The combination of Darren Manning's hard driving and the tactical savvy of the AJ Foyt/ABC Supply team produced a season-best finish in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International as the Briton brought the #14 car home second overall.
The result came just two races after driver and team owner apparently fell out over Manning's decision to park the red, white and blue machine with alleged handling problems at Iowa, leading to suggestions that his the Briton's days in the squad may be numbered. After a solid run at Richmond last Saturday was scuppered by an incident not of his making, Manning was delighted to finally be able to prove the combination's potential as the IndyCar Series ventured onto its first permanent road course of the season.
“This strong finish doesn't surprise me because we've proved it to ourselves every now and then, but it's nice to validate it on a weekend like this to everyone else,” the driver said afterwards.
"We've taken a step up, but we just can't quite show it yet. We ran strong in St Petersburg, [and could have] finished third there, but we had a gearbox problem, and had to finish the race in third gear.
"But the competition out there is so, so deep - really, really deep throughout the field. You know, last year, if you were a second off the pace in qualifying, you may be in sixth, seventh place, something like that. This year, if you're second off the pace, you're 20th. It's crazy. Well, it's not crazy, it's good - good for the fans and good for the state of the sport. And it's good that every team can get up front there.
"It's just all testament to the team, and good job we've done," the driver insisted, "We're are a small team, not a two- or three-car team. AJ is a pretty good team-mate to have at times but, at other times, he's a tough taskmaster. He's got very high standards.
