Slow start for Patrick and Andretti

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

SONOMA — Two years ago, Marco Andretti won at Infineon Raceway to become the youngest driver to ever win a major U.S. open-wheel race.

Last year, Danica Patrick, seemingly ill-suited for the demands of a road course, raised eyebrows when she qualified second and finished sixth at Infineon.

However, Andretti and Patrick, two of the recent stars of the IndyCar Series race at Sonoma, will need to do a quick about-face to generate headlines at today’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County.

Patrick qualified ninth after last year’s road-course breakthrough and Andretti, who hasn’t won since his historic victory at Sonoma in 2006, qualified 10th.

Patrick acknowledged that moving up in the field will be a challenge on a course where passing is at a premium.

“You’re just going to have get behind (cars) and put pressure on them and get them to make a mistake,” Patrick said. “That’s going to really be one of the only things you can do.”

PERERA WINS INDY LIGHTS

In his eighth career start, Franck Perera, 24, grabbed his first series win at the Carneros 100 Firestone Indy Lights race.

Perera, a native of Montpellier, France, ran in three IndyCar Series races earlier this year, but lost his ride due to a lack of funding.

Perera became the record-setting eighth driver in 14 races to win an Indy Lights race this season.

VALIANTE WINS GRAND-AM

Canadian Michael Valiante, 28, scored his first series win at the Grand-Am Armed Forces 250 Rolex Sports Car Series race. Valiante won by 3.646 seconds over Alex Gurney.

MULAS GRAND MARSHAL

Sonoma’s Mitch Mulas, 80, is serving as the grand marshal for the race weekend.

Mulas, a longtime community volunteer, has served as president of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, has served on the board of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District and is in his 40th year as chief of the Schell-Vista Volunteer Fire Department.

You can reach Staff Writer Eric Branch at 521-5268 or eric.branch@pressdemocrat.com