SONOMA, Calif. — It was a record-setting weekend for the Firestone Indy Lights Series as two new visitors to victory lane boosted the total to nine different winners in 2008.
Franck Perera won Saturday’s Carneros 100 for his first Indy Lights victory in eight starts. Raphael Matos’ second-place finish gave him a one-point lead over Richard Antinucci, who finished third, in that race.
Perera led all 30 laps from the pole to claim his first Firestone Indy Lights victory and the third this season for Guthrie Racing.
“It’s an amazing weekend,” Perera said. “It was a new track again, and we were really good. We tried to catch Raphael (Matos) in qualifying. He tested here last weekend, so he had a better chance of being good than us, so it’s good that we got the pole. We had a good race. The car was consistent. We didn’t have to push it 100 percent. It was good to have a race like that.”
Pablo Donoso became another first-time winner on Sunday with a victory in the Valley of the Moon 100. He defeated Logan Gomez by 2.0601 seconds.
“This is great,” Donoso said. “This is a beautiful day. I’m pretty happy, and I love this track. I won here in 2005 (in Star Mazda), so now I’ve repeated in 2008. I had an awesome car. Team Moore Racing gave me a beautiful car. I did the job. I finished first. But it’s just not me; it’s the team, my family, my manager. This is for all the people who supported me in Chile.”
Matos finished sixth, extending his points lead to three over Antinucci, who finished seventh, but both drivers were called into the Indy Lights transporter for consultation with series officials after they were involved in a car-banging incident late in the race which involved blocking before Matos punted Antinucci out of the way.
“I was clearly faster than Richard (Antinucci),” Matos said. “Unfortunately, he blocked me four or five times. He didn’t give me any room, and that’s what happened. I’m very happy that I made the pass and continue leading the championship, and we’ll go into Chicago competing for the championship.”
Matos holds a three-point lead over Antinucci with one race remaining.
“In the backstraight, (Raphael) Matos went to the outside and cut the track, so he came out right behind by cutting the track,” Antinucci said. “That’s how he gained the advantage. I chose the inside from the beginning, knowing that he was right on my tail and I would get passed. I can’t bank on having the race review that later on so I defended my position from the inside, and he choose the outside and then back inside and just lifted me in the air and pushed me off.
“I lost two places. I’m OK, a little bruised, but I’m OK.”
The finishes:
Race One: Showing driver, laps completed and money won: 1. Franck Perera, 30, $22,000; 2. Raphael Matos, 30, $17,000; 3. Richard Antinucci, 30, $13,500; 4. J.R. Hildebrand, 30, $11,500; 5. Logan Gomez, 30, $11,000; 6. Ana Beatriz, 30, $10,500; 7. Daniel Herrington, 30, $10,000; 8. Pablo Donoso, 30, $9,500; 9. Jonny Reid, 30, $9,250; 10. Robbie Pecorari, 30, $9,000; 11. Mitch Cunningham, 30, $8,500; 12. Mike Potekhen, 30, $8,000; 13. Sean Guthrie, 30, $7,500; 14. James Davison, 30, $7,000; 15. Juan Manuel Polar, 30, $6,500; 16. Jonathan Klein, 30, $6,000; 17. Arie Luyendyk, Jr., 30, $8,250; 18. Dillon Battistini, 30, $5,000; 19. Brent Sherman, 30, $4,500; 20. Christina Orr, 29, $5,500; 21. Tom Dyer, 27, $3,000; 22. Cyndie Allemann, 6, $2,500; 23. Mark Olson, 1, $3,500.
Race Two: Showing driver, laps completed and money won: 1. Pablo Donoso, 30, $22,000; 2. Logan Gomez, 30, $17,000; 3. Ana Beatriz, 30, $13,500; 4. J.R. Hildebrand, 30, $11,500; 5. Franck Perera, 30, $11,000; 6. Raphael Matos, 30, $10,500; 7. Richard Antinucci, 30, $10,000; 8. Daniel Herrington, 30, $9,500; 9. Sean Guthrie, 30, $9,250; 10. Jonathan Klein, 30, $9,000; 11. Cyndie Allemann, 30, $8,500; 12. Juan Manuel Polar, 30, $8,000; 13. James Davison, 30, $7,500; 14. Robbie Pecorari, 30, $7,000; 15. Dillon Battistini, 30, $6,500; 16.  Arie Luyendyk, Jr., 30, $7,000; 17. Tom Dyer, 30, $5,750; 18. Christina Orr, 30, $5,000; 19. Jonny Reid, 29, $4,500; 20. Mark Olson, 28, $5,000; 21. Brent Sherman, 27, $3,000; 22. Mike Potekhen, 24, $5,000; 23. Mitch Cunningham, 0, $2,000.