rpm.espn.com: Didier André

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Monday, December 3

Didier André
ESPN.com

Team: Galles Racing
Nationality: France

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Top 5
Top 10
Money
Best finish

2001 20 0 0 1 2 $418,550 4th, Richmond

Career 0 0 1 2 $418,550 4th, Richmond

Didier André
André

2001 Recap
The Good: Didier's biggest asset is his determination. He needs to improve his performances on 1-mile ovals. A year of experience should help.

Season Highlight: André finished a season-best at the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond. 2002 should result in better finishes but a win would be surprising.

The Bad: André's best qualifying effort was 14th at Richmond. With more experience under his belt and familiarity with his car and team, André will be expected to crack into a top-10 starting spot on occassion next season.

Season Lowlight: It had to hurt the rookie to be bumped from the Indianapolis 500 on Bump Day. His Indianapolis Motor Speedway difficulties should diminish. He has a better understanding of his Galles Racing team and they have a better understanding of his assets and potential liabilities.

André made a rookie mistake in the season-finale at Texas by leaving his pit before the fuel nozzle had been disengaged from his car. That pulled the fuel tank over the wall, spilling fuel on the car and in the pit stall. André received second degree burns to his hand and two crew members were injured by the fuel tank.

Key Stat: André finished six races and was knocked out of six due to accidents or car failures. Fifty percent completions will have to improve next year. Another stat: André finished worse than where he started only in one race.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: As no real threat to his teammate, Al Unser, Jr., Didier provides a base line from which the team can add to provide Unser with a more effective package. Galles' chief engineer, Alan Mertens should not have to spend as much time with the affable Frenchman as he did last season just getting him "up to speed."

Prediction: André's results should improve, but it may take some more seasoning before he finds himself in Victory Lane.

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