PHOTO: ex-Formula 1 racer Derek Daly who's son Conor was Kyle Marcelli's teammate this past weekend.
Barrie, ON (June 3, 2007) – 17 year old Kyle Marcelli’s racing career is off to a roaring start as he swept the CRDA Shootout at Shannonville this past weekend, claiming both pole positions, leading every lap and winning both races in dominant fashion.
Marcelli rolled into the Friday test sessions never having driven the Shannonville circuit and not quite knowing how he would stack up against the considerable talent and experience of competitors like Shane Jantzi and Matt White. “I was a little nervous heading into the weekend because there is a lot of good racers in the series, and Shane and Matt have a ton of experience at these tracks,” said Marcelli. “I was happy to be near or at the top of the time charts fairly quickly on Friday so my confidence was good and I was excited about getting the season started.”
On Saturday Marcelli made it known he was going to be the guy to beat as he posted many impressive lap times and claimed the first pole of his career. At the start of the race he was challenged early on by Matt White but managed to hang on to the lead and as the laps wore on increased the gap to a comfortable distance and cruised home, with fists pumping, to the first victory of his career in just his first start.
The story was much the same Sunday. Marcelli claimed the pole position in convincing fashion and was confident for the race. Under threatening skies he took off from Matt White once again and lap after lap increased his lead to bring home his second victory in just his second start.
“I can’t tell you happy I am to be here today,” said the youngster. “It’s even more special to win in front of my family because they have done so much to help me realize my dream of becoming a professional racecar driver,” he added.
“I also want to thank the whole team at Brian Graham Racing for all of their hard work and their confidence in me. They have been running three cars here this weekend and for two of them to finish on the podium just shows what a great team of guys Brian has put together – my car was awesome all weekend.”
Kyle Marcelli has a commanding lead in the Ontario Championship but will shift his focus this weekend as he travels to Montreal to take part in the Formula Ford support race at the Montreal Grand Prix Formula 1 event.
“After having the kind of weekend I’ve just had I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be heading to Montreal. I will be racing on the circuit named after the great Gilles Villeneuve and in front of tens of thousands of race fans. I have also heard that a lot of the F1 mechanics and engineers like to watch the Formula Ford race there so it will be cool to run in front of them as well.”
Kyle Marcelli, a resident of Barrie, Ontario, has started his professional career by contesting the entire Ontario Formula Ford Championship this season in preparation for one off events in Formula Zetec and the Star Mazda series.
For more information on Kyle Marcelli please contact: Jason Sharpe // 416-838-0039 // jasons@teamsharperacing.com // www.kylemarcelli.com
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