GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH NOTEBOOK: LEGGE IS FIRST FOR WOMEN.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services LONG BEACH - Katherine Legge Katherine Legge (pronounced "leg" (IPA pronunciation: [lɛg])) (born 12 July, 1980 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a British auto racing driver, currently racing in the Champ Car World Series. won her Toyota Atlantic debut Sunday, surviving a collision to become the first woman to win a race in the developmental series for the Champ Car “CART” redirects here. For other uses, see CART (disambiguation). Champ Car, an abbreviation of "Championship Car", has been the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades. World Series. The 25-year-old Englishwoman started seventh in the 19-car field and was able to continue after colliding on the sixth lap with Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born: January 4, 1985 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career in motor racing at age 8, and most recently competed in the World Series by Renault championship. , another of the 15 rookies in the lineup. It was the first major open-wheel win for a woman since Desire Wilson won an Aurora Formula One race at Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events. in England in 1980, the year Legge was born. She took the lead with just over two laps remaining in the 32-lap event in the streets of downtown Long Beach when leader Rocky Moran Rocky Moran, Sr. (born February 3, 1950 in Pasadena, California) is a retired American race car driver. Moran, Sr. started three Indianapolis 500 mile races (1988 Indianapolis 500, 1989 Indianapolis 500, 1990 Indianapolis 500) with a best finish of 14th in 1989. Jr. slowed with a mechanical problem. Legge then held off PKV Racing PKV Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the Champ Car World Series. The team has also sponsored several drivers in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship. The team was formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former teammate and fellow rookie Antoine Bessette, who started from the pole, for the victory by about three car-lengths. The best previous finish by a woman in the Atlantic series was two seconds by Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin) is an American auto racing driver competing in the IndyCar Series. She is from an Irish-American family and was raised in Roscoe, Illinois. , a rookie this season in Indy Racing League The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel racing series. The League consists of two series, the premiere IndyCar Series . ``It's been a lifelong ambition of mine to be here right now,'' said Legge, who grew up near the Silverstone racetrack north of London and began her career in go-karts. --Ruhlman wins first: Randy Ruhlman won the Trans-Am Series race. Ruhlman, in a Chevrolet Corvette corvette, small warship, classed between a frigate and a sloop-of-war. Corvettes usually were flush-decked and carried fewer than 28 guns. They were widely employed in escorting convoys and attacking merchant ships during the great naval wars of the late 18th and , won for the first time in 147 Trans- Am starts. ``This weekend went picture perfect from start to finish,'' Ruhlman said. ``We tested in Arizona last week and that really got the car dialed in. All the sessions went well.'' Greg Pickett took second and Michael Lewis finished third, each in Jaguars, followed by John Baucom in a Ford Mustang and Tomy Drissi in a Jaguar. --Fans liked catching this drift: Fans and competitors alike were thrilled by the Drifting Challenge during the weekend. ``I think drifting really added to the event,'' said Champ Car driver Paul Tracy, who finished second in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The top American drifters have played before packed houses before, but not before the 75,000 who watched them slide through the corners Sunday. ``The crowd was loving it,'' said San Gabriel's Ken Gushi, driving his new Ford Mustang. ``It really makes us look good and wanting to do good.'' The cars were running in tandems on Sunday. Rhys Millen was paired with Japan's Nobutero Taniguchi. ``I had the best pairing,'' said Millen, who won the Toyota Pro-Celebrity race on Saturday. ``He was the best out here.'' Actually, Millen is currently ranked fifth in the D1 series and Taniguchi 10th. ``Everyone was loving us, from the organizers to the crowd,'' he said. ``They were blown away by our style. A lot of people had not seen this. It's great for the sport.'' Event promoter Jim Michaelian said it is one of the best additions to the event. ``It was absolutely spectacular,'' he said. ``It certainly turned heads. We had an excited young crowd and drifting certainly helped. It was more like a festival.'' -Keith Lair CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Katherine Legge became the first woman to win a Toyota Atlantic Race despite a collision Sunday in Long Beach. David Waters/Staff Photographer |
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