NA-F2000: Andersen Racing Mid-Ohio summary

Andersen Racing's Krohn and Baker Take Both Halves of F2000 Doubleheader Saturday and Sunday at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio, July 13 - Andersen Racing's Anders Krohn posted his fifth victory of the season in Round 7 of the F2000 Championship presented by Hoosier Racing Tire Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. On Sunday one of his teammates, Jonny Baker, stepped into the limelight by winning Round 8, giving him his first victory in America and his Palmetto, Fla.-based, factory Van Diemen team another doubleheader sweep.

In addition to his victory on Saturday, Krohn earned two track records at Mid-Ohio this weekend. He broke the old F2000 qualifying record in winning the pole for Saturday's race, and then he broke the race lap record on Sunday while coming from 29th position to fourth at the checkered. Baker won the pole for Sunday's race, and both drivers led every lap enroute to their respective victories.

Neither driver had ever even seen the track before this event.

Krohn, of Sandnes, Norway, got Saturday off to a great start by setting a new track record of 1:24.909 while winning his fourth pole of the year.

His victory on Saturday with the Andersen Racing No. 9 Van Diemen sponsored by Trallfa Industries, Colosseum Dental and Kruse Smith was not a pretty affair, as many cautions marred that race. Still, Krohn held off all comers and he had a 2.584-second lead over Chris Miller at the line. Remy Audette finished third.

Baker persevered for sixth on Saturday with his car, which carries the colors of team sponsor Allied Interior Products. The team's representative in the Masters Class, Scott Willard of Weston, Conn., was 18th in the 34-car field on Saturday with his BroadReach Partners No. 14. Another Andersen Racing driver, Doug Prendeville of Whippany, N.J., who had won the last race, was one of the drivers out early.

On Sunday morning both Krohn and Prendeville spun during the qualifying session and were penalized for bringing out the yellow flag. Both lost their two fastest laps, with Prendeville delegated to the 28th starting spot and Krohn 29th.

Baker, on the other hand, put down a good lap early, giving the driver from Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, England the pole for Sunday's race. He made the most of it, leading every lap to beat Kyle Marcelli to the checkered flag by 0.485 of a second. Audette was third again on Sunday.

Krohn didn't get a podium position on Sunday but he certainly recorded a dazzling performance in coming from 29th to fourth at the line. His new fastest race lap record is a 1:25.542.

Prendeville also had a good race with the Allied Building Products/Restart Communications car, as he came from the rear to tenth at the checkered. Willard was 28th on Sunday.

The next F2000 doubleheader is Aug. 2-3 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

RLR/Andersen Racing's Andrew Prendeville and J.R. Hildebrand will be in action at Mid-Ohio this coming Saturday and Sunday in a Firestone Indy Lights doubleheader. The team is the development team of IndyCar's Rahal Letterman Racing.

Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. It is the official Van Diemen factory team in F2000. The team's Web sites are at andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com. More information on the F2000 series is available at eformulacarnews.com and f2000championshipseries.com.

Post-race quotes taken Sunday follow:

Anders Krohn: "Saturday's race had too many yellows; it was not the kind of race you want to win. However, we'll take the points.

"I think we had only 10 racing laps today, but in those laps I passed 25 cars, so I'm pretty happy with fourth.

"I want to apologize to the team for the mistake I made in qualifying today. I was on my first lap and the car just turned on me. After that I just tried to get my head right so I could perform well in the race. I broke the record for the fastest race lap by almost a second.

"The highlight though was coming from 29th to fourth in only 13 laps. I was just pushing every single inch of the race. I have to thank Andersen Racing for putting me in a car that's capable of being that fast.

"It was close racing all the way, but I had no contact with anybody. They drove well; they didn't try to put me off the track or anything. I could focus on just trying to drive as fast as possible."

Jonny Baker: "I got the pole in the wet this morning. It was a very scrappy session. I knew I had to put down a good lap early, and I did. I think my experience racing in the rain in England helped me.

"It was dry for the race. In the race, I got into Turn 1 first. I didn't want to do anything stupid.

"The safety car came out and Bryan Sellers talked to me on the radio and helped me focus on what I had to do. I had a fantastic restart; the car was spot-on. I was too scared to touch my bar because I didn't want to mess it up.

"I want to give a big thank you to my family; this is my second year of racing in America, and they've supported me through it all. I also want to thank the whole Andersen Racing team. They're my family here in America.

"On Saturday I got a bad start, which I was not happy about. I fell back a couple positions. We only had two green-flag laps in that race, so it was rather strange. Today's was a proper race, so I'm pleased about that and I'm pleased with the win.

"This weekend is my first time at Mid-Ohio. It's different, but cool. I'm really happy with my first win in America!"

Doug Prendeville: "On Saturday I only made it about 1,000 feet into the race when I got hit from behind; there's nothing to talk about there. There were a lot of yellows on Saturday.

"There was just one yellow today. We went from 28th to tenth; Anders went from 29th to fourth; and Jonny won.

"I want to thank Andersen Racing, Allied, Restart, Tommy Byrne, and everyone on the team."

-credit: ar