1994 NIGEL MANSELL NEW HAMPSHIRE INDYCAR GRAND PRIX

Round Twelve: New Hampshire

Emerson Fittipaldi took his first pole in nearly a year. At the start, eighth place starter Adrian Fernandez spun across the track without contact. But in an effort to avoid him, Jacques Villeneuve and Arie Luyendyk crashed and were done for the day before taking the green flag, thus failing to start the race. Robby Gordon spun harmlessly. The resulting 25 car starting field was the smallest of the year, showing the strength of the sport at the time. A scary crash on Lap 13 involved Mike Groff and former Trans-Am champion Scott Sharp. Groff spun exiting Turn 2 and hit the outside wall; just behind him, Sharp spun to avoid him and was propelled by his kinetic energy onto Groff's nose. His car was launched into the air and flipped once an a half, leaving the Connecticut native hanging upside down in the car for the better part of a minute. The season rookie runner-up was flipped onto his wheels and walked away unharmed. Fittipaldi enjoyed the lead for a long time until Paul Tracy took it from him on the outside in Turn 3. Tracy was looking for redemption; he was now leading the race he nearly won the year before when he lost a duel with Nigel Mansell in the waning laps. Emerson soon lost second to Raul Boesel, and third to Nigel Mansell. Point leader Al Unser, Jr., who started tenth, was climbing through the field and eventually took the lead from Tracy, who then lost second to Mansell. Mansell's bid to win died slowly after he and Mario Andretti touched in Turn 1 on Lap 109. Andretti, also Mansell's teammate was a lap down, but the two already had some bad blood between them. Mario hit the wall, while Mansell soldiered on for nearly 20 more laps before getting fed up with the poor handling. Paul Tracy later regained the lead in traffic, but Unser took it back and led another Penske 1-2-3 sweep ahead of Tracy and Fittipaldi, as all three cars were separated by approximately nine tenths of a second from each other at the chequers. Raul Boesel and Michael Andretti were two laps back in fourth and fifth, followed by Dominic Dobson, who surprisingly qualified and finished sixth (three laps down) for PacWest Racing. The Penske juggernaut continued to lead the championship, with Unser leading at 173 points, Fittipaldi 133 points, Tracy 107, Michael Andretti 100, Gordon 87, and Mansell 79.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• 1994
• NIGEL
• MANSELL
• NEW
• HAMPSHIRE
• INDYCAR
• GRAND
• PRIX