Scarallo on Pole Position at Road Atlanta

May 6, 2011
Scarallo took pole by a narrow margin.

Braselton, GA – Jonathan Scarallo took pole for Primus Racing at Road Atlanta for the first race of the F2000 Championship Series doubleheader by a narrow eight thousandths of a second. Scarallo, from Hauppauge, New York, ran a lap of 1:25.308 around the 12-turn track to take his first pole since Elkhart Lake last year, where he scored his first and only F2000 win.



“I was hoping we’d be on pole by more than just eight thousandths, but it’s a humongous improvement from VIR,” said Scarallo, who left the first two races of the season in Virginia a distant 18th in the point standings.

“It’s a great start with the bonus points but the race is what matters, there is more room for improvement so we are going to make some changes.”

Scarallo led three aspiring American drivers in the top three, as rookie Kyle Connery, from Vero Beach, Florida, will line up on the outside of the front row, while Chris Livengood, out of New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was another few hundredths of a second behind.

Connery added. “That was a big improvement over yesterday, we made a change going to the high downforce rear-wing and I was trying to concentrate more on the brake zones. It’s the happiest I’ve been so far this weekend and it’s nice to see everyone so close.”

Work Racing/John Walko Racing made a gear change just minutes before qualifying that paid dividends as Chris Livengood drove the #37 to a third place starting position

“We tightened up the gears a bit and that was a positive step,” explained Livengood, who has one F2000 win on his resume. “I felt like we had more left in the car.”

Audette Racing made no changes to the #21 car following being fastest in morning practice, but Remy Audette wasn’t able to repeat his performance. The Championship points leader will have to come from fourth on the grid.

“We waited for a space and were able to get a few clear laps at the end,” Audette said. “The car was good, but not as good as it was this morning.”

The top four cars for the first round of the weekend at Road Atlanta were separated by less than a tenth of a second.

Robert La Rocca rounded out the top five for HP-Tech and was the first of the RFR cars.

Nathan Morcom, Scarallo’s Primus Racing teammate, qualified in sixth.

Tim Minor lost two grid positions and will start seventh after bringing out a black flag during the session. Minor was high-sided on a curb, in an unsafe location, and could not get going on his own.

Gustavo Rizzo, for Alegra Motorsports, Joe Colasacco and Thomas Schweitz followed in positions eight through ten.

Fabio Orsolon qualified the brand new Alegra RFR in 12th position after missing morning practice due to mechanical issues.

Fellow Alegra Motorsports driver Angel Benitez will have to come from the back of the pack (20th) after going off in turn one early in the qualifying session. Benetiz, from Venezula, suffered light suspension damage. Alegra should have the car ready to go for the 2:15 pm race start.

Mark Defer and Dave Weitzenhof also made contact during the session. Defer was able to drive away but Weitzenhof required further attention, eventually rolling back to the pits with a very bent left front suspension on his Citation.

Tim Paul turned his first laps of the Road Atlanta weekend, qualifying 23rd. Paul missed testing and practice due to a creative writing final at college and arrived in Braselton just minutes before the green flag dropped on the 30 minute session.

Fans can follow live qualifying and race updates from Road Atlanta on F2000Series.com or @F2000 on Twitter. Friday, May 6, follows the first race of the event at 2:15 pm. Saturday continues with an early, 8:00 am practice, 10:30 am qualifying, and 1:00 pm race. All times are eastern.

Race 1 Grid Order:

Pos No. Name Best Tm Best Spd In Lap Diff Gap 1 13 Jonathan Scarallo 1:25.308 107.188 10 - - 2 91 Kyle Connery 1:25.316 107.178 14 +0.008 +0.008 3 37 Chris Livengood 1:25.360 107.123 9 +0.052 +0.044 4 21 Remy Audette 1:25.393 107.081 14 +0.085 +0.033 5 10 Robert La Rocca 1:25.849 106.513 9 +0.541 +0.171 6 2 Nathan Morcom 1:25.937 106.404 8 +0.629 +0.088 7 88 Tim Minor/M 1:25.678 106.725 12 +0.370 +0.285 8 23 Gustavo Rizzo 1:26.653 105.524 7 +1.345 +0.716 9 3 Joe Colasacco/M 1:26.768 105.384 12 +1.460 +0.115 10 72 Thomas Schwietz/M 1:26.954 105.159 12 +1.646 +0.186 11 90 Robert Wright/M 1:27.264 104.785 9 +1.956 +0.310 12 24 Fabio Orsolon 1:27.370 104.658 8 +2.062 +0.106 13 22 Enzo Potolicchio/M 1:27.646 104.329 6 +2.338 +0.276 14 42 Bill Jordan/M 1:27.959 103.958 9 +2.651 +0.203 15 96 Brian Tomasi 1:28.031 103.872 6 +2.723 +0.072 16 51 Dan Denison/M 1:27.756 104.198 9 +2.448 +0.110 17 60 Dwight Rider/M 1:28.038 103.864 9 +2.730 +0.007 18 14 Jose Gerardo 1:28.191 103.684 8 +2.883 +0.153 19 9 Zach Craigo 1:28.221 103.649 9 +2.913 +0.030 20 26 Angel Benitez 1:28.402 103.437 1 +3.094 +0.181 21 8 Mark Defer/M 1:28.427 103.407 9 +3.119 +0.025 22 7 Brent Gilkes/M 1:28.476 103.350 10 +3.168 +0.049 23 06 Tim Paul 1:28.542 103.273 7 +3.234 +0.066 24 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M 1:30.229 101.342 1 +4.921 +1.687 25 1 Ethan Ringel 1:30.352 101.204 5 +5.044 +0.123 26 83 Brendan Puderbach -.--- - 0 - -

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