News
07.09.08
BATTISTINI’S STRONG PERFORMANCE AT CHICAGOLAND DESPITE LAST MINUTE TEAM SWITCH
After the final Firestone Indy Lights race of the season Dillon Battistini ended his fantastic rookie year as the driver who achieved the most wins of the season, and he will be honoured with the "Gregory & Appel Securing Tomorrow Award" at the Indy Awards dinner at Las Vegas in November.
With a frantic week leading up to the last race at Chicagoland, where a dispute with Panther Racing resulted in Dillon having to switch and run with Team Moore Racing in their yellow and white no.22 car, Dillon was grateful for the opportunity to shine with his new team and add to his tally of wins in 2008.
Dillon consistently ran faster than the Panther Cars in both practice sessions and out qualified them with a 7th place starting position, being a great result considering he was working with a new team and engineers. This performance further boosted his reputation in the Indycar paddock.
During the race Dillon moved into the top five at the first corner before Daniel Herrington squeezed him onto the inner apron and then spun in front of Dillon who jinked to the right to avoid him, resulting in Dillon driving the whole of turn two with a full opposite lock power slide! Whilst doing this he was already on the radio to his pit asking for new tyres knowing he would need a new set to continue, sadly however Wade Cunningham also spun further down the field and unfortunately collected Dillon which damaged his car and therefore he was out of the race. A disappointing way to finish the season especially as Dillon was completely blameless in the incident; looking back he can only be very proud of his achievements in his rookie Indy season.
Said Battistini: Im delighted with the way my season has panned out. To win 25% of the Firestone Indy Lights races in my rookie year in the USA is certainly a statistic which should help me get noticed by the Indycar teams. I have a great platform on which to progress my career onwards and upwards!