3 June 2000.  Bittersweet end for the World Speed Rookies.

Rookies, Pete Mercier and Akihiro Asai, of the World Speed Motorsports team, hit highs and lows this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, site of round 4 of the Toyota Atlantic Championship weekend, part of the Miller Lite 225 CART FedEx Championship weekend. The 60-lap race ended on a bittersweet note for the team.  Rookie, Mercier,  the driver for the #14 World Speed – Northwest SpeedWerx/Walker Racing Swift crashed after completing just seven laps.  “I just got loose and spun out.  I went nose first into the wall in Turn 4.” said a disappointed Mercier.  “This literally was the worst racing weekend of my life.”

Mercier did not qualify yesterday after he hit the wall, which put him at the back of the grid for the drop of the green flag.  “The car was in bad shape yesterday after I hit the wall in qualifying.  The guys worked really hard to get the car back for the race.  I really appreciate all of their effort and hard work,” said Mercier.

The light at the end of the tunnel for World Speed this weekend was Asai, the newest addition to the World Speed fleet.  Asai, who drives the #15 World Speed - Pro Staff/Walker Racing Swift, experienced many “firsts” this weekend.  This 24-year old driver from Tokyo raced in America for the first time in his first Atlantic competition on his first oval track.  “The oval just feels so different.  As I driver, I’m still getting used to it and still learning.  I got loose a couple of times this afternoon and went sideways, but was able to pull the car back,” said Asai.  “But my goal for this race was to finish and learn more about ovals and that is what I did.”

Asai recently joined World Speed from the Formula Holden Australian series, completing a full season last year where he finished fifth in the championship.  He also competed in the Formula 3 and Formula 4 series in Japan earning top honors as highest ranking rookie and winning two and claiming six of 12 wins and six pole positions.

Round 5 of the Toyota Atlantic Championship series, will be in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 17.Martin Basso (Michael Shank Racing), finished first, followed by Andrew Bordin (PPI Motorsports), and Hoover Orsi (Hylton Motorsports), who finished third. The Milwaukee race will be televised on espn2, Sunday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m.