April 17th 2011 - Driving the car no. 24 for Ipiranga Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Ana Beatriz Figueiredo finished in a positive way the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach valid for the third round of the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship held last Sunday.

She started from the 26th position on the grid and finished on the 19th, between the 21 cars of 27 that completed the 85 laps by the 3.168 meters of thestreet circuit of California.

With a right hand fractured in the first round and operated recently for the insertion of a pin on her scaphoid bone, Ana Beatriz Figueiredo had her movements limited by the carbon fiber protection bracelet that she had to wear above the glove to protect the bone in calcification from any risk of injury in case of any contact with other cars.

“We improved the protection bracelet, we increased a bit the contact area of my hand with the steering wheel, but I still wasn’table to hold the steering wheel with the adhesion and strength which are necessary to be fast enough in Long Beach. It was not easy during the five first turns to drive with only one hand. The left arm was getting very tired. Until the moment we asked ourselves if we should go until the end, but then I decided to go”, summarize the Ipiranga Racing’sdriver who competes in the rookie’scategory.

The start of the race was a bit tense for Ana Beatriz who made a mistake in the presentation lap. “I accelerated more than necessary with the tires still cold, I spun and the car stalled. This cost me time from the start. I finished the race a bit frustrated for not being able to use all my capacity, but the important thing is we made it until the end and scored some points. Now I will continue totally dedicated to my hand’srecovery to be able to be more competitive in Brazil’srace”, concludes Ana Beatriz Figueiredo who left the racetrack feeling some pain in the hand.

Results – 3rd round, IZOD IndyCar Series

1 Mike Conway
2 Ryan Briscoe
3 Dario Franchitti
4 James Hinchcliffe
5 Alex Tagliani
6 Oriol Servia
7 Danica Patrick
8 Tony Kanaan
9 Vitor Meira
10 Will Power
11 Raphael Matos
12 Helio Castroneves
13 Graham Rahal
14 Sebastian Saavedra
15 James Jakes
16 Paul Tracy
17 JR Hildebrand
18 Scott Dixon
19 Ana Beatriz
20 Simona de Silvestro
21 Takuma Sato
22 Justin Wilson
23 Ryan Hunter-Reay
24 Charlie Kimball
25 EJ Viso
26 Marco Andretti
27 Sebastien Bourdais

Championship classification after 3 rounds - IZOD IndyCar Series

1 Dario Franchitti, 122 points
2 Will Power, 115 
3 Tony Kanaan, 87
4 Oriol Servia, 80
5 Mike Conway, 74
6 Alex Tagliani, 73
7 Scott Dixon, 66
8 Ryan Briscoe, 66
9 Simona de Silvestro, 66
10 Vitor Meira, 64
11 Danica Patrick, 57
12 Raphael Matos, 57
13 Takuma Sato, 56
14 Helio Castroneves, 56
15 Marco Andretti, 54
16 J.R. Hildebrand, 49
17 James Hinchcliffe, 44
18 Justin Wilson, 44
19 Charlie Kimball, 44
20 Sebastian Saavedra, 43
21 Graham Rahal, 42
22 Ryan Hunter-Heay, 40
23 James Jakes, 40
24 Sebastien Bourdais, 34
25 EJ Viso, 34
26 Ana Beatriz, 28
27 Simon Pagenaud, 24
28 Paul Tracy, 14 points

PICTURES

Ana Beatriz in Long Beach - credit: Chris Jones / IndyCar