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.”