was pushing their cars throughout the qualifying session, and the water on the track made it even trickier than normal, and I was pleased to come away with a strong second place spot on the grid,” he revealed.

Christodoulou got a blistering run on the standing start, jumping ahead of Dempsey as they raced down to the first turn but the dirtier outside line on the corner opened the door for Dempsey to slip past on the inside. “I got an amazing start but wasn’t able to clear Peter completely and take the cleaner inside line on that opening lap,” he lamented. “The rest of the race I was just pushing trying to close the gap on him, there was a brief
safety car period which was my chance to get by Peter, but unfortunately he played the restart as I would expect any other driver to and got the gap on the restart. I was hoping to stay with Peter for the remainder of the race but I didn’t quite keep my tires up to temperature during the Safety car period and I found myself having to hold my ground for 2nd, where I finished the race.”

Qualifying for Sunday’s finale would bring a close to a busy Saturday and once again Christodoulou was challenging for pole position after making several adjustments to the car. “The changes were definitely an improvement but unfortunately we just missed out on the pole although we were able to extend the time difference to almost a full second over the third place qualifier,” Christodoulou commented.

Sunday’s race would find Adam in the same position as Saturday as he fought to chase down Dempsey, setting fast lap for both races in the process, before climbing the second spot on the podium. “Sunday wasn’t quite as exciting as it was green from start to finish with no safety cars,” Adam explained. “Peter managed to improve on his start and I was just chasing him down for the whole race. There was a period during the race where I was improving on his times catching him and setting the fastest lap but unfortunately no points being handed out for this achievement.”

With four races left in the championship Christodoulou sits nineteen points behind Dempsey with 323 points overall to Dempsey’s 342 points. The series now heads into Canada for a two race swing starting with the Grand Prix du Trois-Rivieres on August 14-16.

“I know it’s going to be extremely close battle until the end of the championship with only four races left and Trois-Rivieres will be my first street circuit, so there is going to be a steep learning curve, but I would like to think I can pick up this track fast like I have with all my others,” commented Adam. “I have to finish by thanking Michael Guasch and Molecule Labs, along with Alpinestars and JDC Motorsports, for the opportunity they have provided for me this season and I look forward to getting back in the car again in a couple of weeks.”

www.adamchristo.com