World Speed Motorsports’ Alex Figge certainly left his mark in Mexico by setting the fastest lap of the race and finishing solidly in the points in his first-ever CART Toyota Atlantic Championship race today in Monterrey. Figge, who started 11th, earned five championship points by virtue of his 11th place finish in today’s first round of the 12-race Atlantic series.
“It was really a wild race,” said Figge, who set his fast time of 1:38.898 (76.588 miles per hour) on lap 21 of the 32-lap race. “I’m really happy just to finish and to set the fastest lap of the race is a real bonus. The first ten laps were pretty difficult. There was absolutely no visibility from the rain and the spray. It got easier after about 15 laps and we were able to get into a good groove. The car was great, and we just capitalized on other people’s mistakes. It’s a great finish for our first Atlantic race together, and gives us lot of confidence going into Long Beach.”
Dorricott Racing’s Jon Fogarty won the race followed by the Michael Shank Racing entry of series rookie Ryan Dalziel and DSTP Motorsports’ Joey Hand. Figge is currently sixth in the Rookie championship and sits 11th overall in the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship standings after one round.
Round two takes place on April 14 in Long Beach, California, at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach CART FedEx Championship weekend.
Further information is available on the team’s website at www.worldspeed.com as well as the official Atlantic series site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.