Andrie's the Man

[92 white 0650]

Congratulations to Andrie for completing the Touring Car race today at Infineon. From the telecast, it looked like he was holding his own, moving up to 20th til something happened and he apparently had to pit with 2 to go.

Must've been brutal out there in the heat. Can't wait to hear the stories. Good job Andrie.

 

[Hrant]

Yep, I was totally watching the ticker to follow his progress. To pick several spots and finish the race is a major achievement. My guess is Gallati's problem caused him to slow down or something since he was behind the CLK and it happened around the same?

 

[Telly Chang]

I was one of Andrie's crew members this weekend (race spotter and BBQ chef :smile: ). Had it not been for a spin on lap 16, he would have made the top 20. Officially, he finished 23rd but was down on hp all weekend. Final results are here:

http://www.world-challenge.com/2005/events/inf/tc-race.html

I know he is going to try to make the Laguna World Challenge race later this year. Would be great to see him give another shot at it, hopefully with a more competitive engine next time.

Btw, the next race is in 2 weeks at the San Jose Grand Prix! Are there any sponsors want some good exposure?

Telly

 

[docjohn]

I too just watched the race hoping he would get some air time!Anyway congrats to you for sticking with your passion and making it to the pro ranks!

 

[92 white 0650]

hoping he would get some air time

Yeah, I waiting for a good close-up of his sponsor stickers; you know "Hrant Enterprises" and "NSX Prime". :tongue: They were on there, werent' they?

Telly, where did he spin and what happened?

 

[2slow2speed]

I was on the Grand Stands right by turn 1, along with some local racers who were there rooting for Andrie and some of the other local racers participating in the race. The short bio that was read to introduce Andrie was fun and well written, hopefully they will carry that on the broadcast when the race is shown on Speed

It was nice beeing able to root for Andrie, but it was really frustrating to watch the race from the stands, it was clear from the very beginning that Andrie's car was underpowered compared to the rest of the cars in the field.

Just watching how much space others folks were able to build up during the standing start was an indication of things to come during the race.

Andrie tried to hold his own as much as he could with the equipment that he had on his car. But time and time again other cars would pass him either between turn 10 and 11 or somewhere between 11 and 1.

During the last stages of the race I saw the race leader comming up on Andrie before heading towards turn 2, by the time that I got to see the race leader heading out of turn 6, Andrie was nowhere in sight

I saw the 2 cars that were behind Andrie (Dodge Neon SRT and a BMW) come out of turn 6, and a few seconds later I saw Andrie's Civic heading out of 6, and not being able to carry too much speed.

It must have been a bit frustrating having to run under those conditions, but Andrie finished the race

Kudos to Andrie and the Prima Racing crew for putting up a valiant effort in their first Pro Race and for not giving up!

The next race at Laguna will be a real pain if the Civic is still down on power given that the track really favors cars with lot's of HP and consistent braking. Hopefully the team will be able to find the "lost power" from the engine and give the rest of the Pro's a good run, during the race at Laguna.

Ken

 

[kenjiMR]

Yeah, I waiting for a good close-up of his sponsor stickers; you know "Hrant Enterprises" and "NSX Prime". :tongue: They were on there, werent' they?

Telly, where did he spin and what happened?

I was there at the track to support as well. He looked great and looked really good out there... pushing the
car really hard to keep up best as possible. Like Telly mentioned, the car wasn't producing the HP to be competitive
with the top runners. Hopefully they can find more HP somewhere before the Laguna race.

I really think Andrie has the talent, its just difficult to get everything all sorted out when you are basically a one man team.

 

[na14yu]

Woohoo, go Andrie!

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

thanks for the kind words, guys!

We are really down on power. The TSX that had to start behind us got by before we hit T1!! But it was fun out there. I spun in Lap 20th. It is the case of the tires going away and I tried to push harder to try to pass a BMW. After the off, the intake got pushed in and interfere with the shifter mechanism. I couldn't shift to 1st, 3rd and 5th. So I had to putt to the pit and my crew pulled the intake out so I can continue and finish the race.

It was hard to race full bore at 50 minutes. And the fact that I was giving all I got with underpowered car. Managed to get up to 20th, but because of my mistake I had to settle for 23rd.

Hopefully we can make Laguna, and with more competitive car. All we need is money

So for all those guys that interested in sponsorship or have producst that need development or need private coaching or suspension setup, please let me know. I know I can make you faster, and in process, you help me continue my racing effort!!

 

[Hrant]

Yeah, I waiting for a good close-up of his sponsor stickers; you know "Hrant Enterprises" and "NSX Prime". :tongue: They were on there, werent' they?

Telly, where did he spin and what happened?

I am working on it ...... :wink:

 

[The Kid]

wish I could have seen it, My friend Chip Herr races a ford focus in that series.

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

 

[NSXsan]

Hmm, wish I could have seen it . . .

i'm wishing you all the best on the next race and good luck with your sponsorhip

 

[RP-Motorsports]

I know how frustrating it is. Our local NSX hotshoe ran a Realtime ITR a few years back, and was VERY fast, but being a rookie, he got screwed on qualifying due to rain. He had to fight at the back with a car not quite up to Pierre K's spec.