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The History of Atlantic

North America’s premier open-wheel development series continues its tradition of superb competition with a host of new and talented drivers entering the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda in 2008. Some of the most talented rising stars of racing from across the globe have joined the series this season for the opportunity to pilot the Swift Atlantic car powered by a 300hp Mazda-Cosworth engine while riding on new Cooper tires on some of the toughest race tracks in the world.

The new generation of Atlantic stars is hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of some of the biggest names in racing who honed their skills and matured both on and off the track in the Atlantic Championship. Now in its 35th Anniversary season, Atlantic has served as the proving ground for the best and the brightest in single-seat, open-wheel racing.

From racing legends like Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg, Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan—who began making their names in Atlantic in the 1970s—to Michael Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, and Jimmy Vasser in the ‘80s and ‘90s and recent rising stars like Graham Rahal, A.J. Allmendinger and Danica Patrick, no other driver development series in North America can boast of more race- and championship-winners than the Atlantic Championship.

The 1970s
Sprouting from the roots of Formula B, Atlantic began in 1974 with the advent of the four-valve-per-cylinder, 1600cc four-cylinder Cosworth BDA engine. With sponsorship support from Canadian tobacco giant, Player’s, sanctioning from the Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs (CASC), and Canadian national television coverage on CTV’s weekly Wide World of Sports, Atlantic held its first event on the weekend of May 26, 1974 at the Westwood circuit in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Oregonian Allen Lader claimed the first-ever race victory in the Player’s Challenge Series, as it was known in those days. Toronto’s Bill Brack won the first two series championships, facing down stiff competition from American Tom Klausler and Sweden’s Bertil Roos, among many other talented competitors.

However, the series cemented its place in open-wheel racing in 1976, when French Canadian Gilles Villeneuve established himself as a future star in a dominating season. Villeneuve won five races and six pole positions in the CASC-sanctioned Player’s Challenge Series in Canada, and won an additional four races and three poles in the six-race IMSA Formula Atlantic Championship on his way to both series championships.

Looking back, Villeneuve’s accomplishments were absolutely extraordinary, considering that he routinely beat future major league competitors such as Price Cobb, Rahal, Howdy Holmes, Tom Gloy and Elliot Forbes-Robinson, and topped established Formula 1 stars James Hunt, Alan Jones, Patrick Depailler and Vittorio Brambilla, to win the non-points event at Trois-Rivieres in Villeneuve’s native Quebec.

When Villeneuve parlayed his Atlantic dominance into a Formula 1 ride with McLaren following yet another Atlantic championship in 1977, the die was cast and Atlantic was the place to be for aspiring race drivers. Holmes claimed the 1978 title over Finland’s Rosberg, with Cobb, Jeff Wood, Rahal, Sullivan and Kevin Cogan also in the mix.

In 1979, Gloy became the series’ fourth champion, topping Cogan, Wood, Holmes, and Bob Earl.

Out of this era, Villeneuve went on to become a legend in Formula 1, winning six grands prix after joining Ferrari in 1978 and establishing himself as a fan favorite before his untimely death in a crash during qualifying at Zolder in 1982. Rosberg also went on to greatness in F1, as he claimed five grand prix victories and the ’82 world championship in a career that spanned nine seasons.

In North America, Rahal claimed the 1986 Indianapolis 500 as one of his 24 career IndyCar victories and was a three-time IndyCar champion. Sullivan won 17 IndyCar races of his own, including the famous “spin and win” at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, and claimed the 1988 IndyCar title.

Cogan also made a name for himself in IndyCar in the mid-1980s, culminating in a victory at Phoenix in 1986 and a near miss in the 1986 Indy 500 that was won by Rahal. Holmes and Wood would also go on to see significant seat time in IndyCars, while Cobb, Forbes-Robinson, Gloy and Earl would become certified sports car racing heroes.

The 1980s
Picking up where his brother left off a few years earlier, the 1980 and ’81 seasons belonged to Jacques Villeneuve. In 1980, Jacques won a series-high four races and three pole positions to beat Gloy to the Atlantic title by 10 points in the closest title fight in series history to that point. Close behind Gloy was Steve Saleen, followed by Cobb and Wood. The following year, Villeneuve claimed another four victories and his second consecutive series title, this time over Mexican Rogelio Rodriguez, and Whitney Ganz, while drivers such as Geoff Brabham, Chris Kneifel and Willy T. Ribbs also tried their hand at Atlantic in 1981.

The 1982 crown went to Dave McMillan, from New Zealand, who became the first driver from overseas to win an Atlantic championship. Among the drivers McMillan beat to the crown was Mexican Josele Garza along with Brazil’s Roberto Moreno, while future two-time IndyCar champion Al Unser Jr. also made a handful of Atlantic starts.

In 1983, Michael Andretti burst onto the Atlantic scene and promptly became the series youngest champion (a record that still stands today). Andretti won three races and a series high five pole positions to outdistance Moreno, who led the series in victories with four. The 1983 season was the first and only sanctioned by FIA, and the series faced possible extinction.

However, a group of Atlantic enthusiasts—Jon Norman, Tim Fortner and Rick and Gudrun Shea— kept the dream alive and formed the West Coast Atlantic Racing (WCAR) series for 1984. Dan Marvin claimed the inaugural WCAR championship ahead of Chris Bender and John Della Penna.

The following year, Vicki O’Connor, whose husband, Bill, was a stout Atlantic competitor in the early days of the series, took a page from the WCAR book and formed East Coast Atlantic Racing (ECAR) for the 1985 season. Wood went on to win the ’85 WCAR title over Marvin, while Michael Angus beat Steve Shelton, James Opperman and Michael Greenfield to the ECAR title in the first year of bi-coastal championships.

Ted Prappas claimed the 1986 WCAR title over Roberto Quintanilla, while Scott Goodyear topped Calvin Fish for series honors in ECAR. After narrowly missing the ECAR crown in ’86, Fish won the 1987 title on the strength of three wins to beat Shelton, and a little known Canadian named Paul Tracy made a few ECAR starts in ’87 as well. Out west, Johnny O’Connell bested Dean Hall, Parker Johnstone, Jon Beekhuis, Prappas and Jeff Krosnoff, while Vasser claimed his first Atlantic race victory in WCAR competition in 1987.

After finishing second one year earlier, Hall used five victories and six pole positions as his springboard to the 1988 WCAR title over Mitch Thieman and Hiro Matsushita. Shelton, meanwhile, finally claimed an Atlantic title of his own after finishing second twice and third once in his previous three seasons. Shelton topped the likes of Jocko Cunningham, Scott Harrington, Colin Trueman and Robbie Buhl to take the 1988 ECAR crown.

Following the 1988 season, Toyota Motor Sales, USA signed on to become the series’ title sponsor and official engine supplier, while Yokohama Tire Corporation became the series’ official rubber in what was a defining moment for Atlantic. Matsushita won the Pacific Division of the first Toyota Atlantic Championship in 1989, topping Joe Sposato and Mark Dismore, while Cunningham improved his position from the previous year by one place to take the Atlantic Division title ahead of Trueman and Claude Bourbonnais.

Like the ‘70s, Atlantic saw its share of graduates from the 1980s make names for themselves in the big leagues as well. Andretti was the most successful, as he went on to become the winningest driver in CART history and the 1991 Champ Car champion. Unser Jr., Vasser, and Tracy would also go on to become multi-time CART/IndyCar race winners and series champions.

Moreno, Andretti’s chief competitor in ’83, also parlayed his Atlantic success into a fruitful career in Formula 1 and Champ Car racing, the latter in which the Brazilian enjoyed two career victories. Goodyear used Atlantic as his springboard to a successful career in IndyCars, while Jacques Villeneuve also earned an IndyCar victory and became a snowmobile racing legend.

Dismore, who raced Atlantic into the ‘90s, became the series winningest driver and later enjoyed success in IndyCars, as did Buhl. Garza, Greenfield, Prappas, Hall, Johnstone, Beekhuis, Krosnoff, Matsushita, Harrington, and Bourbonnais all made it to IndyCars, while Saleen, Brabham, and Kneifel also had significant IndyCar seat time.

Saleen went on to become something of a “hot rod” magnate, while Brabham starred as a sports car racer in the late 1980s and Kneifel won a Rolex 24 At Daytona title in 2001. Likewise, O’Connell also raced open-wheel cars in the IRL before moving on to become a successful sports car racer in his own right. Ribbs was another driver who eventually found his way to IndyCars, but he also was successful in sports cars and even tried his hand at NASCAR. Della Penna transitioned into the team ownership ranks, winning an Atlantic title with driver Richie Hearn in the ‘90s before taking his whole program to IndyCar racing.

The 1990s
In its final year as a “split championship,” Dismore dominated the Pacific Division of Toyota Atlantic in 1990 to the tune of eight victories and the series championship, while Brian Till bested Bourbonnais and Freddy Rhemrev to claim the Atlantic Division crown.

In the first year as a unified series, Jovy Marcelo of the Philippines edged Vasser for the ’91 title by a scant four points, while Chris Smith beat Steve Cameron by just five points to take the crown in 1992.

The Atlantic competition reached a fever pitch in 1993, as Canadians David Empringham, Bourbonnais, and Jacques Villeneuve—Gilles’ son and Jacques’ nephew—fought tooth and nail throughout the season before Empringham wrapped up the title. Empringham would take his second straight Atlantic title in 1994, topping Hearn and Greg Ray, before Hearn returned the favor in 1995 and beat Empringham in the championship.

In 1996, Quebecois Patrick Carpentier tied Gilles Villeneuve’s record for victories in a single season with nine on his way to a dominant championship for Lynx Racing over fellow Canadian Lee Bentham. The following year, Lynx was back atop the points table with rookie driver Alex Barron beating teammate Memo Gidley and Canadian Alex Tagliani for the ’97 Toyota Atlantic title.

Bentham ended the Lynx run of dominance in 1998 as the series transitioned from the well-developed Ralt to the new Swift chassis, beating Andrew Bordin, Gidley, Anthony Lazzaro and Tagliani. And Lazzaro closed out the ‘90s with four wins and five poles on his way to the 1999 championship over Kenny Wilden, Bordin, Tagliani, Buddy Rice, Bentham and Sam Hornish Jr.

The 1990s produced Atlantic’s second Formula 1 world champion, as Villeneuve parlayed his 1995 Indianapolis 500 victory and IndyCar World Series title into an F1 ride with Williams and he went on to win the F1 crown in 1997. Villeneuve has now turned his attention to a career in NASCAR.

Carpentier became a multiple-time Champ Car race winner and has embarked on a new career in NASCAR, while Marcelo, Barron, Gidley and Tagliani also went on to race Indy/Champ Cars. Ray went on to win the 1999 IRL championship, while Hornish became the winningest driver in IRL history and is the series only three-time champion to date. Like Carpentier, Hornish is also a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie in 2008.

The 2000s
The 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship featured another dominating performance, as Rice won five times en route to the championship in the first year of Atlantic competition for DSTP Motorsports. Rice bested Dan Wheldon, Bordin, Martin Basso, and Rocky Moran Jr. to claim the title.

In 2001, Brazilian Hoover Orsi brought a championship to Hylton Motorsports ahead of Lynx Racing pilot David Rutledge and rookie Joey Hand, while Jon Fogarty won the 2002 crown for Dorricott Racing in their first year of Atlantic competition after moving over from Indy Lights. Fogarty claimed his title ahead of Michael Valiante, Alex Gurney, Luis Diaz, Moran, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ryan Dalziel and Rodolfo Lavin.

First-year driver and American open-wheel rising star A.J. Allmendinger re-wrote several Atlantic records in a dominating championship performance in 2003 for RuSPORT. Allmendinger tied Gilles Villeneuve’s record for most poles in a single season (9), while establishing a new record for victories in a season by a rookie driver with seven on his way to the championship over Dalziel.

The 2004 season saw Fogarty record six wins and six poles en route to his second championship but he still had to hold off the hard-charging Dalziel, who earned four victories and five poles to finish as series runner-up for the second consecutive year. Talented female racer Danica Patrick was third in the title hunt followed by rookies Andrew Ranger and Ronnie Bremer.

Several surprising performances surfaced in 2005 as a rookie-dominated field showed its mettle. As the series bid farewell to longtime sponsor Toyota after 17 memorable years, another aggressive female racing star earned international acclaim. Great Britain’s Katherine Legge re-wrote history as she became the first woman ever to win a major open-wheel race in North America when she captured the checkered flag at Long Beach in the season opener. Legge added two more race wins as she pursued the series title. European road racer Charles Zwolsman of the Netherlands enjoyed a dream season of his own as he recorded three wins and a series-high five poles, giving Condor Motorsports its first Atlantic title in its sixth year in the series. Zwolsman outlasted Tonis Kasemets of Estonia in the title chase while Legge finished third.

The 2006 season ushered in a new era of Atlantic racing as the series enjoyed a strong resurgence with the creation of the new Swift 016.a race car. Returning to its roots while also opening up new doors, Atlantic welcomed back Cosworth as the longtime engine manufacturer teamed with new series sponsor Mazda to create a new 2.3-liter, 300-horsepower Mazda-Cosworth powerplant.

The competition on track was furious, as Frenchman Simon Pagenaud became the class of a remarkable rookie field to claim the title for Derrick Walker’s Team Australia. Pagenaud’s impressive run of nine top-five finishes in 12 races outlasted the strong performance of 17-year-old American Graham Rahal. The son of Atlantic and IndyCar legend Bobby Rahal led the series with five wins and tied for the lead with four poles as he became the youngest race winner in the history of Atlantics. With a pair of wins to start the season, Andreas Wirth of Germany also enjoyed a solid second series season on his way to finishing third in the championship. Last year, Atlantic welcomed Cooper Tire & Rubber Company as the series’ new tire manufacturer and presenting sponsor and the season featured another hotly-contested battle among rising stars from all over the world. Brazilian Raphael Matos capitalized on an outstanding start to the season to outdistance French rookie Franck Perera in the title fight, while rising Canadian stars Robert Wickens and Kevin Lacroix and popular American racer Jonathan Bomarito also celebrated in Victory Lane.

Atlantic graduates from the 2000s have certainly made their presence felt at the top levels of motorsports. Hunter-Reay became the first American rookie driver since 1982 to win a Champ Car race in his first year when he took the top prize at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and he added to his resume in 2004 by claiming his second Champ Car win—this time at the Milwaukee Mile. Lavin joined him in the Champ Car ranks in 2003 while Bremer and Ranger emerged as two of Champ Cars top rookies in 2005. Meanwhile, Wheldon, Patrick and Rice are three of the biggest stars on the IndyCar circuit. Wheldon won both the Indianapolis 500 and the IRL title in 2005 while Patrick was named the series’ top rookie in ’05 after capturing three pole positions. Rice won the Indy 500 in 2004 and finished third overall in the series standings that year.

Allmendinger won Champ Car World Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2004 and he truly came into his own in 2006, winning five races on his way to finishing third in the final Champ Car standings. He made the transition into NASCAR ranks in 2007, and Allmendinger will rely on his years of open-wheel racing experience as he strives for the same success in the Sprint Cup Series.

Legge and Zwolsman competed in Champ Car, while Kasemets, Wirth and David Martinez also made their Champ Car debuts in 2006. Pagenaud and Rahal were top rookie contenders in the 2007 Champ Car World Series alongside Dalziel and former Atlantic competitor Alex Figge. This year, Rahal became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history when he won in his first IndyCar start at St. Petersburg, while Pagenaud, Dalziel and Figge have turned their attention to sports car racing.

In 2008, there are a host of competitors looking to establish their names in Atlantic Championship on their way to stardom. On the heels of the “reunification” at the top level of American open-wheel racing, the series has transitioned from Champ Car World Series, LLC ownership back to being its own entity, Atlantic Racing Series, LLC. In a season of change, however, one thing has remained, and that is that the battle for the 2008 Atlantic title will likely be one of the most hotly contested in years.

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