For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
RLR/Andersen Racing's Romancini
Charges from 13th to Fourth
In Saturday's Firestone Indy Lights Race
At Iowa Speedway
NEWTON, Iowa, June 20 - It wasn't the flamboyant podium finish he recorded
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the total domination he displayed at
the Milwaukee Mile, but RLR/Andersen Racing's Mario Romancini continued to
impress Firestone Indy Lights fans by coming from 13th to fourth in Saturday
night's Miller Lite 100 at Iowa Speedway despite a broken weight jacker.
In some ways Romancini's performance on Saturday night was even more
impressive than his recent headlines, since the broken part stopped all the
in-cockpit adjustments the young driver from Sao Paulo, Brazil could make to his
No. 5 during the last 25 laps of the 115-lap/100.625-mile race. Despite the
problem he trailed only winner Ana Beatriz, runner-up Wade Cunningham and
third-place finisher James Hinchcliffe at the checkered even though he started
the event on the inside of Row 7 and he was racing on a track where it is
notoriously hard to pass.
By improving so many positions, Romancini once again won the $1,000 Force
For Earth Hard Charger award.
Even more importantly, the strong finish moved Romancini and his entry,
which is sponsored by Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing,
Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America, to second place in the
championship point standings. He now trails only J.R. Hildebrand, who has
227 points to Romancini's 211.
Romancini stayed in 13th place for the first five laps, and then got 12th
by passing Mike Potekhen with six laps down. He passed Gustavo Yacaman for
11th on the next lap right before a full-course yellow waved to tow in the
car of Sergey Mokshantsev.
He dropped back to 12th on the restart on lap 16 when Potekhen passed him
back, but he repassed him on the next circuit. He moved into the top 10 on
lap 18 by passing Brandon Wagner, and then nailed down ninth on lap 19 by
passing Andrew Prendeville.
He passed Pippa Mann for eighth on the very next lap, and got seventh with
22 laps down by powering by Charlie Kimball. He moved into sixth two laps
later by passing Martin Plowman, which put him directly behind the eventual
winner.
Romancini remained in sixth place through lap 37, and then broke into the
top five with 38 laps down by passing Hinchcliffe. The top five at that
point were Cunningham, Hildebrand, Daniel Herrington, Beatriz and Romancini.
The top five stayed in that order until lap 52 when Romancini passed
Beatriz for fourth, but Beatriz got him back on lap 53 seconds before Mann spun on
the frontstretch to bring out another full-course caution.
The story changed dramatically on lap 59 and 60. The green came out for a
few seconds on lap 59, but then the yellow came out again when Wagner hit
the wall in Turn 2 after contact with Prendeville and Hildebrand was given a
drive-through penalty for blocking Herrington. That resulted in Romancini
climbing up to third, behind only Cunningham and Herrington.
The green waved again with 66 laps down. Romancini remained in third place
behind Cunningham and Herrington until lap 94, when Beatriz and Romancini
both passed Herrington. Although the second-place driver had changed
Romancini was still in third at that point, but Hinchcliffe got around him on lap
96 to push him back to fourth. That's where he finished, although Beatriz
made the winning move by Cunningham with 107 laps down. The race ended under
yellow when Mann flipped on the backstretch on the white-flag lap after
contact with James Davison in Turn 2. Luckily she escaped serious injury.
Romancini's teammate for this race, Pablo Donoso of Santiago, Chile, had a
difficult evening. He started 15th and finished 12th, six laps down, after
struggling with the handling of his car all night. He drove the No. 9
sponsored by Andersen Racing and Allied Interior Products.
Romancini's fastest lap was lap 72, when he turned the 0.875-mile tri-oval
in 20.2790 seconds for an average speed of 158.706 miles per hour. Donoso's
best lap was lap 21, which he did in 21.2244 for an average speed of
151.637 mph.
The race was delayed one hour due to weepers, or water coming up through
the track surface due to a saturated water table, in Turn 4.
The race will be broadcast on VERSUS at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Monday.
The next Firestone Indy Lights race is slated for July 4 at Watkins Glen
International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. More information on that event and the
rest of the schedule can be found on indycar.com/pro.
For more information on Andersen Racing, which is sponsored by Allied
Interior Products and Lafarge North America and offers programs in karting,
Formula BMW and Star Mazda in addition to Firestone Indy Lights, see its Web site
at andersenracingteam.com. For more information on its 1-mile road course
test track in Palmetto, Fla., see andersenracepark.com.
Post-race quotes follow:
Mario Romancini: "It was a good race for the championship. I had a problem
with my weight jacker; it wasn't working for the last 25 laps or so, which
made it very, very difficult. The car had a lot of push and there wasn't
anything I could do about it. I was up to third but then I got blocked by
Herrington and then Hinchcliffe and Beatriz passed me. There wasn't anything I
could do about it. Still, it was a very, very good result for us,
especially with the problem with the weight jacker. I think it was a mechanical
problem with it; I didn't hit anything.
"It is very difficult to pass here. I was just trying to take advantage of
other people's mistakes. I was able to pass both on the inside of Turn 1
and to the outside of Turn 3, so that proves I had a good car and we did a
good job.
"Now we go to the road courses. We'll continue to work hard. I have to
thank the guys; it was not an easy day for us with the problems we had in
qualifying, but everybody did a good job. [Sebastian] Saavedra did not have a
good race tonight and he was ahead of me in the points, so maybe I am second
now; I don't know. But I am very happy to come from 13th to fourth in this
race."
Pablo Donoso: "I honestly don't know what to say. My car was just very
inconsistent, and I couldn't do anything with it. The team car finished fourth
but I couldn't do anything with it all night, and I don't know why. The
team said they were sorry to me but I say the same to them; I really don't know
why we had problems. I have done well here in the past, and I wanted to
get the team good points so they could stay up high in the championship.
"I had a couple of close calls. I was behind Davison when he touched
Pippa, and I was behind Wagner and Andrew Prendeville when they touched, but I
didn't hit anything."
The weekend stats:
First practice* (Saturday, 8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m.):
1. J.R. Hildebrand, 20.0425 seconds, 160.579 mph, lap 30
6. Mario Romancini, 20.2715 seconds, 158.765 mph, lap 65
13. Pablo Donoso, 20.5215 seconds, 156.831 mph, lap 52
* Friday's practice was rained out.
Second practice (Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., split groups):
1. Wade Cunningham, 20.0349 seconds, 160.640 mph, lap 38 of 41
13. Mario Romancini, 20.3292 seconds, 158.314 mph, lap 12 of 34
16. Pablo Donoso, 20.7168 seconds, 155.352 mph, lap 43 of 44
Combined Results of Practice Sessions:
1. Wade Cunningham, 20.0349, 160.640 mph, practice 2 (113 laps total)
12. Mario Romancini, 20.2715, 158.765 mph, practice 1 (99 laps total)
16. Pablo Donoso, 20.5215, 156.831, practice 1 (112 laps total)
Qualifications (Saturday, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.):
1. J.R. Hildebrand, combined two-lap time of 39.9348, 161.183 mph*
13. Mario Romancini, combined two-lap time of 40.4790, 159.016 mph
15. Pablo Donoso, combined two-lap time of 40.7611, 157.915 mph
* New track record, breaking Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s 40.1304, 160.397 mph mark
set last June.
Race (Saturday, 8 p.m., 115 laps):
1. Ana Beatriz
4. Mario Romancini
12. Pablo Donoso
About Allied Building Products Corp.:
Allied Building Products Corp., headquartered in East Rutherford, N.J., is
one of the largest roofing and siding distributors in the United States.
Founded in 1950 with five employees and two trucks, today it is a $1.8 billion
building material distribution company with over 3,500 employees, more than
200 branches in 30 states, well over one million square feet of office and
warehouse space, and an inventory of approximately 85,000 products, from
residential roofing and siding to doors, windows, waterproofing, manufactured
stone, interior products and commercial roofing systems. For more information
see alliedbuilding.com.
About the Lafarge Group:
The Lafarge Group is the world leader in building materials, with
top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: cement, aggregates and concrete, and
gypsum. With 83,000 employees in 78 countries, the Group posted sales of
19.0 billion Euros in 2008.
Lafarge North America Inc. ("Lafarge North America" or "Lafarge"), a
Lafarge Group company, is the largest diversified supplier of construction
materials in the United States and Canada.
In 2009 and for the fifth year in a row, the Lafarge Group was listed in
the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World." With the
world's leading building materials research facility, the Lafarge Group places inn
ovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction
and architectural creativity.
For more information about Lafarge North America, go to lafarge-na.com or
contact Louise Muth, director of external communications, at (703) 480-3707.
About Andersen Racing:
Andersen Racing strives to provide the best and most comprehensive training
possible for future open-wheel superstars while giving its marketing
partners media exposure and hospitality opportunities at some of the most
prestigious events in North America. It provides a unique, four-step program
utilizing multiple entries in four different platforms: karting, Formula BMW
Americas, Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights (televised on VERSUS). In 2008 it
fielded multiple entries in 42 races in 18 states and provinces at some of
the best facilities on the continent, including the famed Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Andersen Racing won the team championship for 2008 for both the F2000
Championship Series presented by Hoosier Racing Tire and the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear. Two of its drivers finished first and second in
the F2000 driver point standings, while another was sixth. Three of its Star
Mazda drivers placed third, fifth and sixth in that series' driver
standings. RLR/Andersen Racing finished sixth in the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights team
standings, while one of its drivers placed fifth in that series' driver
point standings.
Andersen Racing's principals, brothers Dan and John Andersen, have
extensive experience in series administration as well as team management. They've
worked with many of today's top open-wheel stars, including several Indy 500
winners.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge
North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman
Racing. The team is headquartered at Andersen RacePark, an 18-acre facility in
Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile road course test track. For more
information see andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.