	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS: JELD-WEN 100

June 21, 2008

NEWTON, IOWA

THE MODERATOR: We're delighted to have the third-place finisher, Ana Beatriz, from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Welcome to our press conference tonight. My understanding is that this ties your best career finish in St. Petersburg. Tell me about your trip today, the finish particularly.
ANA BEATRIZ: I think all weekend we were fast, had a fast car. Unfortunately yesterday with the qualifying, it wasn't that good as we thought. We start sixth. Worried me a little bit because it's a hard track to pass.
But the race was amazing. I could, you know, set up to pass the guys and finish third. The Healthy Choice Sam Schmidt crew worked really hard with me. It's great. I'm really happy. Everybody must be really happy and really proud of the third place.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on third place. I know some of the reporters here have some questions they'd like to ask.

Q. Ovals are probably new to you, but one this small, what's it like to turn laps around here as fast as you do?
ANA BEATRIZ: Yeah, it's my first year in ovals. It's a new experience for me. In Brazil and Europe, I just drove in road courses.
I like it really. Since Homestead, I enjoy really well the ovals. Some details, we couldn't go to the podium in Homestead, Indy, but we were always really fast. Finally we could do a podium in Iowa. Really proud, really happy for be here in U.S. It's like a long time career, since I was go-karting (Ribeiro and Cesaro) pick me, and managing me, we decide to go to U.S. I'm just really happy to be here.

Q. Your first half of the season now pretty much over, how would you assess what improvements you need to make and how well it's gone in this first half of the season?
ANA BEATRIZ: I think we start really well the season. We did a good race in Homestead. The setup we did in St. Pete, we did podium, led race, which was amazing. After that we just had ovals. It was my lack of experience. So I just have to learn it, improve it. We improve really well. After Milwaukee, we had a hard weekend. Now we could turn it over. Now we have third place, so it's very good.

Q. You got penalized a spot during the race. Did you feel that was fair?
ANA BEATRIZ: Actually after Matos went to talk with me after, they told me I block him. I thought it was the back straight. But he told me it was on the front straight. He told me he's already with the nose on the end. I didn't see him. My spotter haven't told me anything. And Bobby Wilson after just block me and he wasn't penalized.
I don't know really. I have to watch the tape. But I trust that Tony Cotman did the right thing. I just have to hear him.

Q. You were penalized on the track. Did you encounter any obstacles to passing yourself during the race?
ANA BEATRIZ: Yeah, it was really hard. Sometimes I set up wrong and then the guys pass me again, and I have to pass some other guys. Was really hard for me. Finally I could set up well and do good passing. I passed Bobby Wilson. That was really hard. After Jeff Simmons. After that Arie and Battistini were really far away. When we got the yellow flag, we had two guys one lap down in front of me, so would be really hard to pass them.

Q. You and Dillon have probably the least experience on ovals. You two seem to have adapted reasonably well. How do you like running side by side? Do you like being able to dice it around with cars as close together as you run?
ANA BEATRIZ: Well, for sure I really trust in my car and my crew that they did a wonderful job. That's why today I could run higher and lower. I think about the experience, Dillon, he's doing an amazing job in ovals. It's unbelievable how he get on it. I'm improving a little bit slower, but I'm improving. Let's work on it to try to win some races. Dillon is hard to beat on the ovals right now.
THE MODERATOR: Ana, thank you very much and congratulations again.
ANA BEATRIZ: Thank you very much.
THE MODERATOR: We have our second-place finisher here. We have with us Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Scottsdale, Arizona, second-place finisher today. I can tell you're disappointed. Tell us about the run and your feelings about it today.
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: Well, first off, I just have to say thank you to my team and Firestone. I mean, the car was amazing to drive. The tires held up on long runs. You know, I think we were the class of the field. In practice no one could be quicker. Qualifying we had pole. We led most of the race. But traffic didn't fall my way.
You know, some races are like that. It just seems like the unlucky breaks come my way (laughter). It's a little frustrating. You know, a lot of second-place, a lot of third-place finishes for me. I thought it was my day today. But, unfortunately, he got the best of me. Two guys went wide into one. Davison wouldn't let me by continuously for about two laps. Here I sit.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Arie.

Q. Walk us through that sequence when you got caught up in traffic.
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: I think it was like lap 98. I can see the pylon. I'm looking at the pylon, counting them down. I saw some lap traffic ahead of me. I cleared Cyndie. She did a nice job of staying high, holding her line. That was good. I knew Davison was battling someone. I couldn't tell who it was.
But, you know, we came up on Davison a few times already. Every time we could catch him, it would go yellow. It was just not putting him a lap down. I knew he would be an issue because every time we caught him, he was an issue.
Now this time, you know, I don't know if his spotters didn't let him know I was there or whatnot. But I showed him the nose going into one, and he decided just to take me all the way to the apex flat out. I had to lift and back off, down change two gears. That's when Dillon got me.
It was frustrating. The car was so good. I was just happy for our sponsor Targus. We've had some tough races the last few events. This is a good way to bounce back. I know we'll be quick at Nashville and we tested really good at Mid-Ohio. So I expect the same at the Glen. Hopefully we can bounce back with a win.

Q. Did you need to look in your mirrors? Could you sense him back there for a good part of the race?
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: No, I think I looked more behind me than I did in front of me, to be honest. It seemed like he would get close. If he tried to make a move or got within two car lengths, it seemed like he had trouble staying there, then the gap would stay at about four car lengths.
I knew if I could hold him on the bottom, the car was really good there. Every now and then I would run low just to make sure I could still do it. The track wasn't dirty down there. I was waiting for the time that he was going to make his move. He made a few of them out there, but they were usually induced by traffic or something.
I thought we had him covered. But, you know, just unfortunately sometimes you hit traffic and you have to slow up, and that's what happened.

Q. I know you're disappointed now, but overall this season you've made marked improvement. Your running results are much better than what we may have expected from you. Is your confidence way up right now?
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: I mean, I think, you know, that's a tough thing for me to say. I think I've always had confidence in myself. And I don't think that's any different than it has been. I just think I'm in really good equipment right now. I was with AFS a few years ago. Their program has stepped up tremendously with Andretti Green Racing. I've always been quick on ovals. I love driving ovals. Now after doing A1 GP last year, I feel like I'm a contender on the road courses, too.
I don't know where we stood in the championship. We're ready for the fight. It should be an interesting last nine races or so.

Q. A driver in the field might have held you up, has had some admonition in the past for holding people up. If you were Tony Cotman, what would you recommend or tell Tony you would think would be a good thing to do for these situations?
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: It's a tough one for him. I understand the guys are racing side by side. There's only so much he can do. I think he does an excellent job of officiating the races. He has done I'm not going to say better, but he has officiated the races very well, I feel.
I think it's more in the drivers' hands. I think you have a few guys in the series, I don't know if they were leading and I was the one being lapped, I would be more courteous to the leader. But I don't know if that's just me having, you know, more experience or being in this situation more often.
If you're having a tough day out there on an oval, you know, it's just not falling your way. These cars are hard to drive. If your car isn't set up good, you're not going to be quick. I just think if the leader's coming, there's a common courtesy. Obviously there's rookies in this field, and some of them just haven't learned that yet.
But I think the officiating, I'm not listening to race control, but from what I see on the racetrack, it's pretty good.
THE MODERATOR: The winner of this year's Jeld-Wen 100 here at Iowa Speedway for the Firestone Indy Lights, we're pleased to have Dillon Battistini, our new points leader.
DILLON BATTISTINI: Thank you very much. I'd like to start by thank Arie for testing my new champagne-proof fire suit. It works really well and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go racing.
THE MODERATOR: How does it feel to win at Iowa Speedway on the oval here today?
DILLON BATTISTINI: It just feels utterly fantastic. I hate to rub it in in front of Arie, but I feel great right now (laughter).
I feel a little sorry for Arie. He drove a great race. Circumstances went against him a bit. There wasn't much he could do about that. It was a very good battle, clean, enjoyable for me.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions.

Q. Ovals being kind of a new thing from what you're used to, this oval in particular being as short as it is, what is it like in race conditions whipping laps around here as quick as you do?
DILLON BATTISTINI: Well, what I would say is that it's enjoyable to drive, for sure. In race conditions, it's very difficult to pass because our cars are evenly matched on pace, and it was very hard to get enough of a run, enough of a slipstream to overtake without the intervention of traffic.
I knew that I had to make the most of the situations when we were coming to pass the lapped cars.

Q. Could you see that chance coming, that he was going to get bottled up? Could you get a read on that yourself and think it was your chance to actually be able to surpass him?
DILLON BATTISTINI: Well, I knew that it was my best chance to get past, for sure. I mean, I tried staying right on his gearbox when we were catching traffic. But, I mean, even if I could get a slight run, it was difficult to find space to get past. So I tried just hanging back slightly. My hope was that he'd have to back off and I would be able to stay flat. That's, luckily for me, how it worked out.
ARIE LUYENDYK, JR.: It wasn't easy for you to get around Davison either. When he cleared me, you know, you were being blocked by Davison as well. That gave me an opportunity. But luckily for you, it went yellow. I think that, in general, is just unsportsmanlike driving.
DILLON BATTISTINI: Yeah, that was pretty tough. He did come down and kind of chop across me. I came quite close to hitting him. Lucky for me it worked out. But it was tough. I mean, you know, getting past some of the other drivers was definitely easier.

Q. Dillon, I know you're a professional racecar driver, but this oval thing has gone pretty well for you this first part of the season. Are you surprised how well it's gone? At Homestead you talked about getting in an IndyCar at some point. Is that still on?
DILLON BATTISTINI: Yeah, that's still on. I have plans to do at least two or three tests in the IndyCar this year, a couple of races towards the end of the year. So the way things are going right now, I think it's all looking really promising for me. Hopefully I'll be in an IndyCar with Panther next year.

Q. Dillon, how are you adjust to get length of these races? Especially 115 laps today, how difficult was that physically?
DILLON BATTISTINI: It's fairly tough because we run really high downforce here. Obviously the IndyCar races are a lot longer. It's good preparation. Yeah, the race is longer than what I was used to last year in Asian Formula 3. I managed, I coped. I've been doing a lot of training. It's fine.

Q. You have adapted to ovals. How have you managed to do that with little or no experience to start with? These cars run very close.
DILLON BATTISTINI: I know. I mean, we were really close at times. I have to admit, when I first started driving at Homestead, it felt really quick. It felt quite dangerous running so close to other cars.
Once you get into race mode, it kind of goes out the window. You just put your head down and drive. Because you want to go faster, you actually feel slower after a while. It's just come to me naturally I guess. It helps when the car's great. The Panther team has given me a fantastic car at each of the oval circuits that we've been to. We got a bit unlucky at Milwaukee. I was flying in the test there. Unfortunately it didn't work out in the race. Aside from that, I mean, I've had a car capable of winning every time out. I'm just really pleased with how it's gone.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Again, congratulations.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297