Dillon Battistini Wins Firestone Indy Lights Miami 100 with Panther Racing. Apr 1 2008

Dillon Battistini Wins Firestone Indy Lights Miami 100 with Panther Racing

Just eight days after turning his first laps on an oval circuit, Panther Racing newcomer Dillon Battistini took his No. 15 Dallara all the way to victory lane in the Firestone Indy Lights season-opening Miami 100.



For Panther, the victory was their 10th in Indy Lights and second at Homestead. Ironically, the last time the team won the first race of the season, it was at Homestead’s 1.5-mile oval with a little-known British driver raised outside of London. That driver, Mark Taylor, went on to win seven of 11 races en route to the 2003 championship. Now Battistini follows the same script as his countryman in Panther’s car and his expectations have him set on a run at the league championship.



Battistini drove hard from the start of the race, and despite falling back as far as sixth, moved back towards the front of the field. Listening to spotter Pancho Carter, who coached the Englishman through the field, Dillon moved back into second when he passed pole sitter Raphael Matos on Lap 43. Two late-race cautions looked as though they could spoil Battistini’s victory chance, but a late eight-lap sprint to the finish was enough, as Panther’s new pilot blew past Richard Antinucci with four laps remaining and pulled away for the win.



Battistini will test on Monday at Sebring International Raceway before a double-header weekend on the Streets of St. Petersburg.



Dillon Battistini:

“This is surreal. I can hardly believe that I won my first oval race here, but when you have a great team like Panther it makes my job easy. I had my hands full at the start for a bit, but the car just kept getting better and better. This oval racing is a true challenge, but when the Panther car was as good as it was today, I knew I could have an incredible day. I can’t say enough about my spotter Pancho Carter, he was unbelievable in helping me around the track. I could tell by listening to him that he knows how to win an IndyCar race. This is a special day for us and it’s great that Brent ran well too, but we both have a long season ahead and together we hope to win a lot of these Indy Lights races.”