Young Canadian formula car driver and shifter kart pilot chosen Class Valedictorian to address classmates during graduation ceremonies FONTHILL, ONTARIO - Canada's top ranking shifter kart pilot Matt Champagne and the Sunoco Team Ultra 94 members had a solid showing in the season opening 2003 Bridgestone/FormulaCar Magazine F2000 Racing Series at Mosport International Raceway on June 20-22. Twenty-four drivers took part in the two-race event. "It was great to get this first weekend behind us," Champagne said. "I think we were all a little nervous going in, but now we know what to expect from the series, it is just a case of settling in and getting the job done." Champagne set fast time in qualifying by over 4 tenths of a second in the first race and went on to win from pole, leading every lap. In the second race, Matt qualified second only two hundreds of a second behind the pole sitter. Matt took the lead just after half way, managing to pull out a five second lead and take home the win. The third race proved to be an exciting event for Champagne. Matt qualified third after getting only four laps in the twenty minute qualifying session due to gearbox problems. At the start of the race Champagne made contact with another car, causing the left side of the front wing to point up in the air and drag slightly. Still running in third, Champagne made his way past the second place runner and began to track down the leader. Five laps later Matt took the lead and began to pull away, taking the win with a 10 second gap back to second. "After the contact, the car had a slight understeer and had to drive the car differently, making some adjustments to my line," commented Champagne. Taking the win at the end was a real surprise,smiled Champagne. "I would like to thank Sunoco, Brad Brown, Ron Fellows, Russ Bond and Stand 21 for all the support. The team and I look forward to the next outing July 18-20 at the driver development track to prove once again that we are the ones to beat," stated Champagne. The weekend of racing was a great start to an exciting week for the young Canadian racer. During graduation ceremonies to be held on June 25th, 2003 at Confederation Secondary School in Welland, Ontario, Canada, Matt will address his fellow classmates as the Class of 2003 Valedictorian. Confederation is a French emersion high school with all subjects taught in Canadas second official language. "It is an amazing honor to be selected as Valedictorian and to address the entire student body. I cant thank my teachers and friends enough for supporting me in my racing career. Last year I missed a lot of school and without their help I could not have graduated, let alone be Valedictorian," comments Champagne. Next year Matt will attend Brock University where he plans to begin his studies in Business and Marketing. Matt will join Team Hurricane Racing this weekend at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, PA, for Round Three of the SKUSA ProMoto Tour Eastern Championship. Matt will drive in the ultra competitive ICC class piloting the CRS powered PTK. For more information on Matt Champagne visit www.mattchampagne.com or call Jeff Grist at 905.328.7458. For more information on Sunocos Team Ultra 94 contact: Russ Bond (905-852-2900) at r.bond@russbondagency.com or Brad Brown (416-233-8727) at k.andb.brown@sympatico.ca.