MONTEREY, CA  (September 12, 2011) - When Patrick O’Neill switched from the Star Mazda series to the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship at the start of the 2010 racing season, he knew at least one of the tracks on the sports car circuit would be familiar – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Northern Irishman considers it a home track for him, as it’s one of the closest circuits to his adopted home of San Rafael, California.

“Laguna Seca is one of my favorite tracks,” said O’Neill, driving the #64 O’Neill Construction Élan DP02 for Performance Tech Motorsports. “It’s a total driver’s track and it’s got something for everybody – and every time you come over the Corkscrew, you can’t believe the whole view in front of you. It’s a cool track.”

Every track has its secrets, and Mazda Raceway is no different. Drivers learn quickly that what might look easy isn’t necessarily so.

"There are parts of the track where you think you can pass, but you really can’t. So you’ve got to be very careful, you’ve got to set up a pass during the lap prior and then make it - because unless somebody blows it and opens the door for you, you’re not going to get it. So unless you force someone into a situation where they have to give it to you, they’re not going to give it to you so you have to be prepared to take it. It’s a track that rewards consistency, so if you’re a technical driver, you’ll do well here.”

O’Neill came to the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship last season after several years in the Star Mazda series. The Monterey event was in May last year and the first race for O’Neill in the Lites car, so it took a short while to come up to speed on the familiar track in an unfamiliar car – but not that long, as he qualified fourth for both races and scored a third-place finish in the 30-minute race on Saturday. During the 75-minute endurance event on Sunday, an incident on lap 22 put him out of the race.

“I’ve been coming here since 2005 - every time Star Mazda came here, then last year with Lites, and it was interesting to come here with Lites after all the open wheel experience. When I first got into the Lites car, it really did take a few laps before I got it. It was that hard to get used to – the Star Mazda might be more nimble, but it’s less forgiving. The Lites car has good downforce and will hold you there a little longer, whereas in the Star Mazda, you turn in and she just goes off – and you’re not getting it back again. But the two are very compatible – they’re different kinds of fun! The Lites series is fun because of the people involved, how competitive it is and the way IMSA runs it – they really pay attention to it.

“We showed up for the first time in the car last year and the first practice, with my knowledge of the track we were second and third – and in the first race, I got my first podium in the car! I could have won the enduro, but I had an incident in turn two; and I have to say, I should have had the bigger picture in mind there. An enduro is about coming home – it isn’t about winning the corner, it’s about winning the race. But it was good, so I was looking forward to coming back. It’ll be game on. I hope I can get on the podium again!”

O’Neill currently sits in sixth place in a very tough Lites 1 championship battle; the top four drivers (Ricardo Vera, Antonio Downs, Jonathan Gore and Gerry Kraut) are separated by a mere nine points. In the Lites 2 chase, Robert Sabato has rewritten the class record books, winning an incredible eight of 10 races. Rookie Alan Wilzig looks set for second place with veteran Jim Garrett on the sidelines following a practice crash at Road America. Sabato’s teammates Michal Chlumecky and Max De Angelis will duke it out for third position in the year-end point standings.

The series is divided into two classes: Lites 1, featuring the Élan DP02 chassis, powered by a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder Mazda MP2 engine; and Lites 2, utilizing the West WX10 and WR1000 chassis, with either a Kawasaki ZX10R or a Suzuki GSXR motor.

The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship will have two races on the weekend schedule – a 30-minute race on Saturday at 9:00am and a 60-minute endurance event Sunday at 9:15am. Visit www.prototypelites.com for live timing and scoring and updates throughout the race weekend.

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