Matt Lee finishes initial qualifying session in sixth place, Ricci is 15th source: conquestracing.com The Conquest Racing Atlantic Team of Matt Lee and Giacomo Ricci completed their first laps at the Burke Lakefront Airport street course at the Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank. Matt Lee (#44 Mazda-Cosworth/Swift/Cooper) finished sixth with a lap time of 67.181 and a top speed of 112.853-mph. Giacomo Ricci (#18 Mazda-Cosworth/Swift/Cooper) finished 15th with a lap time of 68.137 and a top speed of 111.270-mph. Both Lee and Ricci had their fastest laps with just seconds remaining in the provisional qualifying session. Matt Lee had been running in third place before he was held up by traffic on the track, dropping him down to his final sixth place. Ricci had started the session further back in the field but was able to fight his way up to finish 15th. "I'm happier with how the car is running and had a strong provisional qualifying session this afternoon," said Lee. "I ran into some traffic during the last few minutes of the session which forced us back to sixth place but I'm pleased to see we are getting up to speed. We are moving in the right direction and I think that tomorrow's final qualifying will be even better for us." "I'm disappointed with my finish today because I know the team can do better than fifteenth," said Ricci. "Tomorrow's final qualifying will be very important so we will make minor adjustments tonight and then go out and push to have a better result for Sunday's starting grid." "The team is encouraged by some of the results we saw today," said Steve Ragan, Conquest Atlantic Team Manager. "I think that both of the drivers are capable of producing some fast lap times and with Matt Lee, things seemed to have clicked. We are looking forward to tomorrow's final qualifying so that we can get Giacomo Ricci up to speed as well and have two good qualifying sessions here in Cleveland." Giacomo Ricci is currently fourth in the Rookie of the Year contest with a top finish of sixth place during the first five races of the 2007 season. Ricci is presently eighth in the overall points results while his teammate Matt Lee is currently ninth in the Rookie of the Year race and 16th overall. The Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank will drop the green flag on the sixth round of the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Championship on Sunday, June 24th at 10:30 a.m. EST. The race will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Wednesday, July 4th beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST.
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