Fittipaldi, crew work hard for 5th

LOUDON, N.H. — Emerson Fittipaldi didn’t get the podium finish he was looking for, but he was happy just the same with his team’s performance Sunday at the fourth running of the New England 200. He finished fifth, while Penske teammate Al Unser Jr. started in 17th but ended up third.

“I am very happy with my results today. The entire crew worked really hard, my setup was very good, and the Marlboro car was beautiful,” the 48-year-old driver said.

It had been a job getting the car to that point of balance. The car started out loose, the team over corrected for qualifying, and the care began to push, with the result that Fittipaldi was slower in the Saturday qualifying than he had been during the second practice session on Friday. He was fifth after the second Saturday practice, but dropped to 16 for the start.

But by the Sunday morning warmup, things seemed in good order, Fittipaldi’s crew chief Rick Rinamam reported, and a small change to direct more air at the front brakes allowed Fittipaldi to go into the corners a little deeper. During the race he was able to get back to fifth, thanks not only to his crews work on the car, but their work in the pits as well.

Fittipaldi made two pit stops during the race, the first under a yellow caution flag, the second under green. On the second stop, he came in eighth place, and the crew finished its work two seconds before the car’s tank was full of fuel. When he got back out he was in sixth.

“To start from 16th and finish fifth is a tribute to the hard work of the team and potential of the car,” Fittipaldi, said, “it just feels great to have such a strong showing.”