Esteban Guerrieri wins Sukup 100
Jun 24, 2012
Esteban Guerrieri wins Sukup 100
NEWTON, Iowa -- Esteban Guerrieri held off Gustavo Yacaman by 0.4005 of a second to win the Sukup 100 at Iowa Speedway.
It was the third victory of the season for the driver of the No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb Agajanian car. Guerrieri has finished in the top five in all but one race (seventh at Belle Isle), which has led him to the Firestone Indy Lights championship points lead.
Guerrieri, running second to teammate Tristan Vautier, inherited the lead on Lap 71 of 115 as Vautier was metered a drive-through penalty for blocking. He rallied to finish fourth (3.9 seconds back) in the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM with Curb Agajanian car.
“It was a race where I didn’t have a great start," Guerrieri said. "Tristan took off early and I lost my second position; I was actually back to third. The key was to then be patient. I was close to first but I was burning my front tires trying to get there too fast. I got to second behind Tristan and I was patient.
"It is clear the man in front can’t block and he blocked me so they had to give him the penalty. He unfortunately got the penalty, and I was up front. I am very happy with my third win of the season. I tried to get away from the lapped traffic and stay up front, and I that is where I stayed.”
Added Vautier: "The car was fantastic. I built a (1.5-second) lead but had some trouble with lapped traffic when I came up on it. Esteban caught me and I accidentally squeezed him. My car was so great that I was able to get back on the lead lap and make a late pass for P-4, which was great. It's disappointing when we had such a dominant race going."
Victor Carbone, driving the No. 3 Mav TV/Nevoni/SSM with Curb Agajanian car, finished a season-high third.
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