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(SEBRING, Fla.) Mar. 17, 2001 -It was a day of firsts at Sebring
International Raceway. Alex Sperafico of Toledo Parana, Brazil finished off
a perfect weekend by winning Round 1 of the 2001 Barber Dodge Pro Series.
Sperafico took the provisional pole on Thursday and followed up on Friday by
keeping it and setting a qualifying record in the process. The win means
that he walks away with a perfect 21 points and his first career win. The
victory also makes Sperafico the first to win a Barber Dodge Pro Series race
under the CART banner since the Pro Series became the Official Entry Level
Professional Race Series of CART. Sperafico led Barber-CART Rookie of the
Year Ryan Hunter-Reay and Frenchman Nicolas Rondet to the checkered flag.
"I feel great. The car was very fast in the race," said Sperafico who took
his No. 9 Iveco Fiat Dodge Reynard to victory. "Nicolas (Rondet) gave me
some trouble at the start, but we had a very good clean fight during the
race."
Sperafico in fact lost the lead to Rondet midway round the fourth lap as the
field returned to racing following a 3-lap caution period to remove the
stricken cars of Sepp Koster and Rene Bauer who were involved in separate
opening lap incidents. He was left to trail Rondet for the next five laps
until they began to work lap-10 when Sperafico and Rondet were involved in a
pass-repass-pass maneuver that was a sight to see. It all began on the
previous lap when Serafico tucked in behind Rondet for the long draft up the
start/finish straight. Sperafico grabbed the lead on the inside of turn-1
only for Rondet to parry into turn-4. Sperafico took a 'never say die'
approach into turn-10 and made it count. From there he was never to look
back. Ryan Hunter-Reay had crept into the mix as the leading pair battled.
Once Sperafico took the lead, Rondet found himself having to defend a new
attack by Hunter-Reay.
Sperafico meanwhile would extend his lead to three seconds at the flag.
Behind Hunter-Reay kept the pressure on Rondet whose car was beginning to
ill handle.
On the 15th of 17 laps, Hunter-Reay executed a beautifully calculated pass
on Rondet. Once again it all began at the exit of the final corner.
Hunter-Reay drafted into turn-1 and took the inside line. Rondet did all he
could to hold the position, but it was not to be as Hunter-Reay defended the
inside line all the way through turn-3.
"Going into turn-3 we were side by side. I braked as deeply as I could on
the inside and defended the position," relayed Hunter-Reay, 20, of Boca
Raton, Fla. "I'm so happy to be where I am right now as things weren't
looking good for me. I had a bad start after I tried a new tactic that
obviously didn't work, but I managed to catch back up."
Rondet, who hasn't driven competitively since 1999 and who has only had a
few days of seat time in the Barber Dodge Reynard was philosophical
afterwards.
"It was a pleasure to race with these guys. I came back to this series to
be competitive and though I wasn't expecting it to be easy, the competition
here is really tough," said Rondet who drives the No. 24 In KART USA Dodge
Reynard. "I developed some understeer midway through the race, but it was
still a pleasure to go wheel-to-wheel and fight for the lead.
Fourth place went to Roger Yasukawa who made up six places after starting
tenth. He caught up to the lead group but was unable to make any inroads
beyond that. Fifth place went to Peter Boss who drove solidly throughout,
but the drive of the race would have to go to 19-year old Rafael
Sperafico. Having started on the front row, Sperafico was surrounded at the start and
resulted in contact in turn-1 with Koster, forcing him to pit. Fortunately,
the caution period allowed Sperafico to take his No. 21 Barber-CART Big
Scholarship Dodge Reynard to the back of the pack. From there, he went on
tear through the field, seemingly passing at will, eventually finishing
sixth and setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
Marc Breuers who started 16th finished ninth in his Sunoco Dodge Reynard.
For the effort he was awarded the Conseco Step Up Award having made up the
most places from his starting position.
Round 1 of the Barber Dodge Pro Series will be televised on ESPN 2 on
Tuesday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Round 2 of the Pro Series will move on
to Phoenix International Raceway on April 28.
Round 1
2001 Barber Dodge Pro Series
Sebring International Raceway
Sebring, Fla.
Provisional Result
Mar. 17, 2001
All drivers in Dodge Reynard Racecars on Michelin tires
|
PS
|
#
|
DRIVER
|
HOMETOWN
|
PTS
|
PURSE
|
LP
|
STATUS
|
|
1
|
9
|
Alexandre Sperafico
|
Toledo Parana, Brazil
|
21
|
$13,000
|
17
|
Running
|
|
2
|
31
|
Ryan Hunter-Reay
|
Boca Raton, Fla.
|
16
|
$8,750
|
17
|
Running
|
|
3
|
24
|
Nicolas Rondet
|
Melle, France
|
14
|
$6,500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
4
|
8
|
Roger Yasukawa
|
Santa Monica, Calif.
|
12
|
$4,500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
5
|
18
|
Peter Boss
|
Narragansett, R.I.
|
11
|
$2,750
|
17
|
Running
|
|
6
|
21
|
Rafael Sperafico
|
Toledo Parana, Brazil
|
11
|
$2,250
|
17
|
Running
|
|
7
|
11
|
Jon Morley
|
Columbus, Ohio
|
9
|
$1,800
|
17
|
Running
|
|
8
|
16
|
Davy Cook
|
Tallahassee, Fla.
|
8
|
$1,700
|
17
|
Running
|
|
9
|
94
|
Marc Breuers
|
Philadelphia, Penn.
|
7
|
$2,100
|
17
|
Running
|
|
10
|
27
|
Akihira Okamoto
|
Osaka, Japan
|
6
|
$1,500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
11
|
34
|
Christian Szymczak
|
Oakland, Calif.
|
5
|
$1,400
|
17
|
Running
|
|
12
|
19
|
Sara Senske
|
Kennewick, Wash.
|
4
|
$1,300
|
17
|
Running
|
|
13
|
33
|
Jon Vannini
|
Hillsborough, Calif.
|
3
|
$1,200
|
17
|
Running
|
|
14
|
17
|
G.Brusatin
|
Cali, Columbia
|
2
|
$1,100
|
17
|
Running
|
|
15
|
26
|
Rhonda Trammell
|
Pittsboro, Ind.
|
1
|
$1,000
|
17
|
Running
|
|
16
|
22
|
Jay Ricci
|
Grosse Pointe, Mich.
|
0
|
$500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
17
|
12
|
Keith Dusko
|
Red Bank, N. J.
|
0
|
$500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
18
|
32
|
John Hall
|
Houston, Texas
|
0
|
$500
|
17
|
Running
|
|
19
|
28
|
Juan Manual Polar
|
Sannisdro, Peru
|
0
|
$500
|
11
|
Contact
|
|
20
|
4
|
Matt Plumb
|
Unionville, Pa.
|
0
|
$500
|
5
|
Contact
|
|
21
|
14
|
David Wieringa
|
Oak Brook Ill.
|
0
|
$500
|
1
|
Contact
|
|
22
|
3
|
Sepp Koster
|
The Netherlands
|
0
|
$500
|
0
|
Contact
|
|
23
|
15
|
Rene Bauer
|
Sao Paulo, Brazil
|
0
|
$500
|
0
|
Contact
|
Length of Race: 17 laps of 3.7-mile Circuit for 62.90 miles
Time of Race: 41 minutes, 12.717 sec.
Average Speed: 91.575 mph
Margin of Victory: 0 min. 3.013 sec.
Lap Leaders: Alex Sperafico, laps 1-4, 10-17
Nicolas Rondet laps 5-9
Fastest Race Lap: R. Sperafico 2:07.600(104.389mph)lap 13
Conseco Step Up Award: Marc Breuers from 16th to 9th
Total Payout: $54,850
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