 I had a long conversation recently with Michael Andretti for the book I’m writing about Newman/Haas Racing. Andretti drove for Newman/Haas for 10 seasons between 1989-2000, scoring 35 of his 42 Indycar wins with the team. He won the 1991 CART title with Newman/Haas when Indycar racing was at its healthiest and, despite his terrible season in Formula 1 with McLaren in 1993, Michael remains one of the fastest, most spectacular drivers Indycar racing has ever seen. He was a true racer, as anyone who witnessed his fierce battle with Juan Pablo Montoya in the 2000 Michigan 500 will know.
It’s interesting that Andretti was particularly fast on superspeedways because he despised those tracks. Although he never won the Indy 500, Michael led 431 laps at the Speedway during his career and is easily the highest ranked non-winner among the race’s all-time lap leaders. Yet he freely admits he didn’t like Indianapolis or Michigan.
“Indianapolis was not my favourite track but it seemed like my style really worked there,” he says. “That was one of the best tracks I’ve driven in terms of being competitive, not necessarily just being fast. In the race it seemed like I knew what I needed and it would always work for me, whatever that was. But I never got a result there. Read more (motorsportmagazine.co.uk) |
