Dorricott racing looks to win at GP of Long Beach.

If early momentum is a preface to the future, Dorricott Racing may be on another championship trail when its talented driver trio races this weekend at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and round two of the 12-race Toyota Atlantic Championship.

The 32 lap/62.976 mile Toyota Atlantic sprint around the picturesque 1.968-mile, 11-turn seaside street circuit is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. (PT), Sunday, April 14. It is the featured support race to the CART FedEx Championship Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach later that day.

Second year Dorricott Racing driver Jon Fogarty, of Portola Valley, Calif., returns to Long Beach coming off a season opening victory Monterrey, Mexico. Fogarty, who started fourth at Monterrey in the Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards Swift 014.a, seized the lead on the sixth lap from team-mate and polesitter, Luis Diaz, of Mexico City, then held off a late charge from Scotland's Ryan Dalziel to win by 0.884-seconds. It was the first career Atlantic race for Fogarty as well as the 2001 CART Dayton Indy Lights champions.

Dorricott Racing won at Long Beach last year in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship behind current CART FedEx rising star Townsend Bell, of San Luis Obispo, Calif. However, part of Bell's victory was due in part to early race misfortunes of team-mates Fogarty and former Dorricott pilot, Damien Faulkner, of Ireland.

Fogarty, who started on the outside pole, was caught out on the green flag and dropped a position. As the field screamed down the front straight-away into the challenging but narrow first corner, Fogarty was rear-ended by Danish driver Kristian Kolby. Kolby plowed his nosecone into Fogarty's gearbox and diffuser and, in turn, pushed him into Faulkner. Faulkner, who started fourth, never saw the contact coming as he spun and stopped in the middle of the turn. Fogarty and Faulkner were uninjured but their cars were unable to continue. Kolby, meanwhile, rambled back to pit lane where he replaced his nosecone and continued without consequence to a fifth place race finish.

Diaz channelled attention his way in Monterrey after winning the pole position with a blistering track record time of 1:27.089 (86.973 mph) around the 12-turn, 2.104-mile Fundidora Park to capture his first career pole position in a major international racing series. It bodes well for his first Atlantic effort at Long Beach as Diaz is looking to improve on his ninth place finish in last year's Indy Lights race at Long Beach.

Alex Gurney, of Newport Beach, Calif., started third at Monterrey, then moved into second place within the first couple of race laps. Trouble struck a little past the middle of the race when Joey Hand, of Sacramento, Calif., collided nose-to-tail into Gurney's Behr-Castrol Swift 014.a on lap 20. Gurney suffered severe rear wing damage and was forced to retire from the race.

Fogarty leads the Toyota Atlantic Championship after round one with 21 points. This includes 20 points for the Monterrey win and one bonus point for leading the most laps. He also assumed the lead for Toyota Atlantic Rookie of-the-Year honours. Diaz is in fourth place after Monterrey with 13 points including two bonus points for leading each of two qualifying sessions.

Speed Channel will provide a same-day delayed telecast of the Long Beach Toyota Atlantic Championship race from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PT), Sunday, April 14.