For media information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Andersen Racing Sets Three of Top Four Times
In Star Mazda Qualifying
At Mazda Raceway Saturday
SALINAS, Calif., May 22 - Just as they did at the test at O'Reilly Raceway
Park on May 7-8, Andersen Racing's Star Mazda drivers set three of the top
four times during qualifying for Round 3 of the Star Mazda Championship
presented by Goodyear Saturday at Mazda Raceway.
Anders Krohn will start second, Tristan Vautier will start third and Mikael
Grenier will start fourth for the Palmetto, Fla.-based team in tomorrow's
45-minute race, which is scheduled to get off to a standing start at 9:15
a.m. local time.
The top eight cars were within 1 second of Conor Daly's pole-winning lap,
and Krohn's flyer was just 0.153 of a second off Daly's time.
Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway who is now based in Houston, led a big
portion of the qualifying session until Daly just edged ahead of the
1:21.028 (99.432 miles per hour) lap that "The Viking" ran in his No. 47. It is
sponsored by Trallfa Industries, Colosseum Dental, Norse Cutting &
Abandonment, Bring Logistics US Inc., SR Transport, ZATGraphics.com, Rioja Tapas
Restaurant, Eagles Canyon Raceway and Repcon Media.
Vautier, of Corenc, France, had a qualifying time of 1:21.055 (99.399 mph)
with his Sebring-winning No. 38, which is sponsored by Moulin T.P., Cecibon,
Circuit du Laquis and Fontanel Promotion.
Grenier, of Stoneham, Quebec, qualified with a time of 1:21.192 (99.231
mph). His No. 17 welcomes a new sponsor this week, Slow Cow relaxation drink.
It joins his other supporters, April Super Flow, NAPA Auto Parts, HS Telecom
and Desharnais.
Daly's pole did not break Richard Kent's track record of 1:19.935, which
was set in 2008 in an Andersen Racing car.
Andersen Racing has its own 1-mile road course test track at its
headquarters in Palmetto, Fla., Andersen RacePark. The team, which is sponsored by
Allied Building Products Corp., also has an international, national and
regional karting team and a Firestone Indy Lights team in addition to its Star
Mazda squad.
Post-qualifying quotes follow:
Anders Krohn: "It was a very good qualifying session for us. The car was
very stable. We were P1 for quite a while, but then Conor piqued us at the
end. That was a shame because the team, Tristan, Mikael and I have been
working flat-out all weekend. But we're on the front row, which is always good.
One of my sponsors, Bring Logistics, is here this weekend so we'll try to
win for them tomorrow."
Tristan Vautier: "It was a good qualifying session. We didn't get the
pole so you always want to do better, but we had solid results. The team did a
good job and gave us all great cars.
"This track is awesome. It's very challenging. On my fastest lap in
qualifying I made a really small mistake in Turn 10 because I was pushing hard.
"The race is going to be a different story than qualifying. It's 45
minutes long. We need to have a good start, and then stay out of trouble and see
what we can do. I have to thank the team though for giving us all good
cars."
Mikael Grenier: "We tried something yesterday afternoon that didn't work,
so we made a big change before qualifying and the car was quite good. I
don't think the field has ever been as tight as this.
"We can still improve my car before the race. I feel good about the race
tomorrow. Qualifying was fine; we were very close to the pole."
The stats so far:
First Test Session (Thursday, 11:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.):
1. Tristan Vautier, 1:21.846, 98.417 mph, lap 23
2. Anders Krohn, 1:22.110, 98.122 mph, lap 20
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:22.682, 97.443 mph, lap 23
Second Test Session (Thursday, 5:10 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:21.395, 98.984 mph, lap 14
2. Tristan Vautier, 1:21.940, 98.326 mph, lap 15
3. Anders Krohn, 1:22.076, 98.163 mph, lap 21
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:22.263, 97.940, lap 12
First Practice Session (Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:21.271, 99.135 mph, lap 15
2. Anders Krohn, 1:21.365, 99.020 mph, lap 13
3. Tristan Vautier, 1:21.627, 98.703 mph, lap 14
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:22.261, 97.942 mph, lap 13
Second Practice Session (Friday, 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:21.620, 98.711 mph, lap 15
2. Tristan Vautier, 1:21.801, 98.493 mph, lap 9
3. Anders Krohn, 1:21.894, 98.381 mph, lap 12
9. Mikael Grenier, 1:22.458, 97.708, lap 12
Qualifying (Saturday, 9:20 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.):
1. Conor Daly, 1:20.875, 99.620 mph, lap 8 of 13
2. Anders Krohn, 1:21.028, 99.432 mph, lap 6 of 13
3. Tristan Vautier, 1:21.055, 99.399 mph, lap 7 of 14
4. Mikael Grenier, 1:21.192, 99.231 mph, lap 6 of 12
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.