Catchfence

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 27, 2010) – Four-time Firestone Indy Lights race winner Dillon Battistini will team with Bryan Herta Autosport for the season-ending Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 2. Battistini, a former winner on the 1.5-mile oval in his series debut two years ago, will pilot the #29 William Rast/Forsythe Solutions/NetApp entry.

“Homestead is an important race for us as we welcome back the support of Forsythe Solutions and the addition of NetApp alongside our partner William Rast,” said team co-owner Bryan Herta. “Dillon is an accomplished winner on the ovals and we are excited to have him join the team this weekend. Hopefully, this will be another step forward for him in reaching his goal of competing here full time next season.”

Battistini, of Ewell, England, finished sixth in the 2008 Indy Lights championship claiming a season-best four wins with victories at Indianapolis, Iowa and Kentucky in addition to Homestead for Panther Racing. He contested one race this year, finishing ninth at Chicagoland despite a brake problem on his Team PBIR [Palm Beach Indy Racing] entry. In 10 career oval starts, Battistini has qualified in the top four six times and was the pole sitter for the 2008 Freedom 100 at Indianapolis.

Prior to his U.S. racing debut, Battistini claimed the 2007 Asian Formula 3 Series championship.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to return to Homestead driving for Bryan Herta Autosport,” said Battistini. “I’m excited by the prospect of racing a truly competitive car for the first time in a while and look forward to helping the team achieve a strong result. Hopefully, I can participate full time in 2011.”

Battistini will be flying the BHA colors solo this weekend following Stefan Wilson’s crash at Kentucky on September 5. Wilson was collected in an early race incident when another driver spun. He was not injured but his #28 car was damaged beyond repair. It was a difficult weekend for the team as Daniel Herrington, driving the second BHA entry, was gathered in the accident as well. Herrington also was uninjured.

Saturday’s 67-lap race will start at 3:45 pm ET and is available at www.indycar.com.

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About Bryan Herta Autosport:

Founded by veteran driver Bryan Herta and noted race engineer and team manager Steve Newey, Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) debuted in Firestone Indy Lights competition in 2009 claiming one win, five top-five and 15 top-10 results. Herta, an accomplished racer, has won in every series he has contested including the IZOD IndyCar Series, American Le Mans Series and CART in addition to garnering Skip Barber Formula Ford, Barber Saab and Firestone Indy Lights championship titles. Amongst his career highlights are a third-place finish in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and victory in the LMP2 class at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2007. Newey’s racing career spans over 20 years and includes design and race engineering positions in Formula One as well as team manager/technical director roles in IndyCar, American Le Mans and Grand-Am competition. Among his highlights are the 1992 Champ Car World Series title as the race engineer for Bobby Rahal, the 2006 Grand-Am Daytona Prototype Driver’s Championship with Krohn Racing’s Jorg Bergmeister and victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2007 as race engineer for Andretti Green Racing and drivers Bryan Herta, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan. He was also instrumental in assembling the Patrick Racing Firestone test team and served as team manager for drivers Scott Pruett and Adrian Fernandez. For more information, visit www.bryanhertaautosport.com.

- Bryan Herta Autosport, Press Release