With rain soaking the 1.946-mile Portland International Raceway circuit for Round Five of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear eight World Speed Motorsports drivers weathered the storm with top-twenty finishes during the Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland weekend.
Leading the World Speed charge in the treacherous conditions was Vancouver, British Columbia native Chris Cumming in the #46 90-Degree Software sponsored Pro Formula Mazda, cutting through the field from seventeenth on the grid to finish ninth overall and earn the victory for the West Coast Championship class. “The rain made the track incredibly slick making it a challenge to stay on the course so I feel good about bringing the car home in the top ten,” Cumming explained. “I had some friends and family down for the event and to come through with a solid finish is excellent.”
Finishing just outside of the top ten in his first race of the season with the team was Frank Bain in the #41 FX Racing World Speed Motorsports effort. After a tough qualifying session earlier on Saturday morning would force him to line up in the twenty-seventh spot on the grid, Bain drove a smart race, slicing through the crowd to finish eleventh overall. Patrick O’Neill would almost match Bain’s charge, the San Francisco, California resident finishing thirteenth overall in the #64 O’Neill Construction Mazda after starting in the twenty-sixth spot.
World Speed Motorsports drivers would next lock down the sixteenth through twentieth spots with Dave House, in the # 86 Brocade entry, Stan Kohls, in the #48 World Speed Mazda, and Claudio Cornali, in the #47 machine all finishing one lap down to race winner Devin Cunningham.
Aspen, Colorado native Richard Fullerton, pilot of the #45 RBF Capital Mazda, and Vancouver, British Columbia native Taylor Hacquard, making his professional debut in the #90 Wolfe Auto Group Mazda, would both finish in the top twenty despite incidents that damaged the rear wings of the machines, with Hacquard running as high as seventh overall before being forced to retire from the event.
“There are mixed emotions after this race,” Hacquard said afterwards. “This series is so competitive so to come in and be driving in the top ten in conditions as challenging as this is exciting but to end the day due to damage after running so well is disappointing. Everyone at World Speed did a great job preparing the car for the weekend and we’ll learn from it for the next race.”
In addition to running the eight drivers at Portland International Raceway, World Speed Motorsports was also campaigning ten cars at Infineon Raceway for the Russell Pro Series in what must be a record number of cars being raced by a single team on any race weekend.
Round Five of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled to be broadcast by Speed Channel on Sunday, July 1 at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.