Clarke, Yacaman register best finishes of season in Toronto 100

Dan Clarke and Gustavo Yacaman celebrated their podium finishes in the Toronto 100 with as much exuberance as race winner J.K. Vernay. After all, it was their first in Firestone Indy Lights.

Dan Clarke Credit: Scott Smith/NoFenders.com

Clarke, driving the No. 40 Wasteco Deans Knight Special for Walker Racing, finished 1.7469 seconds behind Vernay on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street course. Yacaman was close behind in the No. 10 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing car.

Both overtook James Hinchcliffe's No. 2 TMR Racing-Xtreme Coil Drilling car in Turn 3 on the white flag lap.

"Sitting in third place, watching Gustavo behind me, keeping an eye on him every lap in my mirrors, watching James and J.K. battle it out, I was feeling pretty good as the race was going on," said Clarke, who recorded his second top five of the season. "I was thinking, 'This is awesome; we're going to get a podium.' It's what we need because we've had some bad luck this year with little things failing on the car and missing out."

The former A1GP and Champ Car World Series driver, who competed on the Toronto course in 2006 and '07, also received some luck with 12 laps left.

"I hit the wall at the hairpin," Clarke said. "The inside wall sticks out just after the apex. I hit it with my front right. The steering wheel position had moved. I was driving around praying that my corner didn't collapse on me. That braking is hard into three. When I had second, I just hung on and crossed the line."

Gustavo Yacaman Credit: Scott Smith/NoFenders.com

Yacaman, 19, who posted seven top-10 finishes in 14 Firestone Indy Lights races last year, started a season-high fourth. He credited the efforts of the crew for the result on the track and thanked team principals for believing in him.

"I've had a relationship with Wayne before. He said, 'Maybe we can build something up for you,' '' Yacaman said of the first-year entrant in Firestone Indy Lights. "That's what we did. We got two great guys, Dominic and Nicholas Cape. They were joined by Wayne Taylor Motorsports, which is headed by Simon Hodgson, who has incredible experience. We've got a great group of people that we put together. Now the results are starting to show.

"It's really hard as a new team, as a one-car team, to be where we are right now. I'm really happy for them. This was not only good for me; it's really good for them because it makes us work harder and makes us exceed our expectations.

"This is definitely a great boost for me, for my dad, for my family, for everyone, to keep believing in us. Now what we have to do is keep working on it, keep scoring podiums, and hopefully a race win will come soon."

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