For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Andersen Racing's Kent and Daly
Finish First and Second
In Star Mazda Action at Mosport
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 29 - After Andersen Racing's Richard
Kent and Conor Daly qualified first and second, respectively, they finished in
those same positions and in that same order in Round 11 of the Star Mazda
championship presented by Goodyear Saturday at Mosport International Raceway.
Although Kent had a whopping 6.063-second lead over Daly after 35 laps of
competition around the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course, his teammate
certainly didn't hand the victory to him. Daly actually led part of the race but he
spun while battling Kent, got airborne, and fell to third behind Kent and
Adam Christodoulou. Daly regrouped and regained second from Christodoulou
later, but with no full-course yellows Kent had already built up an
insurmountable advantage by then with his No. 33, which is sponsored by Traka and
Allied Interior Products.
It was the second victory of the year for Kent, who hails from Clifton
Reynes, England. Earlier in the day he won his fourth pole of the season too,
running more than a second faster than Daly, a MAZDASPEED Motorsports driver
development pilot from Noblesville, Ind. Daly's No. 22 is sponsored by
Indeck, Cytomax, College Network and Merchant Services.
Another Andersen Racing driver, Denis Navarro of Sao Paulo, Brazil,
finished tenth in the 17-car field. That is the same position in which he started
with his No. 21, which promotes Navarro Medicines Distribution and Allied
Interior Products.
The fourth Andersen Racing driver in the race, Joel Miller of Hesperia,
Calif., started seventh and finished 12th after a minor off-track excursion in
his No. 2, which advertises Fader Higher Productions, eSoles Custom
Footbeds, Doug Mockett & Co., Burns Truck & Trailer and Brazos Bend Energy Services.
Kent's pole came on a damp but drying track when he was timed in 1:24.186
for an average speed of 105.153 miles per hour. The qualifying session
started under light rain and fog, but conditions improved during the 45-minute
session. Making the set-up equation even more challenging was the fact that
the race was run under sunny conditions later Saturday afternoon.
Unofficially, after this race Peter Dempsey leads the point standings with
399 points to Christodoulou's 392. Daly is third with 342 points while
Miller is fourth with 336. Alex Ardoin is fifth with 329 and Kent is sixth with
317 points. Navarro is 11th in the standings with 263 points.
Andersen Racing is still second in the team standings, and now has 283
points to JDC Motorsports' 305.
Only two more races remain: Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. Sept. 25 and
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. on Oct. 10.
Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge North America sponsor Andersen
Racing, the development team of Rahal Letterman Racing. The team's Web site
is located at andersenracingteam.com. Information on the team's 1-mile road
course test track at its headquarters in Palmetto, Fla. can be found online
at andersenracepark.com. Information on its karting program can be found at
andersenkarting.com.
The series' Web site is at starmazda.com.
Post-race quotes follow:
Richard Kent: "I led about the first five laps, and then Conor got past
me. I repassed him, and was able to build up a good advantage because there
were no yellows; we went green the whole way.
"I didn't have any problems. The car was pretty hard to manage because the
track changed a lot between qualifying and the race. It rained before
qualifying, but it was sunny for our race.
"I just have to thank everybody at Andersen Racing and my sponsors for all
their help."
Conor Daly: "I led most of the first half of the race. Then Richard
caught me and we were running side-by-side in the middle of Turn 8. I got in the
marbles, and came on and off the track. When I came back on I hit a curb
and got airborne and spun. I guess I got the award for airtime.
"I fell back to third behind Adam Christodoulou. I caught him pretty
quickly, but the car changed quite a bit due to the off. I figured that out, and
then I passed him in Turn 8 for second. By then Richard had too big of a
gap though, so I finished second."
Denis Navarro: "I struggled in the first half of the race. I did better
in the second half, and came back to finish in the top 10. It was the best I
could do with the conditions. We learned a few things here, and got more
good experience."
Joel Miller: "I started seventh, but I was doing OK. I got by Alex Ardoin
to get into the top five. Then I was running right behind Peter Dempsey,
and I got caught in his car's aero wash. I went off in Turn 2 and got grass
in the radiator, and fell back to 12th. Without the off, I think we would
have been in the top five."
The weekend's stats:
Test Session 1 (Thursday, 9:20 a.m. to 10 a.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:15.607, 117.084 mph, lap 17
4. Richard Kent, 1:16.234, 116.121 mph, lap 11
6. Joel Miller, 1:16.516, 115.693 mph, lap 15
10. Denis Navarro, 1:17.235, 114.616 mph, lap 18
Test Session 2 (Thursday, 2:30 p.m. to 3:10 p.m.):
1. Richard Kent, 1:16.293, 116.032 mph, lap 9
4. Conor Daly, 1:16.707, 115.405 mph, lap 10
8. Joel Miller, 1:16.997, 114.971 mph, lap 7
11. Denis Navarro, 1:17.375, 114.409 mph, lap 8
Practice Session 1 (Friday, 8:40 a.m. to 9:10 a.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:14.914, 118.167 mph, lap 14
2. Richard Kent, 1:15.258, 117.627 mph, lap 14
3. Joel Miller, 1:15.678, 116.975 mph, lap 13
9. Denis Navarro, 1:16.195, 116.181 mph, lap 14
Practice Session 2 (Friday, 12:40 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.):
1. Peter Dempsey, 1:15.406, 117.396 mph, lap 8
3. Richard Kent, 1:15.514, 117.229 mph, lap 15
4. Conor Daly, 1:15.571, 117.140 mph, lap 9
6. Denis Navarro, 1:15.857, 116.699 mph, lap 7
8. Joel Miller, 1:15.938, 116.574 mph, lap 6
Qualifying (Saturday, 9:20 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.):
1. Richard Kent, 1:24.186, 105.153 mph, lap 15
2. Conor Daly, 1:25.199, 103.903 mph, lap 11
7. Joel Miller, 1:26.570, 102.257 mph, lap 13
10. Denis Navarro, 1:26.874, 101.899 mph, lap 11
Round 11 (Saturday, 5:35 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.):
1. Richard Kent
2. Conor Daly
10. Denis Navarro
12. Joel Miller
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 program utilizing multiple
entries in three different platforms: karting, 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, andersenracepark.com and andersenkarting.com.