12 April 2002. Figge qualifies 11th provisionally in first Long Beach Atlantic race

Rookie Alex Figge took to the streets of Long Beach today for his first-ever street race, and first Long Beach appearance in the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship series.  Figge put the #14 World Speed Motorsports Swift 014.a firmly in 11th spot with a time of 1:20.165 (88.378 miles per hour) around the Long Beach 1.968-mile temporary street course.

"We're feeling pretty good with everything today," said Figge, who was also 11th quick in this morning's first practice session.  "This is my first street race, and first time at Long Beach, so I spent most of the first session just adapting to the track.  There's definitely more speed in the car.  In fact, we spent most of the qualifying session running seventh to eighth quickest.  We're working on a solid set-up for the race and I think we're getting pretty close.  Tomorrow should be good, and we'll see if we can pick up a few spots."

Ryan Hunter-Reay set the fastest time in qualifying (1:18.995, 89.687 mph) to take the provisional pole, followed by Jon Fogarty, Michael Valiante, Alex Gurney and Luis Diaz.

Tomorrow's Atlantic activities begin with a 40-minute practice session scheduled for 9:00 am, followed by the final qualifying session at 1:00 pm.  The 32-lap race is scheduled for 10:00 am on Sunday, April 14, and will be televised live on the Speed Channel.

Further information is available on the team’s web site at www.worldspeed.com as well as the official Atlantic series site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.