PORTLAND, Ore. -- Estonian Tonis Kasemets got off to a fast
start, then held off charging points leader Charles Zwolsman to win
the first Toyota Atlantic race Saturday at the Champ Car Grand Prix
of Portland.
Kasemets began the race in fourth but passed Zwolsman and Kyle
Kelley on the first lap and then chased down pole sitter Andreas
Wirth.
Kasemets, 31, was unusually subdued after winning his first-ever
Toyota Atlantic race.
"I'm usually a lot happier or crying," he said, "but I'm just
stunned right now."
Dutch racer Zwolsman edged second-place starter Kasemets by
1.232 seconds in the last race, at Monterrey, Mexico. He remains
the series points leader with 88.
Wirth finished in third place, his first podium finish ever.
Kasemets kept the pressure on the rookie, getting right up on him
in lap 18 then making wheel-to-wheel contact with him while trying
to pass in lap 24. He got around him on the next turn.
Zwolsman, who has made the podium in all three races this
season, posted the races's fastest lap time at 1:09.269 in lap 24,
then passed Wirth in the Festival Curves on lap 25.
"The car was good for me at the beginning, but after 12 laps,
it went away," Wirth said.
Katherine Legge, who became the first woman to win a Toyota
Atlantic race when she took first at Long Beach, finished in ninth
place.
Kasemets, who finished 11th and 12th in the Portland races last
year, also captured the pole in the qualifying for Sunday's second
race.
------
GOOD DAY FOR RUSPORT: Teammates Justin Wilson and A.J.
Allmendinger both have bright futures and they were happy to share
the spotlight after Saturday's Champ Car qualifier.
The two RuSPORT drivers finished 1-2, with Wilson capturing the
first pole position of his career.
They developed a rivalry as rookies last season, with
23-year-old Allmendinger beating out Wilson, then driving for
Mi-jack/Conquest, for rookie of the year honors.
Wilson, a 25-year-old native of Sheffield, England, finished
11th overall in points last season. He's finished fourth in three
consecutive races and stands No. 2 in the points race.
Allmendinger, a budding Champ Car star as much for his ebullient
personality as his driving, said his relationship with Wilson is a
rivalry, but a friendly one.
"There's no teammate I'd rather have, unfortunately he keeps
beating me." Allmendinger said." We joke around and hang out all
the time. Maybe I'll have to stop doing that."
------
GRAF IS THE ONE: Rookie Klaus Graf came from fifth-place to take
the lead in lap 16 and then held on to win the Portland 100 race,
becoming the first German driver to win a Trans-Am race since
Walter Rohrl in 1988.
Graf held off Randy Ruhlman and Joey Scarallo. Fifty-eight-old
Greg Pickett, making his bid to become the only driver to win in
four different decades, spent much of the race in second and
finished in fourth.
Graf picked up his first ever Trans-Am win. He is the first
rookie to win a race since 2002.
Paul Gentilozzi, tied with Mark Donohue for first-place in
career victories with 29, had mechanical problems and had to drop
out of the race.
------
WEATHER OR NOT: Unpredictable weather has confounded drivers in
the Portland race for years and this weekend has been no exception.
Overcast skies threatened rain Friday but the sun shone brightly
Saturday. Showers are expected for race time Sunday.
"It's not in my contract to race in the wet," Allmendinger
joked. "If it's raining tomorrow, I'm not racing tomorrow."