Rainy Weather Leaves the US RaceTronics Team with Bad Memories
As the cars lined up for the start of Sunday's Toronto Grand Prix the skies appeared threatening. With all the teams setting up their cars for a dry race it could not have been predicted the impact that the weather would have on the running of the race. Unfortunately, for the US RaceTronics drivers, they to would end up being victims of the inclement weather and the incidents that were to occur as a result of the rain.
The start of the race was immediately followed by a yellow flag which actually helped bother drivers Carl Skerlong (#24 King Taco/USRT) and David Garza (#4 Axtel/Tecate/Madisa/USRT) moved up in position. By lap 8 Garza was in the eighth position while his teammate Skerlong sat behind him in the ninth. The rainy weather continued resulting in another yellow flag which came out as a result of a spin from Simona De Silvestro. As the cars slowed down for the yellow, several drivers came into contact with each other, one of those being Skerlong, who was hit from behind by Adrian Carrio. Garza escaped through the carnage unscathed and found himself in fifth. On the restart on lap # 15 Garza spun but restarted. Garza would cautiously pace the race in the wet conditions in ninth. Garza's fortune would continue to decline though when on lap # 23 he spun in Turn 4. Garza's #4 entry would sustain front nose damage and he pitted on lap #26 to get repairs. With minutes of racing left Garza would finish the race two laps down in the tenth spot.
Carl Skerlong: "Well looking at the positives I scored points and still hold ninth in the standings. It was just nuts out there today. We ran well in the wet and we would have been right up there at the end if we hadn't been taken out. It's just one of those things I guess but it's a shame as the team did a great job all weekend. The situation should have been avoided by the other party but it wasn't!"
David Garza: "It was really difficult driving in these conditions. Not only was the car sliding around but I couldn't see a thing. In hindsight I could have been a bit more cautious, but it's hard to think about being cautious when you're battling for positions in during a race. Next is the second doubleheader of the season which is a fast and physically demanding track so I will try to take advantage of my physical conditioning and preparation and get the best possible finish for Edmonton.
About US RaceTronics: 2007 marks the third year of competition in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series for US RaceTronics. Led by former Dorricott Racing Team Manager Shane Seneviratne, US RaceTronics enters the 2007 season with Monterrey Mexico native David Garza and American Carl Skerlong. US RaceTronics is part of Pacific Coast Motorsports Jr. Team program
For more information on US RaceTronics and its partners, visit www.usracetronics.com. You can visit David Garza's website at www.david-garza.com and Carl Skerlong's website at www.cskerlong.com
