Hinchcliffe captures first Star Mazda pole position at Pikes Peak

By: Eric McCombs (925) 998-8277

July 2, 2005. Fountain, Colorado. AIM Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe captured his first pole position today on the one-mile oval at Pikes Peak International Raceway ahead of Round Five of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Hinchcliffe, from Oakville, Ontario, Canada, lapped the circuit in 25.803 seconds (139.519 MPH). Fellow rookie Robbie Pecorari will complete the front row of the grid after posting a time of 25.978 (138.579 MPH) in the SAI Hydraulics Andersen Walko Racing Mazda.

Rookies will occupy the first five positions on the grid as Pecorari's Andersen Walko Racing teammate Pablo Donoso will start third in his Cristal Beer Mazda with a lap of 26.031 (138.297 MPH), edging out Adrian Carrio in the Rockford Fosgate World Speed Motorsports Mazda by seven-hundredths of a second. Carrio set a new track record in practice earlier in the day with a time of 25.559 (140.851).

Rounding out the fast five will be Sean Guthrie in the Car Crafters Guthrie Racing Mazda who posted a fast time of 26.170 (137.562 MPH). Current points leader Raphael Matos, winner of the first four rounds of the championship, will start ninth in his Ocean Tomo Racing Mazda. 27 cars made qualifying attempts with the top seventeen cars separated by less than a second.

Round Five of the championship will be held on Sunday, July 3rd at 5:30 PM Central Time and is scheduled for 75 laps as part of the Pikes Peak International Raceway Rocky Mountain Classic. For more information please visit www.starmazda.com.