Corning Duels Fuel Firestone Indy Lights Fourth
Best International Stars Bring Fireworks to Firehawk Cup Pursuit
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
Rested and ready after a week away from racing, the Firestone Indy Lights field takes its transporters northward and wends through the verdant hills and beautiful countryside of upstate New York for this weekend's Corning Duels at Watkins Glen International rounds eight and nine of the sixteen-race 2008 season.
With the Fourth of July weekend's open-wheeled warfare comes more than just the halfway mark of the Indy Lights campaign: the Glen also brings us to an ingenious, evenly-balanced road-course/oval-course routine for the remainder of the schedule with the series championship yet to be settled.
Panther Racing's Dillon Battistini sits in the catbird's seat entering the pivotal turn at Watkins Glen, having trumped the doubters with an astounding run of high-speed success to this point: his three oval circuit wins have fueled a comfortable twenty-seven point lead ahead of Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Richard Antinucci.
Who knew coming into the season that the Brit who waited until barely a week ahead of Homestead before signing with the team, would blaze a trail so quickly on the roundy-rounds?
To the plus side, Dillon has great familiarity with road courses and ought to find the going from this point forward familiarly fast if not downright facile; however, the competition cut their teeth on the twisties, too, and will look to declaw the swift Panther before it can gain even grander design on the Firehawk Cup.
Road-Racing Festival Awaits at the Glen
New Zealander Jonny Reid (Integra Motorsports) has quietly bided his time getting familiar with team and machine after joining the Indy Lights for the Indianapolis Freedom 100 round in May. With his first tours of the Glen, Reid figures to be taken straight smack back to the kind of formula racing that brought him acclaim before arriving in America.
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport runnerup will feel right at home in the provincial surrounds of upstate New York, and can draw even more strength from the ready role-model of Scott Dixon (who has owned the Glen circuit in IndyCar) in the affiliated Chip Ganassi Racing machine.
Add to that confidence-booster Reid's second-best of the bunch testing times here at the Glen merely a week prior and the mysterious Kiwi that Indy Lights fans have been eyeing with some wonderment may now see what A1 drivers last winter saw of Jonny so well: his rear wing in the distance.
Ana 'Bia' Beatriz at SSM has quietly gained ground with her own championship intentions by finishing well on the ovals and now stands sixth in the overall points standings. Now she'll be returned to her bona fide racing strength: a challenging, fast and furious Glen circuit that was made for her graceful but lightning-fast international style. The Brazilian racer should find the sweeping turns and rolling hills ideal for gliding onto another podium, or two.
Bia's teammate Antinucci soared in the road course portion of the 2007 campaign, besting eventual Indy Lights champion Alex Lloyd twice with his own purposeful moves in the cockpit. Richard needs to score well at the Glen to solidify his run at this year's Firehawk Cup and keep the No. 7's undaunted record of success at the course (Lloyd won the second of two races here in 2007) intact.
Finally, Raphael Matos of Andretti Green Racing can only be expected to thrive in the Empire State races. If history repeats as it unfolded for Rafa in 2006 at St. Petersburg, Florida we could easily see our first one-day double-header ever in Indy Lights swept up in its entirety by one immensely talented young man. Rafa was fastest of all in last week's test, a cue for fans to watch one of Indy Lights' best carve up the roadway come Saturday.
CORNING DUELS
Date / Time
Race #1
11:15 a.m. (EDT)
Saturday, July 5
Race #2
3:20 p.m. (EDT)
Saturday, July 5
Track
Watkins Glen International
(11-turns/3.4 miles)
Distance
29 laps/98.6 miles (Each race)
TV
ESPN2 (Taped)
2 p.m. July 10
Radio
IMS Radio Network
2007 Winners
Wade Cunningham (Race #1)
Alex Lloyd
(Race #2)
2007 Polesitter
Wade Cunningham
(Race #1 only)
Schedule (local time):
July 4
- 9 – 10 a.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice (all cars)
- 1 – 1:45 p.m. -- Firestone Indy Lights practice (all cars)
- 5-5:30 p.m. – SWE Pole Qualifying
July 5
- 10:45 a.m. – Corning Duel #1 pre-race
- 11:15 a.m. – Corning Duel #1 (29 laps/98.6 miles)
- 3:20 p.m. – Corning Duel #2 ((29 laps/98.6 miles)
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