2009 Atlantic Championship

2009 Atlantic Championship season
Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
Season
Races	12
Start date	March 20
End date	October 11
Awards
Drivers' champion	John Edwards

The 2009 IMSA Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-sixth Atlantic Championship season. It was the first full season of the Championship under the sanctioning of the International Motor Sports Association. After a three-way title battle into the final round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, John Edwards became the series' youngest champion, beating Jonathan Summerton on a tie-breaker, after both drivers finished on 182 points. They also finished tied on four victories, but Edwards broke the tie with four second-place finishes compared to Summerton's three.

After that season, the category lost IMSA support, and the series went on hiatus for two years, returning in 2012. However, from that point on, the category's relevance—in terms of serving as a potential breeding ground for future IndyCar drivers—diminished drastically.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2009 Atlantic Championship. All teams are using the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3-litre inline-4 engine and Cooper tires. C2 Class teams use the Swift 014.a chassis.

Team	No	Drivers	Rounds
Newman Wachs Racing	1	Markus Niemelä	1–4
	34	Jonathan Summerton	5–12
	36	John Edwards	All
Jensen MotorSport	1	Markus Niemela	6–12
	2	Matt Lee	1
		James Winslow	2
		David Garza	3–4
		Barrett Mertins	12
	3	Michael Nacol	1–7
		Eric Jensen	9–10
	13		7
Condor Motorsports	6	Borja García	1–10
		Frédéric Vervisch	12
	7	Max Lefèvre	All
Conquest Racing	12	James Winslow	1
		Matt Lee	5
	21	Harald Schlegelmilch	1
Genoa Racing	17	Frédéric Vervisch	All
	18	Tõnis Kasemets	2
		Robert Wickens	10
		Greg Mansell	11
		James Winslow	3–4, 9–10
	19		5–7, 11
		Jonathan Summerton	1–4
Mathiasen Motorsports	26	Jonathan Bomarito	1
Polestar Motor Racing	35	Tõnis Kasemets	1, 3–12
	66	Richard Zober	3–5
Paladin Motorsports	45	James Winslow	12
Team Stargate Worlds	77	Frankie Muniz	1-9
		Jonathan Bomarito	11–12
	78	Simona de Silvestro	All
C2 Class
Swan Racing	29	Ahsen Yelkin	1
	68	Chris Lee	1
	71	Michael Mällinen	1–4, 8
	75	Sadat Yelkin	1
	80	Hans Peter	8
	88	Mirl Swan	1, 8

Schedule

Round	Race date	Race name	Circuit	City/Location
1	March 20	Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida
2	May 17	Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah
3	June 13	Mazda Formula X	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey
4	June 14
5	July 18	Northeast Grand Prix	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut
6	July 25	Autobahn Grand Prix	Autobahn Country Club	Joliet, Illinois
7	July 26
8	August 8	Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
9	August 16	Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec
10	August 30	Grand Prix of Mosport	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario
11	September 26	Petit Le Mans	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia
12	October 11	Monterey Sports Car Championships	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California

Seven rounds are held jointly with the American Le Mans Series: Sebring, Miller, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Mosport, Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca.

The series planned to open its season on a road course on Hutchinson Island in Savannah, Georgia, on March 15. The race was postponed until 2010, as further work on the track was required before it could be homologated for professional open wheel racing. A second race at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country Club were added instead.

Race results

Rd	Race track	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Most Laps Led	Race winner
					Driver	Team
1	Sebring International Raceway	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
2	Miller Motorsports Park	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
3	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Genoa Racing
4		Simona de Silvestro	Markus Niemelä	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
5	Lime Rock Park	Simona de Silvestro	John Edwards	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
6	Autobahn Country Club	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
7		John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing
8	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
9	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Simona de Silvestro	Jonathan Summerton	Simona de Silvestro	Simona de Silvestro	Team Stargate Worlds
10	Mosport International Raceway	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
11	Road Atlanta	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Jonathan Summerton	Newman Wachs Racing
12	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	John Edwards	Jonathan Summerton	John Edwards	John Edwards	Newman Wachs Racing

Championship Standings

The point system was modified from previous years for the 2009 season. Points are awarded as follows:

Pos	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Points	20	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

• Bonus points will also be awarded for the fastest driver in a qualifying session (10 races will have two sessions), and most places gained during the race.
• This means the maximum a driver can score is 21, as a driver cannot earn the most places gained point, if they've started from pole.
• Only the driver's best eleven scores will count towards the championship.

Atlantic Class

Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points 1 John Edwards 1 2 5 6 2 1 1 9 2 2 3 1 182 2 Jonathan Summerton 3 6 1 2 4 2 11 1 3 1 1 2 182 3 Simona de Silvestro 5 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 10 2 10 176 4 Frédéric Vervisch 2 3 7 3 6 4 4 5 9 3 6 3 131 5 Tõnis Kasemets 7 5 6 7 5 5 3 10 4 6 9 4 103 6 Markus Niemelä 12 9 4 4 9 10 6 4 5 5 5 5 98 7 Borja García 6 DSQ 3 5 3 6 5 3 11 7 88 8 James Winslow 8 8 9 9 7 8 9 6 7 7 7 72 9 Frankie Muniz 10 4 8 8 10 7 7 8 6 62 10 Max Lefèvre DNS 7 11 11 8 9 8 7 10 8 8 9 58 11 Jonathan Bomarito 13 4 8 19 12 Eric Jensen 10 8 9 16 13 Harald Schlegelmilch 4 12 14 Robert Wickens 4 12 15 Michael Nacol 11 10 13 13 12 DNS DNS 11 16 Barrett Mertins 6 8 17 David Garza 10 10 8 18 Richard Zober 12 12 11 7 19 Matt Lee 9 13 6 20 Greg Mansell 10 4 Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue 11th place or lower Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Driver replacement (Rpl) Injured (Inj) No race held (NH)

C2 Class

Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points 1 Michael Mällinen 5 1 1 1 1 93 2 Mirl Swan 1 DNQ 21 3 Hans Peter 2 17 4 Sadat Yelkin 2 16 5 Ahsen Yelkin 3 14 6 Chris Lee 4 12 Pos Driver SEB MIL NJ1 NJ2 LRP ACC1 ACC2 MID CTR MOS ATL LAG Points

• Polesitters are denoted in bold. Polesitters are determined by the fastest overall lap in qualifying, and one point is awarded at each round.
• Driver in italics has gained the most places in a round. One point is awarded at each round.

Notes

• At round one, no hard charger point was awarded in the C2 Class as no drivers changed positions over the 19-lap duration. This also occurred at rounds two, three and four, but on these occasions due to only one car taking part.

Television and other video

For the 2009 season, a new Atlantic Championship high-definition television package was announced on HDNet, which features live coverage of certain events, and replays of others.

Web video of events has also historically been available on the series website, and the series also has its own official YouTube channel under the username "AtlanticRacingSeries."