CITGO/SAMAX - Mexico race

Milka Duno and Marino Franchitti raced to a hard-fought 16th-place finish in
the March 4 Rolex Sports Car Series race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
in Mexico City. Duno started the No. 11 CITGO Racing by SAMAX
Pontiac-powered Riley Mk XI from 20th on the 37-car grid. She moved up to
17th after 17 minutes of the two-hour 40-minute race and stayed in the top
half of the field throughout her stint.

 

information provided by Race PR:

 

Unfortunately Duno suffered a drive through penalty when forced over a white
line avoiding traffic.  The penalty ultimately put the #11 CITGO car one lap
behind the leaders.  Franchitti took over at 1h6mins but the way the race
played out it was impossible to regain the lap.  The 16th place finish was
not a true reflection of an outstanding weekends work by the whole team.

 

Milka Duno: It was a tough race for us, I am disapointed about the penalty
as everything was going very well but I had no place to go! The CITGO/SAMAX
crew worked incredibly hard all week and the car was improving with each and
every session leading up to the race. Marino did an excellent job and I'm
really glad to have him as my co-driver. The team has really come together
in a very short time and we have a very good and talented crew behind us.

 

The Mexican race fans were simply the best. They were incredibly
enthusiastic and very supportive. They cheered from start to finish and made
me feel very proud to be able to race with their support!

 

Marino Franchitti: "The biggest problem for us is we're just not getting off
the corners. Whether that's engine power, whether that's [engine] mapping, I
don't know. When we're going, we're as quick as most people, but whenever we
get caught up in traffic, whoever is behind us can just drive past us. I've
never worked so hard for 16th place in my life."

 

The CITGO/SAMAX team will return to action at Duno's home track, Homestead
Miami Speedway, on March 25.