FA: Preview - San Jose.

As the championship battle reaches a fever pitch in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Championship, it's time for the combatants to demonstrate their street smarts while the series enters its final quarter.

Beginning with this weekend's Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose Presented by Taylor Woodrow Atlantic race, the next two rounds of the series will be contested on tight and challenging street circuits. With only 47 points separating the top four in the series standings with four races remaining, the driver that plays it smart and exhibits a street-racing acumen over the next pair of events in San Jose and Denver will gain a huge advantage in the pursuit of the coveted Atlantic crown and the $2 million champion's Champ Car bonus for the 2007 season.

Classic long road circuits at Montreal and Road America host the final two rounds of Atlantic racing so title hopefuls will also need to rely on their versatility over the stretch run in order to claim the ultimate prize this season.

The competitive balance of this season's Atlantic Championship continued to shine last weekend in Edmonton. With series leader Simon Pagenaud securing his first win and the first-ever victory for the Team Australia squad, the Atlantic series has now featured five race winners, four pole winners and 10 podium finishers over the first eighth rounds of action.

Will it be one of the top championship contenders that proves to be street-wise this weekend in the series' second straight visit to the 1.448-mile temporary course on the streets of San Jose, or will it be a new Atlantic young gun adding his name to the list of top series finishers?

Sunday's chequered flag will reveal the answer, but there will be no shortage of racing talent pursuing points at San Jose. Pagenaud's maiden Atlantic victory enabled him to open up an 18-point lead in the standings over his closest competitor. The French rookie has finished among the top five in all but one event this season and he's proven equally effective on both road and street courses. He'll make his first San Jose start riding a wave of momentum and hoping to keep the rest of the field at arm's length in the championship chase.

As it's been all season long, Pagenaud will have his hands full with at least two of the other top series racers, Andreas Wirth and Graham Rahal. Wirth scored his fifth podium of the season with a third-place result last weekend and he's finished among the top three an amazing 12 times in his 18 career starts. Currently second in the standings, 18 points off the lead, Wirth will try to close that gap and build on his fifth place finish at San Jose last season when takes to the track for Forsythe Championship Racing this weekend.

Rahal continues to lead the series with three victories, although he has yet to claim a street-circuit win this season. Bobby Rahal's 17-year-old racing prodigy son will still enter this weekend as a favourite after claiming two wins, three podiums and a pole position in his last four starts. Rahal remains third in the title hunt, now 24 points behind Pagenaud, as he prepares for his first time racing in San Jose for Mi-Jack Conquest Racing.

One of eight California racers expected to compete in this weekend's 25-car field, Jonathan Bomarito will certainly be a fan favourite. The consistent PR1 Motorsports driver hails from nearby Monterey, California and he'll also see his first San Jose Atlantic action. Bomarito ranks fourth in the championship, 47 points in back of Pagenaud, after finishing outside the top 10 only twice this season.

In 2005, David Martinez fought for the win in the San Jose Atlantic race only to finish second, just over a second behind victor and current Champ Car racer Katherine Legge. After bringing Bite Racing its top finish of the season in his first race for the squad last week in Edmonton, Martinez will be in search of another podium result at the venue this time around. The Mexican racer is the only series competitor to complete every lap of action in '06 and he's improved to fifth in the championship entering round 9 of 12.

Hoping to put the heartbreak of last weekend behind him, Brazil's Raphael Matos hopes his first start at San Jose will bring an end to the tough luck that's followed him this season. Matos won the pole and led the first 28 laps last Sunday in Edmonton before he hit the wall, ending the bid for his first Atlantic win. The Sierra Sierra Enterprises rookie, who sits 10th in the season standings despite his obvious speed, starts with a clean slate this weekend.

Fellow Brazilian hot shoe Danilo Dirani has also shown positive flashes recently, improving to sixth in the championship for Condor Motorsports. Dirani gets his first taste of San Jose street racing this weekend as well.

Leonardo Maia of Forsythe Racing returns home this weekend and he'll be looking for his first podium result of '06. Maia, who was born in Brazil but raised in Oakland, California, has finished inside the top 10 in seven of the first eight races this season. His Forsythe teammate, Portland winner James Hinchcliffe of Canada, hopes to get back on track in San Jose after an accident early in Edmonton ended his day and saw him fall to seventh in the standings. The fourth member of the Forsythe foursome, 16-year-old Richard Philippe, looks to continue his recent hot streak. Philippe has top-four finishes in two of the last three races as he makes his San Jose debut this weekend.

Polestar Racing Group's two California racers are also excited about racing in San Jose. Alan Sciuto of Orange, California made his series debut here last season, finishing an impressive fourth as a 17-year-old on a tough circuit. His teammate, 1997 Atlantic champ and Menifee, California native Alex Barron will see his first action at SJ.

Ryan Lewis, Rahal's Mi-Jack Conquest Racing teammate, makes just his second career street racing start this weekend, while another British racer, Tim Bridgman of Epson Team Jensen, will also compete at San Jose for the first time after scoring his best Atlantic finish of eighth last weekend.

The all-American Newman Wachs Racing duo of Joe D'Agostino and Steve Ott hopes to continue their recent upswing in their first action at San Jose. Also racing at the venue for the first time is another U.S. tandem of Robbie Pecorari and former Formula One hopeful and Red Bull driver Colin Fleming. Pecorari won at Toronto in Round 7 while Fleming, from North Hills, California, grabbed a top-10 finish in his series debut last weekend. Both Pecorari and Fleming will welcome a new teammate at Gelles Racing this weekend in Oxnard, California racer Phil Giebler, who finished eighth at San Jose in his series debut in 2005.

Justin Sofio finished ninth at San Jose in '05 as he wrapped up the C2 Atlantic title at the venue and the Arleta, California driver returns this weekend. Promising young Australian racer James Davison prepares for his San Jose debut along with Cooper Tires FF2000 series standout Ricardo Vassmer, who will be making his first Atlantic series start.

Brooks Associates Racing teammates Alex Sperafico and Carlos Mastretta will also be making their first starts San Jose. Returning to action for the first time since the season opener at Long Beach, Brian McAtee of San Clemente, California will look to improve on his 20th place finish at San Jose last season.