For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Romancini Finishes Sixth, Jackson 11th
For RLR/Andersen Racing
In Firestone Indy Lights Action at Toronto
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, July 11 - Mario Romancini came from 11th to sixth
and Ali Jackson came from 15th to 11th Saturday as both RLR/Andersen Racing
and Firestone Indy Lights make their first appearance ever at the street
course at Toronto's Exhibition Place.
Thunderstorms complicated the morning's activities, but the 50-lap
Firestone Indy Lights race started on schedule at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time under dry
conditions but with puddles on the course. Officials declared a wet start,
meaning that all the cars were required to start the race on Firestone
Firehawk rain tires. Teams could change to slicks at their discretion after the
initial green flag.
Using excellent pit strategy, the RLR/Andersen crew brought Romancini in
for dry tires on lap one. He was the first of the 18 drivers in the race to
pit, and the team hoped that strategy would give him the advantage of better
track position than his rivals when they pitted later. It almost worked to
perfection, except that Romancini lost a lap during his stop and some other
drivers didn't. He regained that lap quickly, but the highest he got in the
standings was fifth.
Romancini was 17th at the end of lap one. The driver from Sao Paulo, Brazil
started to move up when most of the other top-runners pitted on lap seven.
That put him into seventh place by lap eight, and sixth by lap nine, running
between the eventual fourth-place finisher, Stefan Wilson, and Jackson.
Romancini, whose No. 5 advertises Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling, Win
Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior Products and Lafarge North America, remained
in sixth place through lap 16, advancing to fifth on lap 17 after Ana
Beatriz spun. He remained in fifth, sandwiched between Wilson and Wade
Cunningham, until lap 40. At that point Romancini was still in fifth but James
Davison got around Cunningham. Davison, who set the fastest lap of the race on
lap 49, passed Romancini on lap 41 to push him back to sixth again. With no
full-course cautions to give him the chance to advance on restarts, he was st
ill in that position when the checkered waved on lap 50.
The Palmetto, Fla.-based team brought Jackson in for his pit stop two laps
after Romancini pitted, or lap three. Jackson was never lower than 14th, and
he rose to eighth by lap eight. After the driver from Belfast, Northern
Ireland made one more trip around the 1.75-mile, 11-turn street course he was
up to seventh place, right behind his teammate.
They ran together until Cunningham got between them on lap 14, pushing
Jackson's Moyvalley Golf and Hotel Resort/Allied Interior Products No. 9 to
eighth. Jackson got seventh again on lap 18 after Beatriz spun. Around the
halfway point he touched the inside wall in Turn 3 during his battle with
Cunningham, which dropped him to eighth. He remained in that position until Andrew
Prendeville got around him on lap 31. A subsequent problem with a lapped
car dropped him to tenth on lap 33. He just missed his hope for a top-10
finish when Daniel Herrington passed him on lap 39, but he still was able to
bring his car home in 11th position.
Both of the RLR/Andersen Racing cars sported the logo of Best Friends
Animal Society during the race as a salute to that not-for-profit animal welfare
group, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. The donated
signage drew attention to Best Friends' quarter century of service to the welfare
of abused, abandoned animals at its 3,700-acre sanctuary in southwestern
Utah, and for its on-going campaign work across the United States. Best
Friends' No More Homeless Pets program includes national campaigns in key American
cities to address the problems of saving pit bull dogs, speaking out against
puppy mills, addressing the problem of cat overpopulation and striving that
one day there will be no more homeless pets. More information on the
organization can be obtained at bestfriends.org.
Romancini's fastest lap of the race was lap 45, when he had a time of
1:06.9435 for an average speed of 94.378 miles per hour. Jackson's fastest race
lap was lap 32, which he turned in 1:07.9780 for an average speed of 92.942
mph.
Romancini is now third in the point standings. Jackson, who hasn't
competed in all the races, is 19th. For the second race in a row Jackson was one
of the Firestone Lucky Three, receiving a $1,500 bonus from Firestone in a
blind drawing among the drivers who didn't finish in the top 10.
VERSUS's TV coverage is slated to air at 11 p.m. Eastern time Monday.
The next Firestone Indy Lights race is July 26 in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. For more information on that event see 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: "I wanted to finish at least in the top five, but sixth is
not a bad position here. It's important for the championship. I think I'm
third in points now.
"Our car was not perfect here. We didn't know if the race would be in the
dry or the wet when we made our final set-up decisions. I think it was a
good idea to pit right away like we did. I was having some trouble under
braking, but still, sixth is a good result here."
Ali Jackson: "In the morning practice we had gearbox problems and only did
a few laps. I didn't get a chance to run with a full fuel load at all. But
the team did an awesome job. We came from 15th and got as high as seventh.
Then I touched the inside wall in Turn 3 during a battle with Wade
Cunningham. I got caught up with a lapped car too. From that point on I drifted
backwards. But still, considering everything, this was a good result here."
Saturday's stats:
Third practice (8:50 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.):
1. Sebastian Saavedra, 1:06.0206, 95.697 mph, lap 10 of 14
7. Mario Romancini, 1:06.9204, 94.411 mph, lap 14 of 18
16. Ali Jackson, 1:09.8317, 90.475 mph, lap 5 of 6
Race (12:30 p.m., 50 laps):
1. Sebastian Saavedra
6. Mario Romancini
11. Ali Jackson
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 utili
zing 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.