ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Franck Perera closed out his Atlantic Championship rookie season in fine fashion by taking his third victory in the 2007 season-ending Generac Grand Prix at Road America.
Perera started from the pole and got away cleanly to take the point. The Condor Motorsports driver was in control throughout, but Brazilian Raphael Matos managed to close the gap to less than one second in the final laps.
Perera’s lead was never seriously challenged, and he went on to win by .676 second over Matos. Perera’s previous two victories came at Mont-Tremblant and Toronto.
It was Perera’s eighth-consecutive podium result. He closed out the year as the only driver to finish every race inside the top five, becoming the first driver since Patrick Carpentier in his championship-winning season of 1996 to accomplish that feat.
Perera is the 2007 rookie of the year and finished second overall to Matos in the standings.
The finish:
Franck Perera, Raphael Matos, Cark Skerlong, Jonathan Bomarito, Giacomo Ricci, Kevin Lacroix, Robert Wickens, John Edwards, J.R. Hilldebrand, Ryan Lewis, Adrian Carrio, Matt Lee, Mike Forest, James Hinchcliffe, Justin Sofio, Tom Sutherland, Tonis Kasemets, Frankie Muniz, Brian Thienes, Alan Sciuto, Richard Heistand, Simona De Silvestro, Junior Strous, David Garza.