CART: Andretti happy to finish in points after no practice

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 23, 2001

Corby, ENGLAND---After two long days waiting for the track to dry and the weepers to be corrected Andretti and Team Motorola finally got on track today at the Rockingham Motor Speedway. In one day Team Motorola got in their first practice time on the newly built 1.5-mile oval and also raced the inaugural Rockingham 500. It was a difficult time but everyone was pleased that the event finally went green at approximately 4:45 p.m.local time. "It's been a long couple of weeks," said Andretti after completing the race. "It was good to finish and finish with points so I guess it was a good day."

Andretti started the race in third position (the grid was based on Championship Points) and kept pace throughout the first set of pit stops. Andretti stayed in the top five for the remainder of the race but was disappointed after a late pass under yellow bumped them back into fifth position, which is where they finished the race. "I wasn't pleased after our final pit stop, I certainly felt we were passed under yellow," said general manager Kim Green. "Beyond that situation Michael and Team Motorola did agreat job today."

Andretti and the team finished the race in fifth position, earning 10 points towards the championship. The team now departs for the United States where they will begin preparation for their next event in Houston, Texas, October 7.

Michael Andretti, Car No. 39, Motorola/Honda-Reynard

"Well, we got the race in and that was the most important thing today. I understand that everyone here worked really hard last night to get things in shape so I'm glad we were finally able to run. I think the track raced better than I thought it would, it was still very difficult to pass but it was still better than I thought. I'm glad the fans in England got to finally see us practice and race and I think it was probably a pretty different experience for them. We had a decent race car today but after our last pit stop I'm pretty sure we got passed under the yellow. But we scored points and finished the race so it wasn't too bad a day."

• Finished: 5th
• Started: 3rd
• Status: Running
• Laps Completed: 140 of 140 *Shortened event
• Points Earned: 10 for 125 total in the CART FedEx Championship

Kim Green, General Manager

"It's been a long couple of weeks and I'm glad we got the race completed. The fans have been so patient and the track worked very hard to get things done for today's event. I think the drivers did a good job in the race since they didn't have very much practice time and this was a new track. I was disappointed by one incident in today's race, on our last pit stop I feel like we got passed under the yellow. We were running at 50 mph exiting the pit lane and got passed by Castroneves while still in the pit lane speed limit area so I'm disappointed with that situation. Despite that I think that Michael had a heads up race, the engineers did a great job on strategy and the crew did a great job in the pits."

Text provided by Jana Griffith

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