Indy Lights - Krohn Finishes Fifth On The Streets Of Toronto

TORONTO, July 11, 2011: Rookie Anders Krohn recorded his best qualifying result to date in Firestone Indy Lights with a fourth in Sunoco Qualifying on Saturday and then went on to duplicate his best race result so far this season with a fifth-place finish Sunday afternoon on Toronto’s 1.75-mile street course.

Krohn, a native of Norway who lives in Houston, Texas, also finished fifth in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. with Belardi Auto Racing’s Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9.  In addition to Liberty Engineering, the entry also carries the colors of Logi Trans Offshore Express, Trallfa, PM International Suppliers, Allied Building Products, ZAT Graphics, Eagles Canyon Raceway, OMP and Bell Helmets.

With a big crowd of enthusiastic fans as well as a VERSUS television audience looking on live, Krohn immediately came under pressure from Josef Newgarden and then Gustavo Yacaman at the start of what turned out to be a 49-lap/1-hour contest on the bumpy street circuit. Yacaman and Newgarden were tucked in behind Krohn by the end of lap one, with polesitter Esteban Guerrieri, Stefan Wilson and Peter Dempsey a little bit ahead of him.

Krohn was still in fourth, just 0.6799 of a second behind Dempsey, on lap five but Yacaman was attacking from the rear and the leaders got a bit of a gap on him because of it. Both Yacaman and Newgarden posted faster lap times than Krohn did in the race, and they both passed him on lap 12 to relegate him from fourth to sixth.

A few seconds later David Ostella plowed into the tires rimming Turn 8 to bring out the first of three full-course caution flags on lap 14. The race resumed on lap 15 but the yellow came out again on lap 16 when Bruno Andrade and Daniel Herrington crashed on the frontstretch on the restart.

They were behind Krohn, but he got an unexpected gift when the leader, Guerrieri, spun on the restart on lap 20 to move Krohn back into fifth place.

He remained in fifth place until lap 35 when he repassed a wounded Newgarden, who pitted a bit later for a new nose cone that had been damaged in a tussle with Dempsey.

That moved Krohn back into fourth place, about 2 seconds behind the third-place driver, Yacaman, and 2.5 seconds ahead of Guerrieri, who was determined to make up as much ground as possible after his spin.

Guerrieri’s car was the fastest one in the race, and he passed Krohn for fourth on lap 40 five laps before he set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 64.0124 seconds (98.700 miles per hour). Krohn’s fastest race lap was a 1:04.883, which he posted on lap 43. Krohn’s qualifying time was a 1:03.4809 (99.526 mph).

Duarte Ferreira hit the wall in Turn 8 while running eighth to bring out the final caution flag on lap 46, and the race ended under that yellow three laps later. The top five were Wilson, Dempsey, Yacaman, Guerrieri and Krohn.

“Initially at the start Josef Newgarden and I were fighting it out for a couple corners. Then Yacaman passed me on the inside of Turn 1 and Newgarden passed me as well so I fell back to sixth,” Krohn said afterward. “I didn’t really have any pressure from behind, but I couldn’t catch the cars ahead of me. I was trying to improve the car and push as hard as I could, and I managed to repass Newgarden after he had contact with Dempsey, and then I just maintained fifth.

“Of course we wanted a podium, but considering the circumstances we’ll take this top five,” he added. “After the problems we’ve had recently it was important to have a clean race. The Belardi Auto Racing team has been working their tails off during these tough times, and I really want to thank them. It was great to qualify fourth and to be in the top five again. It’s like a huge, 100-pound weight has been lifted off our shoulders. The fans at Toronto were awesome, and this good, solid finish gives us great momentum. We want to get on the podium and even challenge for a win.  I can’t wait for Edmonton!”

With the fifth-place finish Krohn moved up one spot in the point standings, as he’s now in seventh place with seven races completed and seven remaining. The next event is very important to the point standings because it’s the only doubleheader on the schedule. It will be held July 23-24 on the airport circuit at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The compete schedule and more series news can be found on indycar.com/fil.