Dillon Battistini

Last updated

Dillon Battistini
NationalityBritish
Born (1977-12-03) 3 December 1977 (age 46)
Ewell, England
Firestone Indy Lights Series
Years active2008–2010
Teams Panther Racing
Team Moore Racing
Genoa Racing
Team PBIR
Bryan Herta Autosport
Starts19
Wins4
Poles1
Best finish6th in 2008
Previous series
2006–2007
2003
Asian Formula Three Championship
Caterham R400 Challenge
Championship titles
2007Asian Formula Three Championship

Dillon Matthew Battistini (born 3 December 1977) is an English-born racecar driver from Ewell.

Contents

Career

Battistini competed in various classes of karting, finishing 3rd in the Junior European Championship and becoming the British Open Champion before moving to cars. In the Caterham R400 challenge in 2003, he won the most races and the driver of the year award, finishing 2nd in the Championship after being taken out from behind in the penultimate race at Brands Hatch which cost him the points lead considering his track position at the time. In 2006 and 2007 he raced in the Asian Formula Three Championship, finishing 4th his first year and winning the 2007 series championship and the most races on 5 race wins. After testing a Champ Car for Minardi Team USA and the subsequent unification of American Open Wheel Racing, Battistini signed to race in the Firestone Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) for Panther Racing less than 10 days before the season was set to begin. Battistini won his first race in the series which was also his first race on an oval track at Homestead-Miami Speedway on 29 March 2008. [1]

Battistini driving in Indy Lights at St. Petersburg SPGP2008 080.jpg
Battistini driving in Indy Lights at St. Petersburg

On 24 May Battistini won the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the pole for his second win of the season. Later that week he revealed that he and his team are preparing for him to make his IndyCar Series debut later in 2008. [2] He won two further races at Iowa and Kentucky. For the final race of the year, Battistini left the Panther team to race for Team Moore Racing. [3] Battistini was presented with the Gregory and Appel 'Securing Tomorrow' Award for winning the most races in the season at the 2008 IRL Awards Evening in Las Vegas. He competed in the fourth race of the 2009 season in a one-off for Genoa Racing and has been attempting to find a ride in the IndyCar Series. Having been unable to do so, he made two Indy Lights oval race appearances in 2010 for Team PBIR and Bryan Herta Autosport.

He participated in an IndyCar test with Conquest Racing at Kentucky Speedway on 23 September 2011 and made his IndyCar Series debut with the team in the 2011 season's race at Kentucky. [4] He retired on lap 124 out of 200 due to fatigue. [5]

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights Series

YearTeam12345678910111213141516RankPoints
2008 Panther Racing HMS
1
STP1
21
STP2
4
KAN
4
INDY
1
MIL
14
IOW
1
WGL1
17
WGL2
20
NSH
19
MDO1
18
MDO2
19
KTY
1
SNM1
18
SNM2
15
6th385
Team Moore Racing CHI
23
2009 Genoa Racing STP1 STP2 LBH KAN
15
INDY MIL IOW WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI HMS 29th15
2010 Team PBIR STP ALA LBH INDY IOW WGL TOR EDM MDO SNM CHI
9
KTY 22nd44
Bryan Herta Autosport HMS
9

IndyCar Series

YearTeamChassisNo.Engine123456789101112131415161718RankPointsRef
2011 Conquest Racing Dallara 34 Honda STP ALA LBH SAO INDY TXS1 TXS2 MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO NHM SNM BAL MOT KTY
28
LVS1 46th10 [6]
1 Cancelled after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

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References

  1. Lewandowski, Dave. Great Start [ permanent dead link ], IndyCar.com, 29 March 2008
  2. English, Steven & Andrew van de Burgt. Battistini plans two Panther outings, autosport.com, 29 May 2008
  3. Loomis, Katie. Battistini Shifts Gears to Drive Team Moore Entry in Chicagoland Finale Archived 2 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Team Moore PR via IndyProRacer.com, 4 September 2008
  4. Battistini to test for Conquest, Racer, 19 September 2011, Retrieved 19 September 2011
  5. "Results". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  6. "Dillon Battistini – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Asian Formula Three Champion
2007
Succeeded by