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| June 16, 2012 News |
| Indy Lights: Vautier Goes Flag-to-Flag at Milwaukee Mile |
 | Tristan Vautier converted the pole position at the Milwaukee Mile into the 50th series win for Sam Schmidt Motorsports
(Photo: INDYCAR-LAT USA) |
Tristan Vautier did on Friday night (June 15) what three Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammates just missed doing one week ago, winning the 50th Firestone Indy Lights race for the renowned team at the historic Milwaukee Mile.
Vautier, who earlier in the day earned the pole position for the Milwaukee 100, held off Sebastian Saavedra of AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport by 0.3370 of a second to provide the five-time Firestone Indy Lights championship team its milestone victory. The team has been in the series since its inception in 2002.
It was the second victory this season from the pole for Vautier, driving the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM with Curb-Agajanian car. Teammate Esteban Guerrieri, last year's race winner who started sixth in the No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/SSM with Curb-Agajanian car, advanced to third place.
By virtue of the three bonus points for the pole and leading the most laps, Vautier leaped Guerrieri for the championship points lead by 241-238 heading to the Iowa Speedway next week.
"It was a great race," stated Vautier, who has posted top-five finishes in all six of his starts."We were in control. The end was a little harder with the lapped traffic to manage, but awesome day, awesome job from the team. I see my teammate Esteban made it back to the podium, so great job from him from sixth and a tough day, so we have two cars on the podium.
"I didn’t get the 50th pole, but real happy to get the 50th win. What an awesome team."
Saavedra, who overtook Victor Carbone on the first lap for second, hung with Vautier following two restarts and closed on the final laps. But he couldn't get a run to make the pass.
"For those last 10 laps I was pushing, giving it everything I got," said Saavedra, who is third in the standings. "The 27 car handled amazing with the Firestone Firehawk tires. I’m not happy because I wanted that first place, but it’s very important points for the championship."
David Ostella, driving the No. 22 TMR-Global Precast-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, overtook Carlos Munoz in the No. 26 Team Dialy-Ser car for Andretti Autosport on the final lap for fourth. Carbone finished sixth in the No. 3 Mav TV/Nevoni/SSM with Curb-Agajanian entry.
"The last 20 laps I was flying out there," said Ostella, who tied his series-best finish set in his debut at St. Petersburg in 2011. "It is so good to finish a race after coming off of two races where I didn’t finish. Being in the top five is amazing, and I can’t take the team enough. They did a wicked job. I’ve been sick all day and fallen asleep between every session. The team worked so hard though to give me a good car. It was an amazing race."
The chase for Firestone Indy Lights supremacy continues in one week, with Round Seven at the Iowa Speedway.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Indy Lights
Round 6 - Race Results
June 15, 2012
Milwaukee Mile - West Allis, Wisconsin
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | - | 25.7483 | | 2. | Sebastian Saavedra | AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport | 0.3370 | 26.0111 | | 3. | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 3.7527 | 26.1156 | | 4. | David Ostella | Team Moore Racing | 4.6492 | 26.1766 | | 5. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | 6.1943 | 25.9949 | | 6. | Victor Carbone | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 6.9557 | 25.9811 | | 7. | Alon Day | Belardi Auto Racing | 7.3770 | 26.2867 | | 8. | Gustavo Yacaman | Team Moore Racing | 10.2028 | 26.1595 | | 9. | Jorge Goncalvez | Belardi Auto Racing | 18.4069 | 26.4351 | | 10. | Bryan Clauson | Fan Force United | 23.3768 | 26.3328 | | 11. | Juan Pablo Garcia | Jeffrey Mark Motorsport | 1 Lap | 26.6032 | | 12. | Oliver Webb | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 1 Lap | 26.4652 | | 13. | Mike Larrison | Belardi Auto Racing | 66 Laps | 26.5221 | |
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