Pit Strategy Backfires at Infineon
SONOMA, Calif. Aug. 24, 2008—Darren Manning and the ABC
Supply team soldiered through a tough weekend at Infineon
Raceway to finish 22nd in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix.
Manning started 21st in the race and ran as high as 15th during
differing fuel strategies. Pitting early in the fuel window on
their second stop, the team was attempting a different strategy
to improve track position at the end. Unfortunately, it didn’t
work.
“It was a frustrating day for all of us,” said Manning
afterwards. “We tried to be aggressive on the pit strategy and
it bit us. We got behind some slower cars and it is so tough to
pass here, we were stuck behind them, causing us to lose more
than we gained by trying a different strategy.
“The car was alright but we still need to do a lot of work to
get around here better than we have the last two years.”
The day capped off what was a frustrating weekend for the ABC
Supply team. Although they continued to make gains with each
successive practice to narrow the gap, it wasn’t enough to make
a difference in the end.
Manning maintained his 14th position in the point standings.
Helio Castroneves led a Team Penske sweep this weekend as he and
Ryan Briscoe started one-two and finished one-two following a
devastating week in which the No. 3 car transporter burned to
the ground enroute to Sonoma due to a faulty wheel bearing.
Castroneves won with his back-up car. Third through fifth were
Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick.
The ABC Supply team heads to Michigan this week for the Detroit
Indy Grand Prix at Belle Isle where Manning finished fourth last
year. The race will be broadcast live Sunday afternoon on ABC
starting at 3:30pm ET.
Darren Manning to start 21st at Infineon Raceway
SONOMA, Calif. August 23, 2008—Darren Manning will start
21st in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County at
Infineon Raceway tomorrow afternoon in the ABC Supply Dallara/Honda.
Manning’s best speed was 105.766mph (1:18.38) which was his best
speed of the weekend.
“We went from three seconds off the pace yesterday to two
seconds this morning and 1.2 seconds in qualifying so we are
improving by big chunks of time,” said Manning after qualifying.
“It’s hard to make big gains in the pitlane but we’ve been able
to come up with some things back in the garage so we’re moving
in the right direction. We need another second for a good race
pace. The car is feeling better so hopefully we’ll make another
big gain in the morning warm-up before the race.”
Helio Castroneves maintained his momentum from yesterday to win
the pole at a speed of 107.809mph with his teammate Ryan Briscoe
sitting alongside him with a speed of 107.787mph. It was an
impressive feat considering the team transporter carrying
Castroneves’ race cars and equipment burned to the ground
enroute to Sonoma this week. No one was injured but the team had
to scramble to get the back-up equipment prepped for this
weekend.
Third through sixth on the grid are Will Power, Tony Kanaan,
Scott Dixon and Oriol Servia.
The race broadcast on ESPN2 starts at 5:30pm ET.
Notes & Quotes: PEAK Antifreeze
& Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma CountyDarren Manning: No.
14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda
·
Darren Manning on racing at
Infineon Raceway: “Last year we pounded around by
ourselves for nearly the entire race. By the time I got pass a
slower car, I had lost the lead pack and there were virtually no
yellows until the end of the race. It was one of our worst road
course races of the season but we learned some things that
helped us this year. Infineon has a lot of elevation changes but
unlike the Glen where those elevation changes are on the
straights, there are a lot of uphill and downhill corners at
Infineon so you get the compression in the corners, which puts
different demands on the car. But the more time I have in the
car and the more time working with A.J., Mike [Colliver,
engineer] and the ABC Supply crew, we can pinpoint the set-up
quicker. The competition on the road courses is a lot greater
this year with the influx of the Champ Car teams so it means
more when you come away with a top-10 finish.”
·
Manning on racing in Nurburgring, Germany last
weekend: “I had run at the Ring in my F-3000 days so I was
familiar with the track even though they had changed it up a bit
since the last time I raced there. The Embassy Racing team, for
whom I drove, designed and built their own LMP2 chassis over the
winter, but they ran into trouble with one of their suppliers so
they didn’t get in all of the pre-season testing that they had
planned. There were some glitches that the team had to work
through during the season. This past weekend’s performance was
the best showing yet and everyone was pretty happy with the
results. I started off driving, doing a one hour stint and then
turning it over to my teammate Joey Foster [a rookie] for his
stint. Halfway through my second stint, I started to get a
puncture on my right front tire so we pitted early and changed
tires and drivers. Joey did two hours and then I did about 2.5
hours to finish the race. Our car was very reliable—it was a
great milestone for the team.” Manning qualified the car
seventh in the LMP2 class (22nd overall) and finished
fourth in class (11th overall). His teammates [Warren
Hughes and
Jonny Kane] started 21st and finished 14th
overall. Manning will compete again with the Embassy team at
Silverstone Circuit [his hometown track] in
Northamptonshire, England
September 12-14 which takes place on the weekend after
the IndyCar Series
finale at
Chicagoland Speedway.
·
Manning took his girlfriend Lauren Feusner
to Germany for her first-ever visit to Europe. The couple (along
with Manning’s cousin Christian Richardson] spent the first two
days touring Frankfurt before making the 1.5 hour drive to the
famous race track.
·
Kentucky performance: Darren Manning and
the ABC Supply team were on their way to posting their fifth
straight top-10 finish [and seventh of season] at
Kentucky Speedway August 9th when the car lost power on
lap 146 forcing Manning to the pits. A water pipe clamp had
broken which resulted in the engine losing all its water,
causing it to overheat. Manning was credited with a 19th place
finish. He is currently 14th in the points.
·
Past Performances on road courses in 2008:
Manning qualified 11th at St. Pete and was
challenging for sixth when the paddle shift mechanism
experienced problems, dropping him to 13th. At
Watkins Glen,
Manning posted his career best finish of second after starting
eighth. He had his worst start on a road course at Mid-Ohio (21st)
but quickly jumped into second by lap six through pit strategy,
and finished eighth. At the
IndyCar Series inaugural race in Edmonton, Canada,
Manning started 19th and finished 10th.
·
The PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix
of Sonoma County will be shown live
Sunday, August 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET on
ESPN2.
