<< The Aim Autosport Star Mazda team came home from Mid-Ohio with two of three drivers inside the top ten: Mark Wilkins finishing fifth, James Hinchcliffe finishing seventh with Brandon Thomas finishing 43rd.

Practice and qualifying were completed during a variety of weather conditions from sunny and warm to rainy and cool. Brandon showed his wet weather skills in the first official practice session by topping the speed charts. Teammates Mark and James followed up with top ten times in the second session despite James having electrical problems with his car. Qualifying saw Mark lead the way for AIM with a time of 1:19.193 placing him third on the grid, James managed a 1:19.555 good for an 11th place start and Brandon started his first race with the team in 18th with a time of 1:20.548.

At the start of the race Mark was squeezed off line by a competitor and had to lift, meanwhile several cars streamed by him and placing him sixth after lap one. James had a good start getting away cleanly and progressing from 11th to seventh in the race. Brandon had an exciting first lap when a competitor unexpectedly turned in on him, forcing him to go off the road to avoid an incident. Brandon would rejoin in 43rd position.

#96 Mark Wilkins (AIM Autosport/Trizec Canada)
Qualified: Third (1:19.193) / Finished: Fifth
Quotes from Mark:
"With the starting grid at Montreal being determined by the series points standings it was important to finish well today, especially after the results at Road Atlanta," Wilkins said. "Today's results will move me a little bit farther up the grid and racing in front of my countrymen, on a track that I have raced on several times, should also give me a boost as well.”

#97 Brandon Thomas (AIM Autosport/Western Union)
Qualified: Eighteenth (1:20.548) / Finished: 43rd
Quotes from Brandon:
“Joining the team at this point in the season has made it difficult in terms of preparation and testing, however I still feel we are soon going to be competitive. I want to thank the entire AIM Autosport team for their effort.”

#98 James Hinchcliffe (AIM Autosport/Emexis/Noco/Mobil 1)
Qualified: Eleventh (1:19.555) / Finished: Seventh
Quotes from James:
"The important thing now is points" said James. "Rahal did not have a good race and Jaskol did not start so that is good for us for us going into Montreal." James now sits in 5th where 2-5 are only separated by 5 points. Montreal could definitely set the tone for the rest of the season for James and the Aim Autosport team.

Race Results:
1 Raphael Matos
2 Pablo Donoso
3 Robbie Pecorari
4 Marco Andretti
5 Mark Wilkins (AIM Autosport/Trizec Canada #96)
6 Jonathan Klein
7 James Hinchcliffe (AIM Autosport/Emexis/Noco/Mobil 1 #98)
8 Adrian Carrio
9 Brad Jaeger
10 Graham Rahal
11 Scott Jenkins
12 Mike Andersen
13 Colin Braun
14 Ryan Justice
15 Mickey Gilbert
16 Doug Peterson
17 Alan Sciuto
18 Mark Pavan
19 Jonathan Branam
20 Ross Smith
21 Robbie Montinola
22 Mike Anderson
23 Sean Guthrie
24 John Pew
25 Bob Kaminsky
26 Dan Tomlin III
27 John Faulkner
28 Jim Malackowski
29 William Daniel
30 Jon Brownson
31 Mike Kaeske
32 Steve Cook
33 Dan Tomlin Jr.
34 Wade Carter
35 Richard Haskell
36 Patrick O'Neill
37 Emmett Murphy
38 Brian Thienes
39 Mark Patterson
40 Phil Saville
41 Greg Byrne
42 Brian Battaglia
43 Brandon Thomas (AIM Autosport/Western Union #97)
44 CR Crews
45 John Lloyd
46 Luis Schiavo

AIM Autosport Notes:

- Round two from Road Atlanta will be televised on Speed Channel on May 29th at 2:00 PM Eastern time.

- Round Three from Mid-Ohio will be televised on Speed Channel on June 5th at 1:00 PM Eastern time.

- The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will now travel to the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada, for Round Four of the championship on June 10-11 as part of the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada activities.

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