NA-F2000: Andersen Racing Lime Rock race notes

Three Andersen Racing Drivers Finish in the Top Five in 2007 F2000 Championship Series; Andersen Gets on Podium Twice Sat.

LAKEVILLE, Conn., Aug. 19 - Three Andersen Racing drivers finished in the top five in the 2007 F2000 Championship Series presented by Hankook Tires after a wild season-ending doubleheader at Lime Rock Park here yesterday.

Terrick Mansur of Aruba finished third for the year in the 12-race series. Noah Bystrom of Chanhassen, Minn., placed fourth and Ricardo Vassmer of Caracas, Venezuela was fifth for the Fairfield, N.J.-based team in the final point standings.

Another Andersen Racing driver, Mike Andersen of Green Pond, N.J., finished on the podium in both of Saturday's races. He placed second in Saturday morning's race and he finished third Saturday afternoon.

Mansur, Vassmer, Andersen and Scott Willard represented the team at Lime Rock Park. Bystrom decided not to compete here due to budgetary reasons.

Mansur, who drives the Aruba.com No. 17, qualified third for the first race, while Andersen started right beside him in fourth. Vassmer, whose No. 2 is sponsored by PDVSA, Citgo, Zoom and Meridiano TV, started seventh. Willard started 23rd in the 35-car field on Saturday morning.

Unfortunately both Mansur and Vassmer's championship hopes were dashed in the first turn on the first lap of Saturday morning's race when Keegan Van Sicklen started a nine-car, chain-reaction accident. Willard, of Weston, Conn., was also involved with his BroadReach Partners No. 14.

Andersen was able to avoid the carnage and eventually finished second in the race to Cole Morgan, with Jesse Yorio third.

Doug Prendeville ended up driving Bystrom's Andersen Racing car in the first race after he crashed his usual mount in testing on Tuesday. The Morristown, N.J. driver had to start at the rear but he was able to bring the well-prepared car up to seventh before the checkered dropped.

The starting line-up for the second race was determined by each driver's fastest lap during Saturday morning's race. Andersen started third in the nightcap, but Mansur, Vassmer and Willard were all at the rear when the green flag waved since they didn't complete a single lap of Saturday morning's race.

Morgan only had to finish fourth or better to earn the title, but he cemented it with another victory. Andersen ran in second place for most of the race but ended up third behind last year's champion, Matt McDonough.

Vassmer came from the rear to finish ninth. Mansur was forced to retire from the event early after contact with Doug Prendeville. Willard didn't finish due to electrical problems.

"Although we didn't have good luck today, I'm proud of the season we had," said team owner Dan Andersen. "Mike was on the podium twice today, and overall I think the team did a good job all year. There were many times, including this weekend, when our mechanics had to work very long hours to prepare cars after crashes, but they persevered and gave our drivers the best cars possible. Terrick did a great job to finish third. Neither Ricardo nor Noah ran the full season but we still had three drivers in the top five, which is a testament both to them and to the entire team."

"It was a rough weekend, but we still finished third in the championship," Mansur said. "Keegan hit me from behind in the first turn on the first lap of the first race. It was a mess.

"I had to start at the rear for the second race. Prendeville must not have seen me, and he hit me from behind and I spun out and hit the wall.

"But we were fast here," he added. "We qualified third for the first race. The car was working great. I liked the track. It's a shame the season had to finish this way."

"It was a rough weekend," Vassmer concurred. "We finished fifth in the championship. The car was really good on the test day. It developed a push in the first qualifying session, but we made some changes and improved the car so it was fine for the first race.

"I had a good start for the first race, but then Keegan Van Sicklen did a really aggressive move and it took us out.

"I had to start 31st in the second race. I started passing cars, and I was 12th on a restart. Then a guy put me in the grass and I got blocked a lot, so I couldn't get up any higher than ninth. But the car was really good. The team did a really good job."

"My teammates didn't have a good weekend, but for me and my car, it was good," Mike Andersen said. "In the first race I was fortunate to get through the big wreck in the first corner. All the cars around me got taken out, and unfortunately that included everybody on our team except for me.

"In the first race I had a pace to stick with Cole, but there was no way I could have passed him; second was the best I could do," he added.

"I think I should have finished second again in the second race," he continued. "I think my car was quicker than Matt McDonough's, but he got around me and I couldn't get him back.

"But all in all it was a good result," he concluded. "The rest of the guys didn't have such good luck this weekend, but it was a good weekend for me. I had fun."

-credit: andersenracingteam.com