Atlantic Season underway with First Test

Second-quickest in the first Atlantic test session was our own 2008 Star Mazda champion John Edwards in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing. John posted a best lap at 1:07.556 in Wednesday’s morning session, which turned out to be the session in which every driver at the test turned in their quickest time.

"It seems like we were second all the time, almost every run, even there at the end when the track was hotter," said Edwards. "Garcia and I both put new tires on and we were timing him, and we were still about a tenth (of a second) off. It was pretty frustrating, but there at the end we were a little closer. Obviously, on the time sheets, you won’t see that because of the way the track was. It was a lot slower. I’m really happy with the test. We got a lot done and we were obviously quick the whole time. Maybe not quickest, but they’re not awarding any points here, so we’re not extremely worried about that, but it would have been nice to top the charts at least once. We’re looking forward to Sebring. It’s completely different than this, very bumpy and very fast, as opposed to sort of medium speed and extremely smooth here. It’s going to be a completely different game there and I’m looking forward to it."

Defending series champion Markus Niemela made it two Newman Wachs Racing machines in the top-three spots. The Finn logged a best lap at 1:07.881 in the No. 1 Mr. Jones/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NWR entry. Niemela just signed with the team last week and was still adjusting to his new surroundings in the series-sanctioned test.

1. Borja Garcia (R), No. 6 Condor Motorsports, 1:07.286.
2. John Edwards, No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:07.556.
3. Markus Niemela, No. 1 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:07.881.
4. Frankie Muniz, No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:07.919.
5. Harald Schlegelmilch (R), No. 21 Conquest Racing, 1:08.116.
6. Frederic Vervisch (R), No. 17 Genoa Racing, 1:08.155.
7. Jonathan Bomarito, No. 26 Mathiasen Motorsports, 1:08.268.
8. Matt Lee, No. 22 Jensen MotorSport, 1:08.322.
9. Simona De Silvestro, No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:08.344.
10. Alexander Rossi (R), No. 16 Genoa Racing, 1:08.366.
11. Max Lefevre (R), No. 7 Condor Motorsports, 1:08.600.
12. Michael Nacol (R), No. 2 Jensen MotorSport, 1:11.124.