Carrio Finishes 7th in 2005 Star Mazda Championship

October 15, 2005
Monterey, California

Adrian (Ace) Carrio lead the World Speed Motorsports effort of six Pro Formula Mazdas at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the finale of the 2005 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Carrio started the race tenth after a wet session that saw the qualifying order change lap by lap until being finalized by the checkered flag. He was able to move up to ninth in the race despite almost the entire race being run under yellow. This finish moved him up to seventh in the championship standings earning him almost $28,000 in prize money.

Qualifying, as it turned out, was even more important than it usually is given the lack of green flag laps in the race. “We felt confident after the final practice,” said Carrio, “we were running securely in the top ten and I knew what I had to do to get us up a few more spots. Even when we realized that qualifying was going to be wet I still knew I could get it done, but the checkered flag came out while I was finding space and setting up for a final flier.” It is standard Star Series practice to split qualifying into two groups except in cases of rain or possible rain. It was wet and this meant that there were 41 cars on the track all vying for track space to put in the lap that would place them at the top.

The race was, unfortunately, plagued with yellow flags and there were few opportunities to advance. Carrio did have a short battle with Brad Jaeger before Jaeger suffered a suspension failure under braking while approaching turn two. Unfortunately this would be Carrio’s last opportunity to move up and he would have to settle for ninth place as the race finished under yellow.

This finish moved Carrio solidly into the seventh place spot for championship points. Including this finish Carrio had six top ten finishes, one top five and one track record. “Ace did a great job this year,” said World Speed Motorsports team owner Telo Stewart. “He joined our team after the season had started and without any winter testing. This was a big deficit, but his talent and a lot of hard work from the team, which had no mechanical DNFs all season, pulled us through this year and now we can get down to preparing for next year.” Carrio will be contending for the 2006 Star Mazda Championship with the World Speed Motorsports team.

Additionally in attendance at the season finale with the World Speed Motorsports team were Patrick O’Neill, Frank McCormick, Claudio Cornali, Michael Guasch, and Stan Kohls who finished 24 th, 28 th, 29 th, 30 th, respectively and Stan Kohls brought home his #48 car in 39 th after a first lap incident which necessitated his oil cooler be replaced during the race putting him several laps down.

The final round of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will air on Speed TV Sunday, November 6 th at 1:00pm EST.

Carrio Finishes 7th in 2005 Star Mazda Championship

October 15, 2005 Monterey, California

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October 15, 2005
Monterey, California