Atlantic: Jonathan Summerton wins; Simona De Silvestro closer to title

From The Atlantic Championship

Jonathan Summerton won The Atlantic Championship battle at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday night, while points leader Simona De Silvestro took a significant step towards winning the season-long war with a second-place run.

One day after blistering the previous Atlantic track record, Summerton moved out into the lead from the race’s standing start and held off a charging De Silvestro to earn his second victory of the season by two seconds.

Edwards – who started second – had trouble getting off the starting grid. De Silvestro, starting third, quickly moved up to second and challenged Summerton for much of the race, including a couple of bold side-by-side maneuvers before settling for second place.

Edwards, meanwhile, lost several positions on the start and was involved in an incident with Tonis Kasemets and Frankie Muniz  in Mid-Ohio’s famed “Keyhole” turn on the opening lap, removing Edwards from contention in the race.

As a result, De Silvestro now leads Edwards by 16 points, 135-119, with Summerton another six points back with four races remaining in the season.

Rounding out the podium was Spanish rookie Borja Garcia. It was Garcia’s third podium result of the season and was his fifth top-five performance in his last six Atlantic starts.

Defending series champion Markus Niemela matched his best result of the season with a fourth-place performance. He leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 16 points over Garcia.

Michael Mallinen picked up his fourth C2 victory of the season. He emerged victorious ahead of teammate Hans Peter who encountered a mechanical problem while leading midway through the race.

Race results (Round 8) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:

Finishing Pos. (Starting Pos.) Driver, hometown or country, # and team, laps completed:
1. (1) Jonathan Summerton, Kissimmee, Fla., No. 34 Newman Wachs Racing, 38.
2. (3) Simona De Silvestro, Switzerland, No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 38.
3. (4) Borja Garcia (R), Spain, No. 6 Condor Motorsports, 38.
4. (5) Markus Niemela, Finland, No. 1 Jensen MotorSport, 38.
5. (6) Frederic Vervisch (R), Belgium, No. 19 Genoa Racing, 38.
6. (9) James Winslow (R), United Kingdom, No. 19 Genoa Racing, 38.
7. (10) Max Lefevre (R), France, No. 7 Condor Motorsports, 38.
8. (7) Frankie Muniz, Scottsdale, Ariz., No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 38.
9. (12) Michael Mallinen (R), Liberty Lake, Wash., No. 71 Swan Racing, 35.

DNF:
10. (11) Hans Peter (R), Overland Park, Kan., No. 80 Swan Racing, 26.
11. (2) John Edwards, Cincinnati, Ohio, No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 24.
12. (8) Tonis Kasemets, Estonia, No. 35 Polestar Motor Racing, 0.

Series Points Leaders: 1. De Silvestro, 135; 2. Edwards, 119; 3. Summerton, 113; 4. Vervisch, 94; 5. Garcia, 78; 6. Kasemets, 70; 7. Niemela, 60; 8. Muniz, 54; 9. Winslow, 50; 10. Lefevre, 37.

Next Race: Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres; Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada – Sunday, August 16.