AIM Wins at Road America
<< AIM Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe won his second race of the season when the Star Mazda series stopped in at Road America for round nine of the 2005 season. James fought off Robbie Pecorari and Raphael Matos to lead a 34-car field to the checkered flag.

With Mark Wilkins sidelined, AIM fielded only two cars at Road America, but Brandon Thomas was, unfortunately, out of the race after just one lap with an electrical problem.

Practice & Qualifying:
James was quick from the outset, setting a time of 2:06.046 in the first practice session. Only Matos made a faster trip around the 4.048-mile (6.515 km) track. Brandon was thirteenth in that session, but ran just eight laps. In a slightly slower second session, James was sixth and Brandon eleventh.

Everyone was up early for an 8am qualifying session. The track was quick and much of the field posted competitive times. Brandon slotted into twelfth place, while James, using just six laps, gridded third with a time of 2:06.138, precisely one-tenth off the pole time set by Matos.

Race:
The race began with a first-corner melee that took several cars out of the race, but James got an excellent start and was second when the yellow flags came out. Brandon, meanwhile, hobbled around the circuit and back to the pits where his AIM Autosport crew descended on the car searching for an electrical fault, a proverbial needle in a haystack. The problem was eventually solved, but not until the race was mere moments from ending.

Out on the track the first-lap crash was tidied up and James, was ready to pounce when the green flag came out. He shot into the lead, but yellow flags were soon waving again. Now the shoe was on the other foot, but James got the restart right and held the lead.

Pecorari and Matos were there every step of the way, but Hinchcliffe remained cool and led to the finish.

With nine of twelve races complete, Matos has 347 points and holds the championship lead. Hinchcliffe and Pecorari are next, each with 318 points to his name.

#96 Mark Wilkins (AIM Autosport/Trizec Canada)
Qualified: N/A
Finished: N/A

Mark was unable to race at Road America due to a foot injury.
Everyone at AIM wishes Mark a speedy recovery and looks forward to seeing him back in our car again soon.

#97 Brandon Thomas (AIM Autosport/Western Union)
Qualified: Twelfth (2:07.695)
Finished: DNF

Brandon:
It was a disappointing outing for Brandon. After working with his AIM Autosport crew to get the car set up nicely for the race, an electrical issue showed up at race time. Brandon, spent most of the race in the pit lane while his crew did their utmost to trace and fix the problem.

Brandon is looking forward to better things at Mosport in a couple of weeks.

#98 James Hinchcliffe (AIM Autosport/Emexis/Noco/Mobil 1)
Qualified: Third (2:06.138)
Finished: First

Quotes from James:
"When the green flag came back out I was able to get a good draft on Raphael and jump into the lead. I've had some pretty good restarts this season, but at our last race at Portland I wound up losing the lead on a restart and I made sure that that wouldn't happen again. I knew Raphael would try to get the spot back on the (next) restart, but I was able to get a solid start and he wasn't close enough to draft his way past. It was sweet redemption for a lost race in Portland!

"This is an incredible result for the team and it really strengthens our position in the points chase."

AIM Autosport Notes:
The Star Mazda Championship now comes to Canada for round ten at Mosport International Raceway with the American Le Mans Series, September 1-3.

See James Hinchcliffe's Road America win on Speed Channel, October 2nd at 2:00pm Eastern Time.

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