AIM Autosport’s Goncalvez and Ostella start strong at Milwaukee Mile
Goncalvez takes early lead and records another top-five result

Woodbridge, Ontario, June 21, 2009 – AIM Autosport’s Star Mazda squad could be excused for being a bit tired at the end of the day on Sunday. After making the trek to West Alis, Wisconsin immediately after completing a double-header weekend at New Jersey Motorsport Park, the team would be on track for open testing on Wednesday. There were a few things going on behind the scenes and there would also be a weather-related issue that required the team’s attention. In the end however, there would be a measure of success as Jorge Goncalvez would lead in the early part of the race and record his second top-five result of the season.

Goncalvez would be the only AIM driver to test on Wednesday and the young Venezuelan was fast off the trailer and as he had exhibited at previous tests, was very comfortable on the oval circuits posting the third fastest time in the open test just one-tenth off the leader. Goncalvez was joined by his Canadian teammate David Ostella for testing on Thursday. Jorge would continue to improve his times and would lead the pack in session two while David worked on setup ahead of official testing on Friday. Even so, David’s best time of the day was still within nine-tenths of the leader.

Official testing on Friday proved to very important and right away, Both David and Jorge proved quick posting third and fourth fastest times respectively. In second practice, Jorge was second quickest and just .001 of a second back. David was fifth fastest only .039 of a second. The importance of this solid practice run by both drivers became evident when Saturday morning’s qualifying was washed out and series officials made the decision to use practice two results to set the starting grid. This put Jorge on the front row in his No. 72 AIM Autosport Mobil 1 / Mike Direct Connect Formula Mazda with David lining up on the inside of row three in his No. 71 Global Precast Formula Mazda.

In the race, Jorge would have a great start from the front row and go on to take the lead when the pole sitter tangled with another car making a charge for the front. Jorge would lead for twenty-seven laps but as the times show, the entire field was very competitive and the racing very close. Restarts after cautions would play a hand and Goncalvez would end the day in fifth place but at only 2.985 seconds back, was within sight of the leader.

For David Ostella, the promise of a good race coming off his best start of the year ended on lap eighty-five. After running in third place during the early laps he would also be affected on the restarts and fell back to seventh. After brushing the wall late in the race David was classified in eighteenth place.

Despite the good news in qualifying and a strong run in the race, everything did no go smoothly for AIM Autosport this week when the heavy rains severely damaged the team’s new awning on their trailer. Fortunately the weather held for the rest of the day so protection was not an issue but there will be quite a bit of time devoted to repairs when the trailer gets back to the shop in Ontario.

The team also received news late Tuesday that championship leader Peter Dempsey would be leaving the team.

“We received a call from Peter that another team made him an offer for the remaining races in the season” said team principal Keith Willis. “We were very happy to have Peter with us in his bid for the championship this year but his situation regarding sponsorship, even with the support of Motorsport Ireland, was still race to race.”

Willis continued, “While we did come away from New Jersey with Peter leading the championship once again, there was an offer on the table for him that would take away the pressure of finding the money to continue for the remainder of the season. While would have liked to continue with Peter, AIM was not in the position to compete with that offer. We wish Peter all the best in his run at the championship and we are definitely appreciative of the help he gave us with our young drivers David and Jorge.”

The team will now work on preparing the cars for the next race at Iowa Speedway – another oval, in July. Given their performance this weekend, the team will have plenty of confidence going into the next event.

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