Whale… I guess it pays to do an interview on the Autosport Radio show… As Tuesday’s (May 20th) program featured three promising “Flinstone Indy Lites” racing drivers; Cyndie Alleman, Dillon Battistini and Mike Potekhen, of which by far the most entertaining was Cyndie from Switzerland, who is one of two females currently contesting this year’s Indy Lights Championship, the other being Brazilian Ana Beatriz, who’s also been interviewed previously on the show…
Cyndie Alleman
The daughter of Swiss Karting Champion Kurt Allemann. Her brother Ken is a seven-time Swiss champion go-kart racer. · Enjoys karting, cycling, working out and shopping, tried gymnastics as a child. Studied business while competing as professional racer in Europe.
Career stats:
Early Career· Won two Swiss and one European Junior karting titles· Finished third in Swiss Formula A in 2001.
Finished eighth in European Foruma A championship in 2002.
2004 - Finished 6th in Swiss Formula Renault 2000 with a best finish of third at Varano (Italy)
and Most (Czech Republic)
· Competed in selected German Formula Renault 2.0 events.
2005 - 12th place German Formula Renault 2.0 Cup
2006 - Finished 9th place in German Formula 3 Cup with a best finish of second at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. · Earned pole at EuroSpeedway Lausitz.
2007 - Competed in the Formula 3 EuroSeries
Has two top 10 finishes so far this season in Firestone Indy Lights competition.
Dillon Battistini
Born December 3, 1977, Dillon is an English-born racing driver. He competed in various classes of karting before moving to cars in the Caterham R400 challenge in 2003.
In 2006 and 2007 he raced in the Asian Formula Three Championship, finishing 4th his first year and winning the 2007 series championship on 5 race wins. After testing a Champ Car Minardi Team USA and the subsequent unification of American Open Wheel Racing, Battistini signed to race in the Firestone Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) for Panther Racing less than 10 days before the season was set to begin. Battistini won his first race in the series which was also his first race on an oval track at Homestead-Miami Speedway March 29th.
(Source: Autosport Radio)
And during one commercial break Cyndie and Dillon could be heard chatting in the background, to which Donald Kay then announced, for those of you who couldn’t hear what they were saying… Dillon has just had an Indy Car seat fitting… Oh, was it supposed to remain a secret?
According to Autosport.com, Battistini will make his Indy Car debut later this season, contesting two races in the later stages of the championship for Panther Racing, who he’s currently contesting this seasons Indy Lights Championship with. Plans call for Battistini to most likely test at Watkins Glen and then probably compete in one Oval and one Street Course race, of which the team hasn’t divulged yet. By running only two races, Battistini will keep his rookie status intact for 2009.
Yet, meanwhile back in Indiana, which was staying true to the month’s continuance of the WET stuff, after an abbreviated 11 minute running of the IndyCars on Carberation Day, the rest of the days activities were RAINED OUT on Friday and the Indy Lights race was rescheduled for Saturday at 12:15PM ET
Continuing to show off his impressive early form, Dillon “BAD ASS” Battistini captured the Pole for the Freedom 100, while Ana Beatriz qualified an impressive fourth, one spot ahead of 2007 Atlantics Champion Rafael Matos. Cyndie Alleman lined-up eighth, with Jeff “Double Dipping” Simmons landing in the 10th slot, while some “Big Name Guys” Luyendyk Jr. And Unser III started in 18th and 19th respectively. 2007-08 A1 GP runner-up and series newcomer Johnny Reed was 25th, one position ahead of Mike Potekhen (26th) who was making his first start of the season.
So, for humour I decided to tune-in the race on the IMS Radio Network, which was pretty enjoyable to listen to… As although Battistini was briefly challenged for the lead, he led virtually wire to wire, leading 38 of the races 40 laps, while all of the mayhem went on behind him… With one of the “junior” reporters exclaiming that they were going five wide! Which certainly DON’T work in racin,’ especially around the Speedway, as the inevitable happened with a crash occurring…
Yet, Johnny Parsons Jr. (JP) was very impressed by Beatriz’s performance, who spent the whole race swapping positions back and forth before finally finishing fifth, the highest place finish in the race by a woman, while unfortunately Alleman finished 26th with gearbox problems.
Simmons came home in 8th, two spots ahead of Matos, (10th) while “Just Al (Unser III) managed to move up eight positions to finish 11th, which garnered him a long winded post race interview… While Potekhen made an impressive run, moving up 13 places to split the heralded “Young Gun” generations of Unser ‘N Luyendyk, finishing in 13th, one spot ahead of Luyendyk Jr. who wound up 14th and Reed winding up 20th in his series debut…
