Houston Race Report

HOUSTON - Barton entered the rejuvenated Champcar Atlantic Championship from Round 2 at the Grand Prix of Houston this weekend. This series has seen a dramatic boost in participation with a number of new teams and drivers, along with many returning participants to give the championship its deepest and most talented field in years. .A total of 12 different countries are represented with many well known names such as Unser & Rahal.

Houston’s newly designed temporary road course, around the park and next to Reliant Football stadium, being cement base has low grip and that, added to the fact that the joins in it made it very bumpy at all speeds, created a challenge to the drivers. The weather was extremely hot and humid adding further to the difficulties. In a race shortened by incidents & full course yellow flags, Barton put in a good drive on a track that was difficult to pass on, even without the yellow flags, to advance from 26th on the grid (Barton was given a 7 place penalty for being involved in a red flag incident in second qualifying) to as high as 11th before a spin relegated him to 15th. He was able to regain one place before the chequered flag came out on a shortened race because of lost time due to yellows. Barton finished in 14th position giving him 7 points.

The race started with carnage in the first chicane with a long full-course yellow ensuing. The restart didn’t allow much more racing before another incident brought the yellows out again. When racing restarted again, Barton had an exciting 3 way battle with Ryan Spencer-Smith and Joe D’Agostino, while the three still managed to progress through the field until another incident brought the yellows out once more. An incident during one of the restarts early on dislodged his front wing affecting his handling while towards the end a tap from another competitor bent his steering. The long periods under yellows allowed everyone’s tyres to cool, causing problems on the restart and leading to further yellows. Barton had not driven a Formula Atlantic until the week of Houston and has some catching up to do, so scoring seven points on his first outing was a good effort.

Barton said after the race “I was really disappointed about the spin because up until then I was really making good progress. After the restart I was really struggling for grip particularly with mid corner understeer so I softened the front bar from onboard but it didn't work, catching me out and resulting in the spin. I am so pleased to be here and a part of this mega series. It is everything I hoped for. We are still getting things in place as a team so I think the future is only positive.”    

Now with his first race under his belt Barton is looking forward to the next round in Monterrey on the 21st May. A reported crowd of 127,729 attended the Houston weekend.

The series can be followed on www.champcaratlantic.com