2009 Atlantic Championship season

2009 Atlantic Championship season
Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
Season
Races	12
Start date	March 20
End date	October 11
Awards
Drivers' champion	John Edwards
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2008	2010 (AC) 2010 (IL)

The 2009 IMSA Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-sixth Atlantic Championship season. It was the first full season of the Championship under the sanctioning of the International Motor Sports Association. After a three-way title battle into the final round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, John Edwards became the series' youngest champion, beating Jonathan Summerton on a tie-breaker, after both drivers finished on 182 points. They also finished tied on four victories, but Edwards broke the tie with four second-place finishes compared to Summerton's three.

Schedule

Round	Race name	Circuit	City/Location	Race date
1	Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring[1]	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 20
2	Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix[2]	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah	May 17
3	Mazda Formula X – Race 1[1]	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey	June 13
4	Mazda Formula X – Race 2[1]			June 14
5	Northeast Grand Prix	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	July 18
6	Autobahn Grand Prix – Race 1[1]	Autobahn Country Club	Joliet, Illinois	July 25
7	Autobahn Grand Prix – Race 2[1]			July 26
8	Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	August 8
9	Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières[3]	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	August 16
10	Grand Prix of Mosport[1]	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	August 30
11	Petit Le Mans[1]	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	September 26
12	Monterey Sports Car Championships[4]	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	October 11

Seven rounds are held jointly with the American Le Mans Series: Sebring, Miller, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Mosport, Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca.

The series planned to open its season on a road course on Hutchinson Island in Savannah, Georgia, on March 15. The race was postponed until 2010, as further work on the track was required before it could be homologated for professional open wheel racing. A second race at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country Club were added instead.^[5]

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2009 Atlantic Championship. All teams are using the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3-litre inline-4 engine and Cooper tires. C2 Class teams use the Swift 014.a chassis.

Team	No	Drivers	Sponsor	Notes
Condor Motorsports	6	Borja García[6]	CJ Consulting	missed Road Atlanta
		Frédéric Vervisch		Laguna Seca only
	7	Max Lefèvre[7]	DOTMOBiL
Conquest Racing	12	James Winslow[8]		Sebring only
		Matt Lee[9]		Lime Rock only
	21	Harald Schlegelmilch[10]		Sebring only
Genoa Racing	17	Frédéric Vervisch[11]	Quartier / Isomo / Shinokki	missed Laguna Seca[12]
	18	Tõnis Kasemets[13]		Miller Motorsports Park only
		Robert Wickens[14]		Mosport only
		Greg Mansell		Road Atlanta only
		James Winslow[9]		New Jersey, Mid-Ohio & Trois-Rivières
	19			Lime Rock, Autobahn & Road Atlanta
		Jonathan Summerton		Left team after New Jersey
Jensen MotorSport	1	Markus Niemela		Joined team at Autobahn
	2	Matt Lee		Sebring only
		James Winslow		Miller Motorsports Park only
		Davíd Garza Pérez[9]		New Jersey only
		Barrett Mertins[15]		Laguna Seca only
	3	Michael Nacol		Left team after Autobahn
		Eric Jensen		Trois-Rivières & Mosport only
	13			Autobahn race 2 only
Mathiasen Motorsports	26	Jonathan Bomarito[16]		Sebring only[17]
Newman Wachs Racing	1	Markus Niemelä[18]	Mr. Jones / Nuclear Clean Air Energy / Entergy	Left team after New Jersey
	34	Jonathan Summerton		Joined team at Lime Rock
	36	John Edwards[19]	MAZDASPEED / Nuclear Clean Air Energy / Entergy
Paladin Motorsports	45	James Winslow		Laguna Seca Only
Polestar Motor Racing	35	Tõnis Kasemets[9]		missed Miller Motorsports Park
	66	Richard Zober[9]		New Jersey, Lime Rock only
Team Stargate Worlds operated by US RaceTronics[20]	77	Frankie Muniz[20]	Stargate Worlds / Cheyenne Mountain Ent. / FireSky	wrist surgery, missed 3 last races.
		Jonathan Bomarito	Stargate Worlds	Road Atlanta & Laguna Seca only
	78	Simona de Silvestro[20]	Stargate Worlds / Cheyenne Mountain Ent. / FireSky
C2 Class
Swan Racing	29	Ahsen Yelkin	Everclear Specialty Lubricants	Sebring only
	68	Chris Lee	Everclear Specialty Lubricants	Sebring only
	71	Michael Mällinen	Mallinen Properties	selected races
	75	Sadat Yelkin	Everclear Specialty Lubricants	Sebring only
	80	Hans Peter		Mid-Ohio only
	88	Mirl Swan	Everclear Specialty Lubricants	Sebring, Mid-Ohio only

Race results

Round	Race Name	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Most Laps Led	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring[1]	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
2	Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix[2]	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
3	Mazda Formula X – Race 1[1]	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Genoa Racing
4	Mazda Formula X – Race 2[1]	Simona de Silvestro	Markus Niemelä	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
5	Northeast Grand Prix	Simona de Silvestro	John Edwards	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
6	Autobahn Grand Prix – Race 1[1]	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
7	Autobahn Grand Prix – Race 2[1]	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
8	Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio[21]	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
9	Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières[3]	Simona de Silvestro	Jonathan Summerton	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
10	Grand Prix of Mosport[1]	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
11	Petit Le Mans[1]	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
12	Monterey Sports Car Championships[4]	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing

Championship Standings

The point system was modified from previous years for the 2009 season.^[22] Points are awarded as follows:

Pos	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Points	20	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

• Bonus points will also be awarded for the fastest driver in a qualifying session (10 races will have two sessions), and most places gained during the race.
• This means the maximum a driver can score is 21, as a driver cannot earn the most places gained point, if they've started from pole.
• Only the driver's best eleven scores will count towards the championship.

Atlantic Class

Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points 1 John Edwards 1 2 5 6 2 1 1 9 2 2 3 1 182 2 Jonathan Summerton 3 6 1 2 4 2 11 1 3 1 1 2 182 3 Simona de Silvestro 5 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 10 2 10 176 4 Frédéric Vervisch 2 3 7 3 6 4 4 5 9 3 6 3 131 5 Tõnis Kasemets 7 5 6 7 5 5 3 10 4 6 9 4 103 6 Markus Niemelä 12 9 4 4 9 10 6 4 5 5 5 5 98 7 Borja García 6 DSQ 3 5 3 6 5 3 11 7 88 8 James Winslow 8 8 9 9 7 8 9 6 7 7 7 72 9 Frankie Muniz 10 4 8 8 10 7 7 8 6 62 10 Max Lefèvre DNS 7 11 11 8 9 8 7 10 8 8 9 58 11 Jonathan Bomarito 13 4 8 19 12 Eric Jensen 10 8 9 16 13 Harald Schlegelmilch 4 12 14 Robert Wickens 4 12 15 Michael Nacol 11 10 13 13 12 DNS DNS 11 16 Barrett Mertins 6 8 17 Davíd Garza Pérez 10 10 8 18 Richard Zober 12 12 11 7 19 Matt Lee 9 13 6 20 Greg Mansell 10 4 Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue 11th place or lower Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Driver replacement (Rpl) Injured (Inj) No race held (NH)

C2 Class

Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points 1 Michael Mällinen 5 1 1 1 1 93 2 Mirl Swan 1 DNQ 21 3 Hans Peter 2 17 4 Sadat Yelkin 2 16 5 Ahsen Yelkin 3 14 6 Chris Lee 4 12 Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points

• Polesitters are denoted in bold. Polesitters are determined by the fastest overall lap in qualifying, and one point is awarded at each round.
• Driver in italics has gained the most places in a round. One point is awarded at each round.

Notes

• At round one, no hard charger point was awarded in the C2 Class as no drivers changed positions over the 19-lap duration.^[23] This also occurred at rounds two, three and four, but on these occasions due to only one car taking part.

Television and other video

For the 2009 season, a new Atlantic Championship high definition television package was announced on HDNet, which features live coverage of certain events, and replays of others.^[24]

Web video of events has also historically been available on the series website, and the series also has its own official YouTube channel under the username "AtlanticRacingSeries."

References

1. "Atlantic Championship Schedule Features New Look in 2009". 2008-11-06. Archived from the original on 13 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
2. "Miller Motorsports Park Announces 2009 Racing Schedule". millermotorsportspark.com. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
3. "Star Mazda Announces 2009 Schedule" (PDF). starmazda.com. 2008-10-03. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
4. "Atlantic Series has new owner". montereyherald.com. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
5. "Atlantic: Team Owners Meeting Details Revealed". 2009-02-03. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
6. Ebentley (2009-03-12). "Garcia Flies Atlantic with Condor to Conquer America" (PDF). imsaracing.net. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
7. "Max Lefèvre". atlantic-championship.com. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
8. "Australian champion Winslow lands Atlantic series ride". motorsport.com. 2009-03-15. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
9. "Edwards Leads Atlantic Championship into First Doubleheader of 2009 Season at New Jersey". Atlantic Championship (Atlantic Racing Series). 2009-06-11. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
10. "Conquest Racing signs Harald Schlegelmilch for Sebring race". f1sa.com. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
11. Communications Inc. (2009-03-15). "Frédéric Vervisch joins Genoa Racing". flagworld.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
12. "Genoa Racing to skip Atlantic season finale". Retrieved 2013-05-06.
13. "Genoa bulks up for round two". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2009-05-15. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
14. "Future Racing Stars On Display This Weekend as Atlantic Championship Returns to Mosport". 2009-09-27. Archived from the original on 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
15. http://www.atlantic-championship.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103:mertins-jensen-rls&catid=12:team-news&Itemid=24
16. "Mathiasen and Bomarito return for 2009". speedtv.com. 2009-03-04. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
17. "Mathiasen Motorsports Withdraws from Series". eformulacarnews.com. 2009-04-16. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
18. "2008 Champ Niemela Joins Newman Wachs". speedtv.com. 2009-03-05. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
19. "John Edwards Joins Newman Wachs Racing for 2009 Atlantic Season". atlantic-championship.com. 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
20. "Team Stargate Worlds Enters 2009 Atlantic Competition". atlantic-championship.com. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
21. "Atlantic Championship 2009 Racing Schedule". atlantic-championship.com. 2008-07-29. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
22. "2009 Atlantic Championship Points Structure Reconfigured" (PDF). 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
23. Nate Siebens (2009-03-20). "2009 Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda, Round 1 – Sebring International Raceway Driver Performance Chart" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
24. "Title Unknown". Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-07.