Hot off of setting the race’s fastest lap in his first career CART Toyota Atlantic start in Monterrey, Mexico, World Speed Motorsports’ new recruit Alex Figge continued to be on the pace at the team’s recent test at Firebird International Raceway, near Phoenix, Arizona.
World Speed owner Chuck West organized the two-day affair at Firebird for a number of Atlantic teams in preparation for the series’ next round at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 14. Among the teams joining with World Speed were Dorricott Racing, defending series champions Hylton Motorsports, Brooks Associates Racing, Sierra-Sierra Racing and JPT Motorsports. Figge regularly ran in the top three over the span of the two-day test.
“This was another great test for us,” said Figge, 20, who recently shattered the three-year-old Atlantic track record at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California. “We learn more about the car with every run and I’m becoming more comfortable and confident with every lap. We accomplished everything we had planned on doing for this test and then some. It’s great to be with the World Speed guys…they’ve been behind me 100 percent and I’ll definitely benefit from their expertise at Long Beach.”
“Alex continues to impress us every time he drives the car,” said West, who himself has been a front-runner at Long Beach as a driver. “We set out to try some things in preparation for Long Beach and were very pleased with our results. The track conditions changed a lot over the two days and we were able to adapt and find a good set-up. Long Beach is a place where conditions can change dramatically from session to session so it’s important to be able to adapt quickly. Alex is proving to be a great asset to this team and we’re looking forward to a great run next weekend.”
Figge, who hails from Boulder, Colorado, most recently competed in the US F2000 National Championship after racing in the Formula Mazda pro series. He currently is 11th overall (6th in Rookie points) in the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship in his first year of Atlantic competition.
Further information is available at www.worldspeed.com.