Marco Andretti

Marco Andretti
Andretti at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2009
Nationality	American
Born	Marco Michael Andretti March 13, 1987 Nazareth, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Related to	Mario Andretti (grandfather) Michael Andretti (father) John Andretti (cousin) Aldo Andretti (great uncle) Adam Andretti (cousin) Jeff Andretti (uncle)
IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2006
Current team	Andretti Autosport
Car no.	27
Starts	169
Wins	2
Poles	4
Fastest laps	6
Best finish	5th in 2013
Previous series
2014–15 2012 2008–09 2008 2005 2005	Formula E International V8 Supercars Championship A1 Grand Prix American Le Mans Series Infiniti Pro Series Star Mazda Championship

Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 27 car for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family.

Early career

Andretti making his Indy Pro Series debut in 2005 on the Streets of St. Petersburg; he won the race.

Marco was born to Sandra and eventual IndyCar champion Michael Andretti. Marco's paternal grandfather Mario is a racing legend, who raced professionally for 4 decades and had success in the United States and all over the globe in various categories of racing. Other Andretti family members also have had success in various categories of racing.

Andretti won eight races in the 2003 Barber Formula Dodge Eastern Championship, and was champion in the Barber National and Southern class the following year.^[1]

Still barely out of high school, he raced in the Star Mazda series in 2005 and also made six starts in the Indy Pro Series.^[1] He won three times – at St. Petersburg, the Liberty Challenge, and Sonoma – and finished 10th in points despite only starting half the races.

Motorsports journalist Gordon Kirby suggested at the Champ Car finale in Mexico City that the youngest Andretti would be replacing Dan Wheldon in his No. 26 Jim Beam Dallara-Honda for 2006 with Michael Andretti coming out of retirement to run a fifth car for his Andretti Green Racing team at the Indianapolis 500. Though a novel proposition to some, it was later confirmed in a December 15 press conference that he would move up to the Indy Racing League full-time as the youngest driver in series history and would trade sponsors – the New York Stock Exchange and Motorola – with Dario Franchitti as Andretti was not old enough to run an alcohol-sponsored car.

IndyCar Series

2006

In his rookie start on March 26, 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the No. 26 New York Stock Exchange Dallara Honda, Andretti started 13th but broke a halfshaft in his first pitstop, eliminating him from the race.

With his Rookie of the Year performance in May at the Indianapolis 500, he became the third Andretti to finish in the top five in his first Indianapolis 500 appearance, after father Michael (5th in 1984 Indianapolis 500 and grandfather Mario, who finished third in 1965. Andretti finished second to Sam Hornish, Jr. in the second closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history at a margin of 0.0635 seconds.

On August 27, 2006, Andretti became the youngest winner – at the age of 19 years, 167 days – of a major open-wheel racing event (later to be replaced by Graham Rahal) as he scored his first career Indy Racing League victory at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. He held the record until April 2008, when Graham Rahal won the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg aged 74 days younger.^[2] Andretti's win established him as the 2006 Bombardier Rookie of the Year.

2007

Marco (left) practicing with Michael Andretti at the 2007 Indianapolis 500

The 2007 season was not as successful for Andretti. He failed to finish ten times and only completed 7 races. The team struggled to find balance on 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, with accidents eliminating him from the races in Japan, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Chicago, as well as the Mid Ohio road course. After finishing second at Michigan, Andretti finished eleventh place overall with 350 points.

2008

Andretti ran his first night race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the first race of the 2008 season, with a 2nd-place finish behind Scott Dixon. He also led the most laps of the race – leading 85 – and received an additional three points. At St. Petersburg, Andretti snapped a half-shaft on his car trying to leave the pits, causing him to retire. In the third race of the season at Motegi, Japan, Andretti spun out on the first lap of the race. At the 2008 Indianapolis 500, Andretti finished third, after leading several laps.^[3] During the race, he passed teammate, Tony Kanaan, who then crashed into the wall, blaming Andretti.

Andretti at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2008.

A week later he captured his first IndyCar Series pole at the Milwaukee Mile and became the youngest IndyCar pole winner at the time – at the age of 21 years, 79 days^[4] – but crashed out with 3 laps to go in the race. His car slipped up the track, collecting Ed Carpenter, which in turn caused Vítor Meira to go airborne as he drove over Andretti's tire. The eventual winner, Ryan Briscoe just missed the wreckage, as Andretti finished 21st. At Texas Motor Speedway, Andretti had one of the best cars and was able to drive the high line all night, but Ryan Hunter-Reay and Andretti made contact with just a few laps to go.

Andretti finished third at Iowa, and then ran a strong race at Richmond but lost position when he pitted under green and a subsequent caution allowed the race leaders to pit under yellow; he finished ninth. Andretti finished fifth at Watkins Glen, before mechanical failure caused his car to crash out at Nashville. He also raced earlier the same day in the American Le Mans Series race at Lime Rock Park. At Mid-Ohio, Andretti got caught up in a four-car wreck on a restart on lap 42 which ended his race, before a 17th-place finish at Edmonton after contact with his teammate Danica Patrick. At Kentucky, Andretti took the lead from Scott Dixon, but as the race neared its end, all drivers had to pit for more fuel and Dixon took the win, while Andretti finished third. Andretti failed to finish higher than eighth in the final three races, as he finished seventh in points.

2009

Andretti in 2010.

The 2009 season began on two street circuits, giving Andretti an opportunity to show the benefits of his A1 Grand Prix experience. At St. Petersburg he tangled late in the race with veteran Alex Tagliani, finishing 13th, but overcame a 19th place start in Long Beach to finish 6th due to a different pitting sequence. This was Andretti's first time at Long Beach, a circuit at which both his father and grandfather won multiple times. After a 6th-place finish at Kansas. Andretti looked to Indianapolis, where he had been 2nd and 3rd in two of his three starts. Starting 8th, Andretti attempted to pass KV Racing Technology's Mario Moraes on the outside of the South chute between Turns 1 and 2. Moraes moved towards the wall, apparently unaware that Andretti was outside of him, and both cars collected the wall. Both Andretti and Moraes expressed their displeasure with each other in their on-air interviews. Andretti called the second-year driver "clueless" and said that "he doesn't get it and never will. I should have known who I was racing with."^[5]

The remainder of the year did not yield much success, as Andretti's best finish of the year was 4th at Texas. He continued his improved form on road and street courses, finishing 5th at Watkins Glen, 8th in his first race in Toronto – where his father won a record seven times – and 6th at Mid-Ohio before finishing 8th in the final standings.

2011–2012

In 2011, Andretti placed 9th at Indianapolis after starting 27th. On June 25, 2011, Andretti won his second IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway. It was his first win in 79 races since his win at Sonoma Raceway in 2006.

The 2012 season was a struggle for Andretti. He started the year with a 14th place at St. Petersburg, 11th at Alabama, 25th at Long Beach, and 14th at São Paulo. He led the most laps (59) at Indianapolis, but hit the Turn 1 wall on Lap 188. Andretti continued the season with 11th at Detroit, 17th at Texas, 15th at Milwaukee, and a best finish of the season at Iowa, where he finished 2nd. Following his runner-up at Iowa, he had 16th at Toronto, 14th at Edmonton, 8th at Mid-Ohio, and 25th place at Sonoma. At Baltimore, Andretti made another finish in the back of the field, finishing 14th. Just as the season was about to end, he achieved the second pole position of his career at Fontana, finishing the race 8th. Andretti finished 16th on the point standings.

2013

Andretti after practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2015

Andretti started off the 2013 season with a third-place finish at St. Petersburg. This was followed by 2 seventh-place finishes at Barber and Long Beach, matching his top-ten tally from the 2012 season.^[6] In the fourth race of the season at São Paulo, Andretti finished third and was able to move to second in the championship thirteen points behind Takuma Sato. He also led his first seven laps of the season.^[7] At the Indy 500, Andretti qualified 3rd and was consistently in the top 5 throughout the race. He led 31 laps and finished 4th after two late yellow flags that prevented him from moving forward in the field. After the race, Andretti said he was "frustrated" with the finish because he had not been below fourth all race. However, after the 500 he took the points lead by 11 points over Takuma Sato.^[8]

He continued his season with the first double header at Detroit, finishing 20th in the first race – his lowest finish of the season – and 6th in the second race, marking improvement between the two. At Texas, he performed relatively well, staying within the top 10 for most of the race, and later finishing 5th. He claimed his third pole position at Milwaukee, but despite his success in qualifying, his engine blew after the first pit stop, leaving him with a 20th-place finish, before he finished ninth at Iowa. At Pocono, where his grandfather and father had once raced, he was at the top of his game, setting the track record for the fastest lap, and gaining a 4th career pole. Despite leading early in the race, he faded to a 10th-place finish in the end. At the Toronto double header, he qualified and finished in the top 10, staying consistently well during the race. He finished fourth in race one, and finished ninth in the other race at Toronto, without any other events altering his finish. At Mid-Ohio, he finished 9th, without having many eventful occurrences throughout the course of the race. He finished the season fifth in points.

Formula One

Honda Racing F1 tests

Honda Racing F1 announced in December, 2006 that Andretti would be presented with an opportunity to test their Formula One car,^[9] and on December 15, Andretti drove their Formula One car at Jerez in Spain.^[10] Honda sporting director Gil de Ferran commented that he had done a good job.^[11] Andretti said that he had greatly enjoyed the test but also told reporters that he wishes to enter Formula One only after he has won the Indianapolis 500.^[12]

On February 7–8, 2007 Andretti participated in a second Honda Racing F1 test for two days in Jerez, Spain. As in the previous test Andretti drove the team's 2006 Formula One car. His (unofficial) fastest lap of the day on February 7 was less than 1.5 seconds slower than Honda team driver Jenson Button's fastest time.^[13] His (unofficial) fastest time on February 8, in changeable conditions, was less than one second slower than that of the 2005 and 2006 Formula One World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso's fastest lap.^[14]

American Le Mans Series

12 Hours of Sebring

Andretti drove in the ALMS Sebring 12-hour endurance race for the Andretti Green Racing XM Satellite Radio car in March 2008. He was able to put in times in the 1 minute 48 second range that neither of his co-drivers were able to match. Although the car was retired early from the race, it was in the position for a podium finish.

On July 12, 2008, Andretti raced in the American LeMans race at Lime Rock Park, Conn in the AGR XM Acura. Later that same day, he raced in the IndyCar Series race in Nashville.

Andretti, Franck Montagny and Tony Kanaan raced at the Petit Le Mans on October 4, 2008. A late-race incident retired the #26 XM Radio Acura early, with a seventh-place finish in LMP2 and 16th overall.

GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series

Andretti made his Rolex Sports Car Series debut in the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona, driving the No. 2 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Michael Valiante, Scott Mayer and Miguel Potolicchio, finishing 10th overall.^[15]

A1 Grand Prix

2008–09 season

Andretti competing for A1 Team USA at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.

On November 3, 2008, Andretti was confirmed to be racing for A1 Team USA at the second round of the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season.^[16][17] Andretti was given the opportunity to race after Andretti Green Racing was revealed to be taking over the management of A1 Team USA starting with the 2008–09 season, and his father Michael Andretti became seat holder.^[18]

Formula E

Andretti competed for Andretti Autosport in the fourth round of the 2014–15 Formula E season in Buenos Aires,^[19] replacing Matthew Brabham. For the fifth round in Miami Andretti was replaced by Scott Speed.^[20]

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2005	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	PHX	STP 1	INDY 16	TXS	IMS 1	NSH	MIL	KTY 3	PPIR	SNM 1	CHI	WGL 2	FON	10th	250

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2006	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	HMS 15	STP 15	MOT 12	INDY 2	WGL 16	TXS 14	RIR 4	KAN 9	NSH 8	MIL 5	MCH 8	KTY 17	SNM 1	CHI 18						7th	325
2007				HMS 20	STP 4	MOT 16	KAN 19	INDY 24	MIL 15	TXS 19	IOW 2	RIR 12	WGL 5	NSH 5	MDO 18	MCH 2	KTY 4	SNM 16	DET 17	CHI 22			11th	350
2008				HMS 2	STP 25	MOT^1 18	LBH^1	KAN 5	INDY 3	MIL 21	TXS 19	IOW 3	RIR 9	WGL 5	NSH 24	MDO 25	EDM 17	KTY 3	SNM 14	DET 18	CHI 8	SRF^2 13	7th	363
2009				STP 13	LBH 6	KAN 6	INDY 30	MIL 7	TXS 4	IOW 12	RIR 7	WGL 5	TOR 8	EDM 10	KTY 10	MDO 6	SNM 14	CHI 11	MOT 7	HMS 22			8th	380
2010	Andretti Autosport			SAO 23	STP 12	ALA 5	LBH 14	KAN 13	INDY 3	TXS 3	IOW 15	WGL 13	TOR 8	EDM 11	MDO 9	SNM 12	CHI 3	KTY 6	MOT 11	HMS 7			8th	392
2011				STP 24	ALA 4	LBH 26	SAO 14	INDY 9	TXS 13	TXS 6	MIL 13	IOW 1	TOR 4	EDM 14	MDO 7	NHM 24	SNM 24	BAL 25	MOT 3	KTY 27	LVS^3 C		8th	337
2012		Dallara DW12	Chevrolet	STP 14	ALA 11	LBH 25	SAO 14	INDY 24	DET 11	TXS 17	MIL 15	IOW 2	TOR 16	EDM 14	MDO 8	SNM 25	BAL 14	FON 8					16th	278
2013				STP 3	ALA 7	LBH 7	SAO 3	INDY 4	DET 20	DET 6	TXS 5	MIL 20	IOW 9	POC 10	TOR 4	TOR 9	MDO 9	SNM 4	BAL 10	HOU 13	HOU 20	FON 7	5th	484
2014			Honda	STP 22	LBH 8	ALA 2	IMS 14	INDY 3	DET 10	DET 16	TXS 22	HOU 8	HOU 9	POC 9	IOW 18	TOR 16	TOR 8	MDO 22	MIL 13	SNM 8	FON 11		9th	463
2015				STP 10	NLA 13	LBH 8	ALA 10	IMS 16	INDY 6	DET 2	DET 5	TXS 5	TOR 13	FON 3	MIL 8	IOW 7	MDO 10	POC 18	SNM 11				9th	429
2016				STP 15	PHX 13	LBH 19	ALA 12	IMS	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	RDA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	SNM					17th*	61*

* Season still in progress.

• ¹ Run on same day.
• ² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
• ³ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
11	1	169	4	2	39	85	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Andretti participating in the Pit Stop Challenge on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2015

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2006	Dallara	Honda	9	2	Andretti Green
2007	Dallara	Honda	9	24	Andretti Green
2008	Dallara	Honda	7	3	Andretti Green
2009	Dallara	Honda	8	30	Andretti Green
2010	Dallara	Honda	16	3	Andretti Autosport
2011	Dallara	Honda	27	9	Andretti Autosport
2012	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	24	Andretti Autosport
2013	Dallara	Chevrolet	3	4	Andretti Autosport
2014	Dallara	Honda	6	3	Andretti Autosport
2015	Dallara	Honda	8	6	Andretti Autosport

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2008	Andretti Green Racing	LMP2	Acura ARX-01b	Acura 3.4L V8	M	SEB ovr:18 cls:6	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM ovr:6 cls:5	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET ovr:16 cls:7	MON	24th	38

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
2008–09	A1 Team USA	NED SPR	NED FEA	CHN SPR 15	CHN FEA 8	MYS SPR Ret	MYS FEA 3	NZL SPR 11	NZL FEA 11	RSA SPR 17	RSA FEA 8	POR SPR 12	POR FEA Ret	GBR SPR	GBR SPR	11th	24

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2010	Rebellion Racing	Nicolas Prost Neel Jani	Lola B10/60-Rebellion	LMP1	175	DNF	DNF

Complete V8 Supercar results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Final Pos	Points
2012	Kelly Racing	Holden VE Commodore	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HID R12	HID R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	SMP R18	SMP R19	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22 Ret	SUR R23 Ret	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	0 †

† Not Eligible for points

Complete Formula E results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2014–15	Andretti Autosport	Spark-Renault SRT 01E	BEI	PUT	PDE	BNA 12	MIA	LBH	MON	BER	MOS	LON	LON	30th	0

References

1. "Meet the rookies: Marco Andretti". F1Fanatic.co.uk. August 15, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
2. Cavin, Curt (April 6, 2008). "Rahal's victory sets open-wheel record". The Indianapolis Star (Gannett Company). Retrieved November 22, 2015.
3. "Patrick, Kanaan, Rahal, Foyt run into trouble at Indy 500". ESPN.com (ESPN Inc.). Associated Press. May 25, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
4. "Andretti edges Rahal to become youngest IndyCar pole winner". ESPN.com (ESPN Inc.). Associated Press. June 1, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
5. "Andretti slams Moraes after first lap shunt". Crash.net (Crash Media Group). May 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
6. Lewandowski, Dave. "http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/04/4-21-Notes-from-Long-Beach-race-day". Indycar. Retrieved April 18, 2013. External link in |title= (help)
7. Estrada, Chris. "Marco Andretti "We're on par for a great season."". NBC Sports.
8. Weaver, Matt. "2013 Indianapolis 500 results: Marco Andretti comes up short once again".
9. "Honda hand test to Andretti". Overdrive. December 11, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
10. "F1 in the news". F1Fanatic.co.uk. December 15, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
11. "Action packed final Jerez test". Overdrive. December 16, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
12. "Andretti wants to win 500 then join F1". GPUpdate.net. December 15, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
13. "Marco Andretti joins Jenson for day two at Jerez". HondaRacingF1.com. February 7, 2007.
14. "Barrichello and Andretti in action at wet Jerez". HondaRacingF1.com. February 8, 2007.
15. Dagys, John. "Michael Shank Racing Wins Gripping 50th Rolex24". Web. SPEED.com. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
16. "Marco Andretti confirmed for USA". a1gp.com. November 3, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
17. "First start for Andretti". indycar.com. November 3, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
18. "Andretti Green Racing to run USA". a1gp.com. October 1, 2008.
19. "Marco Andretti to race in Buenos Aires ePrix". fiaformulae.com. January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
20. "Scott Speed to race for Andretti in Miami". Formula E (Formula E Operations). March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Marco Andretti driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Marco Andretti at IndyCar
• The Official Andretti Family Website