For media information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Jorda and Kasemets to Represent
Andersen Racing in Toronto's
Firestone Indy Lights Race
PALMETTO, Fla., July 15 - Rookie Carmen Jorda is expected to be back in
action while Tonis Kasemets will make his first start with Andersen Racing in
the Firestone Indy Lights race Sunday on the street course in Toronto,
Ontario, team officials announced today.
Both drivers last competed in the series' race at the Toyota Grand Prix of
Long Beach in April.
Jorda, a native of Alcoy, Spain, finished tenth in that event driving for
the Palmetto, Fla.-based team but then missed three races due to difficulties
with her program's funding. The 22-year-old who lives in Miami will be
sponsored by ASAP Sports, NTGS.es, iHOLA!, Air Europa and pepetravel.com for the
50-lap Firestone Indy Lights race on Sunday morning that precedes the Honda
Indy Toronto IZOD IndyCar Series race later that afternoon.
Tonis Kasemets (pronounced Toe-NEES Kahz-uh-mets), 36, is a native of
Parnu, Estonia who lives in Mundelein, Ill. He finished sixth in the Long Beach
Firestone Indy Lights race with Team PBIR. That was his only previous start
in Firestone Indy Lights, but he drove in five Champ Car World Series races
in 2006 for Rocketsport Racing. He was second in the Toyota Atlantic
Championship in 2005. More recently he has been driving Daytona Prototypes in the
Grand-Am Rolex Series, and he finished fifth in the Atlantic series last
year driving for Genoa Racing and Polestar Motor Racing. He honed his skills
in what has become the first level of the Indy Racing League's Road to Indy
ladder system with the USF2000 National Championship, as he drove Formula
2000 cars with much success for many years and he was the SCCA Formula
Continental national champion in 2000.
Kasemets' effort will be sponsored by Flexovit, a manufacturer and marketer
of high-productivity abrasive products for the industrial, welding, and
construction trades. Additional support will be provided by Northcentral
Construction of Fond du Lac, Wis., and a local hotel, the Novotel Toronto North
York located at 3 Park Home Ave. in North York, Toronto.
Kasemets will drive the No. 5 car, while Jorda will be in the cockpit of
the No. 4 she drove at St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park and Long Beach.
Both cars will also advertise the team's sponsor, Allied Building Products
Corp.
"We're very pleased that Carmen is back with us for Toronto and the
remainder of the year, and we know that she is very excited to be back behind the
wheel again," said team co-owner Dan Andersen. "This is her first season
racing in America and racing in Firestone Indy Lights, and she is determined to
learn as much as possible at every event so she can compete for the
championship next year.
"We also welcome Tonis for this 'one-off' appearance," Andersen continued.
"I have known him for many years, and have watched him produce excellent
results on a shoestring budget. He is one of those very talented drivers who
deserves a chance, and it is our pleasure to have him in one of our cars at
Toronto. I know he will run at the front."
"It's good to be back in the saddle again," Kasemets said. "Dan and I got
to know each other in two-liter cars, and we've known each other for a long
time. We've always tried to keep in touch, and perfect timing brought us
together to do this race.
"I've driven at Toronto in both Champ Car and Atlantic, so I'm familiar
with the track," he added. "Walt Preston [Andersen Racing's Firestone Indy
Lights engineer] and I have known each other for quite some time too. We're
both old school, so we'll try to come up with a good set-up, have some fun and
get some good results."
The weekend schedule shows practice at 11:15 a.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on
Saturday before qualifying at 11:40 a.m. Saturday. On Sunday there is a
warm-up session at 8 a.m. with the 50-lap race following at 10:10 a.m. Live
video streaming and live timing and scoring is planned for indycar.com.
For more information on Andersen Racing see andersenracingteam.com.
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 program utilizing multiple
entries in three different platforms: karting, Star Mazda and Firestone
Indy Lights.
A sister company, Andersen Promotions, administers the USF2000 National
Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda. It is part of
both the Indy Racing League's Road to Indy program and the MAZDASPEED
Motorsports driver development system.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. 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, andersenkarting.com, andersenracepark.com and usf2000.com.