For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
RLR/Andersen Racing Finishes Second and Ninth
In Firestone Indy Lights Season Opener
Saturday at St. Petersburg
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 4 - Even though Jonathan Summerton had never
competed on St. Petersburg's street course before, the Kissimmee, Fla. driver and
his Palmetto, Fla.-based RLR/Andersen Racing team gave the home state fans
something to cheer about when Summerton finished second Saturday in his Firestone
Indy Lights debut.
Driving the No. 9 Dallara sponsored by Andersen Racing, Allied Interior
Products and Lafarge North America, Summerton turned a sixth-place starting
position into a podium finish, as he was just 0.7205 of a second behind Junior Strous
after 40 laps of competition on the 1.81-mile, 14-turn street course.
The other RLR/Andersen Racing driver in the event did great too, as Mario
Romancini of Sao Paulo, Brazil started tenth and finished a solid ninth in his
series debut. Romancini, who is a transplanted Floridian because he lives in
Miami when he's in the States, drives the No. 5 sponsored by Andersen Racing,
Revita Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge
North America.
Summerton passed James Hinchcliffe for fifth right off the bat, putting him
right behind the eventual winner. He took fourth on lap five when the driver
who had been second, Sebastian Saavedra, pitted with mechanical difficulties.
Summerton got third on lap 15 when both he and Strous passed James Davison in
Turn 1 one lap after a restart that was necessary after Jesse Mason spun on lap
10.
Summerton stayed in third place from lap 15 until lap 22, when Strous passed
polesitter J.R. Hildebrand for the lead on a restart and both Summerton and
Ana Beatriz got by Hildebrand too. That restart followed a full-course yellow
for debris in Turn 1 on lap 19.
The top two never changed from that point on, although both Summerton and
Strous set their fastest laps on lap 37 while Summerton was trying to catch him.
Beatriz pressured Summerton for many laps too, but Hildebrand got her back on
lap 34 to nail down the final podium spot. Hildebrand set the fastest lap of
the race with a 1:07.7315 (95.672) on lap 39, but Summerton was 1.4366 seconds
ahead of Hildebrand when the checkered waved one lap later.
Summerton's fastest race lap was a 1:08.0114 (95.278 mph) on lap 37.
Romancini's fastest race lap was a 1:08.8642 (94.098) on lap 36.
Romancini started tenth but dropped one spot on the initial start, taking
evasive action so as not to get caught up in an accident. He broke into the top
10 again when Saavedra's car had problems. Stefan Wilson got around him on lap
nine to push him back to 11th, but he vaulted from 11th to ninth on lap 15
when Duncan Tappy and Wilson dropped back. He stayed in ninth the rest of the
way, thwarting a great deal of pressure being applied by Charlie Kimball.
The second half of the doubleheader is slated to start at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Romancini will start tenth in that 40-lapper while Summerton will start 14th.
Both of the races will be broadcast at 6 p.m. Eastern time Monday on VERSUS.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge
North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman Racing.
Andersen Racing is based at Andersen RacePark in Palmetto, Fla., home of the
team's own 1-mile road course test track. In addition to Firestone Indy
Lights, the team competes in karting, Formula BMW Americas and Star Mazda in its
efforts to provide the best training young open-wheel drivers can obtain anywhere.
The team's Web site is at andersenracingteam.com, while the track's Web site
is at andersenracepark.com. Live timing and scoring is available at
indycar.com/pro.
Post-race quotes follow:
Jonathan Summerton: "I had a really good, consistent car throughout the race.
I have to thank everyone at RLR/Andersen Racing, Allied Interior Products
and Lafarge.
"I stayed clean on the start and just paid attention to where everyone was
going. It was chaos. You could see it coming. Then I basically kept following
Junior [Strous]. Each pass he made, I just kept following him. It was
really good. I think we had the quicker car, but in the end following him was a
little rough. I lost some of the downforce on the car, and he didn't make any
mistakes. All in all, I'm quite happy with second place. It was an exciting
race.
"I didn't even know Ana [Beatriz] was behind me. I knew somebody was
closing, but I focused ahead and didn't worry about it.
"Starting 14th tomorrow, I'm going to have to fight like crazy. My goal for
tomorrow is to get in the top five. With the safety cars, we may be able to do
it again!"
Mario Romancini: "My car was good, but we struggled a little with our brakes.
We'll look at the data and see what we can do to improve for tomorrow.
"My goal for today was just to finish and try to get some points, and we did
that. It was a good race for us. Now we'll try to improve the car for
tomorrow and score as many points as possible tomorrow too. The championship is our
goal."
Dan Andersen (team co-owner): "Without any practice, we've been chasing the
set-up, but Jonathan has been doing a remarkable job like we thought he would.
We made some changes for the race and finally gave him a really good car, and
he made the most of it. With a few more changes, it could be even better
tomorrow.
"In his first American race, Mario confirmed what we thought about him after
testing him: that he's a very talented driver. He drove a very solid race.
He didn't have a lot of opportunities to pass, but he did a great job to hold
off Charlie Kimball. I'm very happy with his top-10 finish. We believe he'll
only get better as he learns the American tracks."
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
innovation 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,
which competes in the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series. 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.