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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Problems and Results

As promised, here is all the information I have. I had to chance down an official to get it, but I thought you'd like to know.

Wilson dropped out of the race due to a mechanical problem. He said he felt a change in the McDonald's car engine and thinks he lost a cylinder a couple laps before that. From there Wilson said it just got worse.

Annala had to stop racing because of a problem with the brakes in his car. He went off the track in the turn nine run-off area.

And now, for the exciting conclusion of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Finishing in first place, after leading 81 out of 83 laps, Will Power in car No. 8 for Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia, won the final race in Champ Car history.

In second place was rookie Franck Montagny and in third place was Mario Dominguez.

For the Atlantic Championship, Simona De Silvestro took first place. She is the first woman to win an Atlantic Championship race since 2006, when Katherine Legge won in San Jose, Calif.

Alan Sciuto finished in second place, with Kevin Lacroix placing third.

I was lucky enough to get a quick interview with De Silvestro after the race.

Being the first woman to win a race in the Atlantic Championship is a big deal, and De Silvestro was very proud. Especially because she knows losing means she'll just be known as "the girl racer who couldn't win."

De Silvestro said, “It’s so competitive, so I show that I can be upfront and win, so it’s great.”

De Silvestro just seemed so excited to have won, it was really fun having the opportunity to talk to her.

The top five qualifiers of the Atlantic Championship were Jonathan Bomarito, De Silvestro, Carl Skerlong, Sciuto and Lacroix. Four out of the five remained in the top five for most of the race.

Skerlong hit the wall off the start and had to return to the pit to have the nose cones on his car replaced. He returned while the other drivers were on lap three and remained one lap down the entire race, finishing last with only 37 laps.

Bomarito, the top qualifier with a time of 1:15.947, held first place for most of the race. He had a significant lead over the position two qualifier, De Silvestro.

Bomarito went into the run-off in turn one on lap 24, which allowed De Silvestro to move into first place and take the win.

De Silvestro commented on her win over Bomarito.

"Bomarito was very quick ... he has so much experience, it's his third year so I knew he was going to maybe pull off in the beginning," De Silvestro said. "So I thought, 'Oh second place is also great,' so I just kept driving and being consistent. And then he did a mistake so I was very happy he did a mistake so I could pass him, so it's awesome for me to have this win today."

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