| TOP SIX IN DENVER FOR RYAN HUNTER-REAY |
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Champ Car World Series Round Nine - Denver - 14 August 2005 Ryan Hunter-Reay matched his best Champ Car result of the 2005 season so far with a sixth place finish yesterday. He drove a mature race, avoiding all the incidents that filled the event around the streets of downtown Denver. The American started from 17th on the grid after having a torrid time during qualifying, as he explains: "I was running in P12 at the time, with about a minute and a half to go in the session. During that time, I was on my last qualifying lap and AJ (Allmendinger) went off into the run-off area in front of me. I had to brake early because of this, causing me to carry more speed into Turn 5 and the rear end came around on me. It is a shame, because we lost our fastest lap time because I brought out a red flag, which dropped us from 12th to 17th on the starting grip for the race." Starting so far back proved rather fortuitous though as Ryan was able to drive around the chaos at the first turn which, along with some good passes, set him on his way up to sixth position. His car developed a problem prior to the halfway mark necessitating a pit-stop, dropping him to 13th place. It was then a case of getting his head down and making his way back up the field, finishing in sixth spot. "My first stint was what my whole race hinged on," said Hunter-Reay after the race. "I avoided trouble at the start, made a few passes and got into a good rhythm. Later into the run, ten laps before I pitted, I started having issues with the tyre pressures which, combined with the long brake pedal, set us back a few positions. When I came into the pits for my first stop, I couldn't use the pit speed limiter because it was not working. From that stop, we were able to continue the race with no issues. It was just a shame that we lost positions like that. The Rocketsports crew did a great job this afternoon on pit stops, and I would like to thank them for all their hard work. Sixth is not a bad result, considering we started 17th, so overall it was not a bad day." Matching Hunter-Reay's comments, Rocketsports Racing Team Owner Paul Gentilozzi said,"I am happy with Ryan's result. He drove a clean race, stayed in there, and matched his best season finish. Not bad, starting from 17th to finish sixth." Ryan Hunter-Reay's next race will be in Montreal, Canada, on 28 August. DENVER RESULT: 1. Sebastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing) 1:49:45.135 2. Mario Dominguez (Forsythe Championship Racing) +15.269 3. A.J. Allmendinger (RuSPORT) +17.207 4. Oriol Servia (Newman/Haas Racing) +35.775 5. Rodolfo Lavin (HVM) +37.629 6. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Rocketsports Racing) +43.237 7. Ronnie Bremer (Dale Coyne Racing) +47.487 8. Ricardo Sperafico (Dale Coyne Racing) +52.470 9. Nelson Philippe (Mi-Jack Conquest Racing) +1:02.902 10. Andrew Ranger (Mi-Jack Conquest Racing) +1 lap 11. Bjorn Wirdheim (HVM) +1 lap 12. Marcus Marshall (Team Australia Racing) +3 laps 13. Timo Glock (Rocketsports Racing) DNF Mechanical 14. Alex Tagliani (Team Australia Racing) +15 laps Running 15. Jimmy Vasser (PKV Racing) DNF Mechanical 16. Paul Tracy (Forsythe Championship Racing) DNF Contact 17. Justin Wilson (RuSPORT) DNF Contact 18. Cristiano da Matta (PKV Racing) DNF Contact ENDS For further information on Ryan Hunter-Reay please contact: Lindsay Morle M. +44 (0) 7971 481078 E. lindsay@morle.com |
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