SONOMA, Calif. – Guthrie Racing’s Franck Perera dominated the Carneros 100 at Infineon Raceway to bring
home the team’s first win of the season, as well as the Frenchman’s first victory in the Firestone Indy Lights.
Perera started the race on the pole, and never gave up the front spot.
“That was a great race for the whole team,” said Perera, who scored his first win after starting in only eight Indy
Lights events. “The car was fast from start to finish, and it only got better as the race went on. I was definitely
racing hard early because of all the yellows, but once we got some green flag laps I knew Raphael (Matos)
wasn’t going to be able to catch me.”
Jim Guthrie, owner of Guthrie Racing, knew that adding Perera to the Guthrie Racing stable would make the
team a threat on every road course on the FILS circuit.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said Guthrie. “We’ve been working hard all year to get to this point, and we’re
not going to stop now. I’m looking forward to watching Franck, and the rest of our cars battle through the field
tomorrow in the second race.”
Perera will start eighth in Sunday’s second round of the Infineon Raceway double-header. The Frenchman will
have to battle some of the series’ top drivers in an effort to score his second win of the weekend.
“It’s going to be hard to pass tomorrow, but we’re going to be racing for the win. It’s been a tough season for
me going to Champ Car, and then to IndyCar and they had to replace me for somebody with more money. I
came to the Indy Lights because I want to get experience on ovals, and show everyone what I can do on the
racetrack. I think I did that today,” said Perera.
Guthrie Racing’s Logan Gomez scored his third top five of the season in his IZOD/Menard No.23.
“Today was a good race for everybody at Guthrie Racing,” said Gomez. “I’m glad we could bring the car home
with such a good finish for everyone at IZOD and Menards. I think we were all pretty conservative today, but
that’s definitely not going to be the case in tomorrow’s race.”
“Our car handled really well all day, and got even better later in the race. The best thing to do today was finish
the race with all four wheels still on the car, and then go out there tomorrow and really race the way I know
how. I think we’re going to put on a good show tomorrow.”
Robbie Pecorari scored drove his Guthrie Racing machine to a top ten, while Sean Guthrie and Juan Manuel
Polar drove to a 13th and 15th finish after starting in the back of the pack.
“The car wasn’t bad early, but I could definitely tell we were quicker than the cars in front of us,” said Pecorari.
“I got stuck behind a the 77 car, and could make a clean pass. I’m happy with our finish.”
Guthrie Racing is based in Brownsburg, Ind. For more information on Guthrie Racing please email Ryan Smith
at
ryan@mphsolutions.us. For information about Franck Perera please visit cjconsulting.us.
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