Freiberg Captures Sixth Place Finish at Mosport

August 23, 2007. Bowmanville, Canada. Three races on three consecutive weekends is always a challenge for teams and drivers, throw in a reoccurring electrical gremlin and race weekend rainstorms and things get tougher. Facing these difficulties Northwest Autosport driver Eric Freiberg, weathered the storms at Mosport International Raceway to wrap up the three race streak with a sixth place finish in Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.

“These past few weeks have been intense so it feels good to come out of these races with a top-five at Road America and a sixth place at Mosport,” a relieved Freiberg commented. “It has been an emotional roller coaster throughout, from the electrical problems at Road America and then climbing in my teammate’s car at the last second and claiming that fifth place, to getting knocked out on the opening lap at Trois-Rivieres, to having the electrical woes resurface at Mosport. It has been a character building stretch.”

Freiberg and the Northwest Autosport team entered the Mosport weekend thinking they had solved the electrical problems in the #3 CDE Collision Damage Experts Pro Formula Mazda once and for all at quick test session following Trois-Rivieres but the problem would return in the damp conditions that faced them at Mosport.  Freiberg would climb into a backup car once again and have to start towards the back of the grid after a difficult qualifying session, but the rain that had plagued him through the weekend would become an ally of sorts in the race.

“Everybody lined up on the grid on slick tires but not long after the race had started the rain came pouring down,” Freiberg explained. “With the track soaked drivers started to make pit stops to switch over to rain tires while I took a gamble and stayed out on course on the slicks and soon I was in the lead.  The rain storm had been heavy but brief and we hoped that the track would dry quickly, several cars were able to get by on the wet surface and with the race winding down a dry line was forming and I was poised to take advantage as everyone else’s rain tires were worn out when another rain burst soaked the track again.”

In finishing sixth, Freiberg sits just outside tenth place overall in the championship with races reaming at Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  "I’m glad that we’ve got these races under our belt and really have to thank my team for all the hard work and long hours that they’ve put in over the past three weeks,” Freiberg said. “We’ve got some time between events now and I know we’ll come on strong at Road Atlanta and hopefully record our first podium of the season.”

Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be aired on Speed Channel on Saturday, September 1st at 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

Round Eleven of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be held during the famous Petit Le Mans weekend at Road Atlanta on Friday, October 5th.

About Northwest Autosport                                                              

Based in Milwaukie, Oregon, Northwest Autosport is one of the top teams participating in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, which will feature twelve races across the United States and Canada supporting the American Le Mans Series, ChampCar and the GrandAm series. The team is dedicated to developing young driving talent and will award the highest finishing driver on their team a test in an Indy Pro Series car prepared by Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which is currently running a car for Northwest Autosport alumni Ryan Justice. For more information please visit www.northwestautosport.com.