RICHARD ANTINUCCI POSTS HIS BEST INDYCAR FINISH SO FAR AT INFINEON.

SUNDAY'S NOTES
Richard started the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma from 19th place. He soon climbed up the standings, running as high as 11th in the middle stint of the race.
Antinucci's run started with a thrill as the Italian-American escaped the first-lap Turn 2 mishap that took out Graham Rahal and E.J. Viso and crippled several other drivers' effort. On the contrary Antinucci made up a lot of ground in the initial stages, sneaking up to 11th place, pushing Rafa Matos and Oriol Servia throughout the first stint. After the first pit stop on Lap 25 Antinucci resumed the race on primary tyres, but lost two places while in the pits. The stint on black tyres was the toughest portion of the race for the Team 3G driver; he had some great dices with Justin Wilson, Marco Andretti and Franck Montagny. The fight with the latter triggered a contact at Turn 11 on Lap 42.
The second pit stop ignited a duel with Carpenter. On lap 56 Richard passed him with a nice move at the Carousel while the Vision Racing driver had his hands full with Danica Patrick. Finally in clean air, Antinucci chased Robert Dornboos for P12, making up over three seconds on the Dutchman. But while he was finding his groove Helio Castroneves retired, causing a caution with only four laps to go. After the only full course caution (Lap 67-71) of the day, Antinucci's restart was hindered by fading brakes, causing him toil through the final four laps, with no brakes left. He salvaged 15th place.
The 75-lap race at Infineon Raceway was the last road course of the season. The Indy Car Series now heads to Chicagoland, Motegi (Japan) and Homestead, for the Series Finale.

RICHARD'S TAKE
"I can't say I'm actually satisfied with 15th. I always want to win and perhaps its a bug you never get rid of.
But given the circumstances, our result today was not so bad. I feel we had the overall pace to finish inside or just around the top-ten.
I want to give a big thanks to the whole 3G Team, especially Greg [Beck]and Steve [Sudler]. These guys gave me the opportunity to gather valuable miles and experience with the Indycar."