Giacomo Ricci tests for Forsythe Racing
Written by: Champ Car Communications Willows, Calif. – 12/1/2006
Thunderhill Raceway Park hosted a two-day test session for the
Forsythe Championship Racing Atlantic team Wednesday and
Thursday and a number of open-wheel racing standouts got
the opportunity to show their skills with one of Atlantics’ top
teams at the road circuit located about 60 miles north of
Sacramento.
Among the five drivers that tackled the six-turn, 1.695-mile
configuration at Thunderhill was 2006 Star Mazda series champion
Adrian “Ace” Carrio. The 17-year-old native of Monument,
Colorado earned the test with the Forsythe squad after scoring
a pair of wins and six poles en route to this season’s
Star Mazda title. Carrio became the first Star champion to be
awarded an Atlantic test after the two series announced an official
developmental partnership, in cooperation with Mazda North America,
last summer. The up-and-coming driver who hopes to one day compete
in the Champ Car World Series made the most of the opportunity
by showing steady improvement in the #37 car while completing
nearly 300 miles under sunny skies and cool temperatures on Thursday.
“The Atlantic car is a great car to drive and I really
want to thank Mazda, Champ Car Atlantic, Forsythe Racing and
the Star Mazda series for the chance to show what I can do,” said
Carrio. “The car fits my driving style perfectly. It has
great balance and we were able to make some changes and I felt
I developed some good chemistry with the team. I basically made
my decision about a week after the Star Mazda season ended that
my goal is to race Atlantics next season and this test only helps
support my decision.”
Carrio was joined on the Northern California track Thursday by
two drivers who were enjoying their second consecutive days testing
with the Forsythe team. Italy ’s Giacomo Ricci, the
2006 F3000 Italian Euro champion, completed more miles
than any of the drivers that tested at Thunderhill for the squad.
Ricci logged 572 miles over the two-day test and left no doubt
where he hopes to be racing in 2007.
“I liked working with the Forsythe team and everything
went well over the two days,” said the protégé of
fellow Italian and former Champ Car star Max Papis. “For
me the Atlantic car was good, like driving the F3000 car, but
not quite as much power. But I liked it and I want to be driving
in the Atlantic Championship next season.”
John Brunner said the team came away from the test impressed
with all of the drivers, secure in the knowledge that there’s
plenty of interest in the Atlantic Championship and a deep talent
pool for teams to choose from for 2007.
“Not only do we feel really good about the Forsythe Racing
program for next season, but the Atlantic series overall is going
to be very competitive once again,” said Brunner, who added
that all five drivers were within three-tenths-of-a-second of
each other’s top lap times each day at Thunderhill. “Our
team obviously can’t run all of these guys, but there are
some Atlantic teams that are going to have some really good,
fast kids next season and that’s going to be great for
the series.”