Brazil - Top Three Report: Andretti Autosport

Andretti Autosport asserted a much-anticipated comeback this weekend in Sao Paolo, with all four teams showing strong pace through the weekend. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan carried the flag for the team in the race, and both appeared quick enough to win, if not for circumstances.

Hunter-Reay led much of the race after the red flag was withdrawn, and appeared set for victory. But, a problem with top-end speed cost him in the final few minutes, as Will Power outbraked him going into turn 11. The Floridian came home second.

Still, he was upbeat about the day. “It is great to have a race in Brazil,” said the 29-year-old. “This has been a long time coming. The country and the fans are so passionate about racing. It's great to do it here. And that was a great show we put on. That's what we need on these street circuit and road courses is a lot of passing like that. We definitely have the tools to do it. We have two straightaways that were pretty long and provided pretty good passing zones. The only shame about the whole race is that it went red for some puddles because there were a lot of big dips out there and our cars hydroplane pretty easily. It would have been great to get some good rain racing in. Maybe next year we will fill in those things and see where it goes. It was just great to get the IZOD car up on the podium in second place to start of the season.”

Tony Kanaan ran in the top three through the opening stint, but was a victim of a chain-reaction incident involving Dan Wheldon and Alex Tagliani. “The weekend could have been better; but on the positive side the whole 7-Eleven team did a great job on stops and we had a fast car,” said the Brazilian. “Unfortunately, we had to pay for the mistakes of others. It happens. I don't think it was on purpose and I believe I've made mistakes like that before. It's a shame it had to happen here in Brazil, in my hometown. I enjoyed the weekend, I enjoyed the crowd and I enjoyed the racing. My car was really good. I had the fastest lap of the race and I passed cars right up until the last corner. That's the positive. The negative is that I'd love to be on the podium right now with the Brazilian flag."

Danica Patrick managed to avoid the trouble in the early laps and ran in the top ten through the first half of the race. However, a decision to stay on slicks when it started raining saw her spin going into the first chicane, putting her a lap down.

“I think the weekend started really tough for the No. 7 car and then we made a lot of progress at the end of the first practice day and that was really good,” said a disappointed, yet optimistic, Patrick. “I'm proud of everyone for staying together and forging ahead instead of getting down. We missed the setup a bit in qualifying, but for the race I think my engineer (Eddie Jones) got the downforce right and my car was really good. We made it up to eighth and were making passes happen. Then when the rain started not everyone came in right away and we gambled on staying out. I mean, you've got to try and win the race. The front half of the track was wet and I locked up going into Turns 1 and 2, but worst off the car stalled. At the end of the day I think the GoDaddy.com car is going to be strong this year and the team overall is a lot stronger than we've been. It was a good first out for us.” She finished 15th.

Marco Andretti suffered the most fortune of the bunch, incurring a penalty in qualifying and suffering major contact with Mario Moraes at the onset of the race. “It's obviously dusty. I think if you have any common sense, you're not going to stay flat out if you can't see the car ahead of you. I don't know, I got hit from behind."

They'll head to St. Pete hoping to build on their strong start.

Full results of the race on São Paulo