About the only thing that can slow down Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks) these days is a damaged race car.
Although he suffered a broken front suspension late in Friday’s first-round of qualifying for this weekend’s Fast Trac 100 at the Grand Prix of Houston (tape-delayed broadcast on ESPN2 at 5:30 p. m. ET on Thursday, April 26) Matos still emerged from the 35-minute afternoon session at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park with the provisional pole position and another championship point. The 25-year-old Brazilian racer recorded a blazing lap midway through qualifying and he was able to cruise through the rest of the session, struggling only after his suspension gave way, as the rest of the 28-car Atlantic field tried to get in the same vicinity of his top time.
Once the checkered flag flew to end provisional qualifying, it was a familiar site so far in the 2007 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. Matos was left on top of the charts with an impressive mark of 1:05.394 (92.651 mph) on the 1.683-mile street circuit constructed around Reliant Arena. The time was nearly seven tenths-of-a-second faster than the next-best qualifying lap as the series leader continued his early-season dominance in pursuit of the Atlantic title and the $2 million champion’s bonus to compete in the Champ Car World Series in 2008.
After winning the first two events of the season, at Las Vegas two weeks ago and on the streets of Long Beach last week, Matos is off to a fantastic start as he tries to become the first Atlantic driver to win the first three events of the season in 17 years. In addition to securing a front-row starting position for Sunday’s race for topping Friday qualifying, Matos also earned a bonus point and now carries a 12-point lead in the series standings, 66-54, over his closest competitor.
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