CLEVELAND — For the fourth time in six 2007 Cooper Tires presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda races, Brazilian Raphael Matos, driver of the No. 6 ProWorks machine, extended his point lead with a victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Cleveland presented by LaSalle Bank at Burke Lakefront Airport.
Matos nearly earned every point available to him from the weekend by taking the bonus points for the provisional and final pole positions in his flag-to-flag victory. He led the field from a standing start into turn one and was never headed en route to a 0.506-second triumph over J.R. Hildebrand.
“I knew that with that pace that I was going, I was able to keep my gap with J.R,” the winner explained. “I was just trying to be conservative. Once I saw that he caught me a little bit, I pushed a little bit harder and I would gap him again. It was just amazing how the car was handling and how I was able to do that.
“I’m just so happy right now, not only because of this issue, but because I extended my points lead. I truly believe that, if we keep working like we’re working right now in developing the car, everything is going to be fine. Hopefully, we’re going to win the championship.”
In addition to being Matos’s fourth victory of the season, it was the fifth of his Atlantic career, and he now leads Sierra Sierra Enterprises teammate James Hinchcliffe by 30 points, with half of the 12-race season now in the books.
The finish:
Raphael Matos, J.R. Hildebrand, Franck Perera, Giacomo Ricci, Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe, Ronnie Bremer, David Garza, Alan Sciuto, Justin Sofio, Simona De Silvestro, Carl Skerlong, Junior Strous, Kevin Lacroix, Tom Sutherland, Richard Heistand, Brian Thienes, Matt Lee, John Edwards, Bret MacDonald, Ryan Lewis, Jonathan Bomarito, Adrian Carrio, Frankie Muniz, Adrien Herberts, Mike Forest.