Andre Desmarais Mid-Ohio race notes

Andre Desmarais Finishes 17th in Star Mazda at Mid-Ohio

Lexington, Ohio - Andre Desmarais, driving the number 43 Wheels Recondre/Racers Edge/Star Mazda, finished in 17th place today in his second ever apperance in the Star Mazda Series.

Mid-Ohio's famed undulating layout challenged the young Desmarais all weekend. "Practice on Friday was spent adjusting on the car and learning the track. I had a misstep in one of the sessions where I spun in turn three and backed it into the wall damaging the wing. I was just pushing a little too hard and found the edge. In the third session I was able to get my confidence back and get down to driving the track. I really like the Mid-Ohio layout, it has some great sections. I like turn one and two. Turn one is fast and has a blind apex so you have to have a lot of confidence to get through there fast."

In today's qualifying session Andre was able to put his Star Mazda open-wheel racer in 16th place on the grid. His time of 1:20.499 put him in the eighth row for the late afternoon race. For his second race in the car the one-minute-twenty lap was just a second shy of the pole time for the weekend and a good starting position in the record 42-car field.

The race was run under perfect conditions, sunny and 70-degrees. Desmarais looked strong while dicing with competitors in the top 20 all race. "I was glad we were able to get our car issues from Sebring sorted for this race. I felt I had a pretty good race. I was always racing with someone and was able to really makeup ground in the fast turn one. I was forced to try a couple of different lines during the race and that helped my learning curve for the future."

The team goes directly from Mid-Ohio to Lime Rock Park for the round three of the series to be run on July 5.

The Star Mazda Series is a spec open-wheel racing series that features identical car specs that are strictly enforced. The 240 horsepower Mazda rotary powered cars run on Goodyear slicks offer drivers a platform to prove their talent on a level playing field.

-kc-