2009 Atlantic Championship

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.

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
Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing	1	Template:Flagicon Markus Niemelä	1–4
	34	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	5–12
	36	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	All
Template:Flagicon Jensen MotorSport	1	Template:Flagicon Markus Niemela	6–12
	2	Template:Flagicon Matt Lee	1
		Template:Flagicon James Winslow	2
		Template:Flagicon David Garza	3–4
		Template:Flagicon Barrett Mertins	12
	3	Template:Flagicon Michael Nacol	1–7
		Template:Flagicon Eric Jensen	9–10
	13		7
Template:Flagicon Condor Motorsports	6	Template:Flagicon Borja García	1–10
		Template:Flagicon Frédéric Vervisch	12
	7	Template:Flagicon Max Lefèvre	All
Template:Flagicon Conquest Racing	12	Template:Flagicon James Winslow	1
		Template:Flagicon Matt Lee	5
	21	Template:Flagicon Harald Schlegelmilch	1
Template:Flagicon Genoa Racing	17	Template:Flagicon Frédéric Vervisch	All
	18	Template:Flagicon Tõnis Kasemets	2
		Template:Flagicon Robert Wickens	10
		Template:Flagicon Greg Mansell	11
		Template:Flagicon James Winslow	3–4, 9–10
	19		5–7, 11
		Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	1–4
Template:Flagicon Mathiasen Motorsports	26	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Bomarito	1
Template:Flagicon Polestar Motor Racing	35	Template:Flagicon Tõnis Kasemets	1, 3–12
	66	Template:Flagicon Richard Zober	3–5
Template:Flagicon Paladin Motorsports	45	Template:Flagicon James Winslow	12
Template:Flagicon Team Stargate Worlds	77	Template:Flagicon Frankie Muniz	1-9
		Template:Flagicon Jonathan Bomarito	11–12
	78	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	All
C2 Class
Template:Flagicon Swan Racing	29	Template:Flagicon Ahsen Yelkin	1
	68	Template:Flagicon Chris Lee	1
	71	Template:Flagicon Michael Mällinen	1–4, 8
	75	Template:Flagicon Sadat Yelkin	1
	80	Template:Flagicon Hans Peter	8
	88	Template:Flagicon Mirl Swan	1, 8

Schedule

Round	Race date	Race name	Circuit	City/Location
1	March 20	Template:Flagicon Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida
2	May 17	Template:Flagicon Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix	Miller Motorsports Park	Tooele, Utah
3	June 13	Template:Flagicon Mazda Formula X	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Millville, New Jersey
4	June 14
5	July 18	Template:Flagicon Northeast Grand Prix	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut
6	July 25	Template:Flagicon Autobahn Grand Prix	Autobahn Country Club	Joliet, Illinois
7	July 26
8	August 8	Template:Flagicon Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
9	August 16	Template:Flagicon Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec
10	August 30	Template:Flagicon Grand Prix of Mosport	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario
11	September 26	Template:Flagicon Petit Le Mans	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia
12	October 11	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
2	Miller Motorsports Park	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Team Stargate Worlds
3	New Jersey Motorsports Park	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Genoa Racing
4		Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Markus Niemelä	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Team Stargate Worlds
5	Lime Rock Park	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Team Stargate Worlds
6	Autobahn Country Club	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
7		Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
8	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
9	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro	Template:Flagicon Team Stargate Worlds
10	Mosport International Raceway	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
11	Road Atlanta	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon Newman Wachs Racing
12	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon John Edwards	Template:Flagicon 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 Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon NJ1 Template:Flagicon NJ2 Template:Flagicon LRP Template:Flagicon ACC1 Template:Flagicon ACC2 Template:Flagicon MID Template:Flagicon CTR Template:Flagicon MOS Template:Flagicon ATL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon Points 1 Template:Flagicon John Edwards 1 2 5 6 2 1 1 9 2 2 3 1 182 2 Template:Flagicon Jonathan Summerton 3 6 1 2 4 2 11 1 3 1 1 2 182 3 Template:Flagicon Simona de Silvestro 5 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 10 2 10 176 4 Template:Flagicon Frédéric Vervisch 2 3 7 3 6 4 4 5 9 3 6 3 131 5 Template:Flagicon Tõnis Kasemets 7 5 6 7 5 5 3 10 4 6 9 4 103 6 Template:Flagicon Markus Niemelä 12 9 4 4 9 10 6 4 5 5 5 5 98 7 Template:Flagicon Borja García 6 DSQ 3 5 3 6 5 3 11 7 88 8 Template:Flagicon James Winslow 8 8 9 9 7 8 9 6 7 7 7 72 9 Template:Flagicon Frankie Muniz 10 4 8 8 10 7 7 8 6 62 10 Template:Flagicon Max Lefèvre DNS 7 11 11 8 9 8 7 10 8 8 9 58 11 Template:Flagicon Jonathan Bomarito 13 4 8 19 12 Template:Flagicon Eric Jensen 10 8 9 16 13 Template:Flagicon Harald Schlegelmilch 4 12 14 Template:Flagicon Robert Wickens 4 12 15 Template:Flagicon Michael Nacol 11 10 13 13 12 DNS DNS 11 16 Template:Flagicon Barrett Mertins 6 8 17 Template:Flagicon David Garza 10 10 8 18 Template:Flagicon Richard Zober 12 12 11 7 19 Template:Flagicon Matt Lee 9 13 6 20 Template:Flagicon Greg Mansell 10 4 Pos Driver SEB Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon NJ1 Template:Flagicon NJ2 Template:Flagicon LRP Template:Flagicon ACC1 Template:Flagicon ACC2 Template:Flagicon MID Template:Flagicon CTR Template:Flagicon MOS Template:Flagicon ATL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon 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 Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon NJ1 Template:Flagicon NJ2 Template:Flagicon LRP Template:Flagicon ACC1 Template:Flagicon ACC2 Template:Flagicon MID Template:Flagicon CTR Template:Flagicon MOS Template:Flagicon ATL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon Points 1 Template:Flagicon Michael Mällinen 5 1 1 1 1 93 2 Template:Flagicon Mirl Swan 1 DNQ 21 3 Template:Flagicon Hans Peter 2 17 4 Template:Flagicon Sadat Yelkin 2 16 5 Template:Flagicon Ahsen Yelkin 3 14 6 Template:Flagicon Chris Lee 4 12 Pos Driver SEB Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon NJ1 Template:Flagicon NJ2 Template:Flagicon LRP Template:Flagicon ACC1 Template:Flagicon ACC2 Template:Flagicon MID Template:Flagicon CTR Template:Flagicon MOS Template:Flagicon ATL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon 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."