For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Cell: 317-201-0729
Andersen Racing's Krohn Finishes Second
In Friday's F2000 Race at Road Atlanta
BRASELTON, Ga., May 9 - Anders Krohn qualified second and finished second to
lead the way for Andersen Racing in Friday's F2000 Championship Series race
presented by Hoosier Racing Tire at Road Atlanta Motorsports Park.
Polesitter Jordan Taylor got a jump at the start and Krohn spent the rest of
the 18-lap race trying to catch him. There were no full-course yellows to
help the cause of the driver from Sandnes, Norway, and Taylor had a 4.944-second
advantage over Krohn's Van Diemen at the end. Krohn's No. 9 is sponsored by
Trallfa Industries, Colosseum Dental and Kruse Smith.
Doug Prendeville of Whippany, N.J. had an excellent start, moving up from
tenth to eighth in the No. 5 Van Diemen sponsored by Andersen Racing, Allied
Interior Products and Restart Communications. He got as high as seventh on lap
two and fell back to ninth at one point, but battled back for eighth by lap 13
to finish in that spot.
Scott Willard of Weston, Conn., advanced the most positions of the Andersen
Racing drivers. He started 18th with the BroadReach Partners No. 14 and
finished 13th.
Jonny Baker of Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, England had a crash in
qualifying with his Allied Interior Products No. 6 Van Diemen that affected his
race. He made a pit stop on lap eight but returned to finish the race in 25th
spot.
Ricardo Vassmer practiced here on Friday morning but decided to drop out of
the weekend's events before qualifying and re-evaluate the best way to spend
his racing budget. He said Andersen Racing is the best team in the paddock, but
he's been contemplating a move to stock cars in the future and needs to save
all his possible sponsorship money in case he pursues that effort. Vassmer,
of Caracas, Venezuela and Coral Springs, Fla., is sponsored by PDVSA, Citgo,
Zoom, Pilodist and Meridian.
There was only one hour and 55 minutes between the end of Friday's practice
session and qualifying. Peter Dempsey, one of Andersen Racing's Star Mazda
drivers, borrowed gear from other drivers, stepped into the No. 2 that Vassmer had
been slated to drive, and qualified fourth. Dempsey had never driven a F2000
car before and his first lap in qualifying was his first one ever on this
2.540-mile road course. The driver from Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland, didn't
get a lap in during the race, however, due to a clutch problem.
Andersen Racing is Van Diemen's factory team in this series. The Palmetto,
Fla.-based team is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. It is the
development team of Rahal Letterman Racing.
The team's Web sites are at andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.
More information on the series is available at eformulacarnews.com and
f2000championshipseries.com.
Another F2000 race will be held here tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. Then the circuit
travels to Watkins Glen, N.Y. for another doubleheader June 13-15.
Some post-race quotes follow:
Anders Krohn: "In my opinion, the start should have been waved off.
"That being said, I think Jordan had a bit stronger car than I did today. I
might have been able to pass him if there had been a full-course caution, but
there weren't any, even though in my opinion there should have been a couple.
The driver that was in third, Kyle Marcelli, had a bad crash near the end,
and there were parts on the track.
"My car wasn't bad; the Andersen Racing guys always do a great job. It didn't
seem to react as well to changes in direction as it did at VIR though. In
other words, when I turned the wheel left, it didn't turn as fast as it could
have. My car wasn't as nimble as we wanted it to be. We're going to work on
that tonight, and I will do my best to try to improve my driving as well.
"I didn't have any close calls. Traffic with the backmarkers was bad, but
that's the same for everybody.
"There are things I wish could have been different, like the start and the
lack of yellows. Still, I must say it's good points for the championship. But I
wanted to win."
Doug Prendeville: "It was a good run for the Allied Building Products and
Restart Communications car. The team gave me a good car. Hopefully I'll be able
to qualify better tomorrow.
"I had a couple of good passes with Tim Minor and another driver that were
fun. The people here from Restart seemed to be very pleased with the top-10
finish."
Scott Willard: "I had a fun race. I had a battle at the beginning with three
other drivers that was fun."
Jonny Baker: "My car was just very unpredictable. I think it is something
from the crash I had in Turn 1 in qualifying. It seemed like something wasn't
in line in the rear of the car. I came into the pits and they checked the
suspension to see if they could find out what was wrong, but nothing was evident.
They put some wing in it to try to make it more stable and I went back out,
but it was the same. We'll go back to the paddock and see if we can find the
problem and try again tomorrow."
Peter Dempsey: "I left the pits and I felt the clutch go. I think it got
jammed in gear.
"Such is life. We'll give it socks tomorrow. That's Irish for we'll try
again tomorrow."
Friday's stats follows:
Practice (8:50 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.):
1. Jordan Taylor, 1:25.405
2. Anders Krohn, 1:25.985
8. Jonny Baker, 1:26.812
9. Ricardo Vassmer, 1:26.873
12. Scott Willard, 1:27.530
32. Doug Prendeville, no time
Qualifications for Race 1 (11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.):
1. Jordan Taylor, 1:25.265
2. Anders Krohn, 1:25.312
4. Peter Dempsey, 1:25.758
10. Doug Prendeville, 1:26.907
12. Jonny Baker, 1:27.112
18. Scott Willard, 1:27.699
Race 1 Results (2:20 p.m.):
1. Jordan Taylor
2. Anders Krohn
8. Doug Prendeville
13. Scott Willard
25. Jonny Baker
DNS: Peter Dempsey
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 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, three-step program utilizing
multiple entries in three different series: the F2000 Championship (webcast), Star
Mazda (televised on SPEED) and Firestone Indy Lights (televised on ESPN2).
In 2008 it will field multiple entries in 42 races in 19 states and provinces
at some of the best facilities on the continent, including the famed
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andersen Racing's principals, brother 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. It is the
official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing, which competes in the IndyCar
Series and the American Le Mans Series. In addition, its F2000 team is also
the official factory team of Van Diemen. The team is headquartered at Andersen
RacePark, an 18-acre facility in Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile test
track. For more information see andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.