Athletes - Michael Andretti

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	Athletes - Michael Andretti

Michael Andretti (born October 5, 1962 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is a former professional racing driver who now runs a team in the Indy Racing League. He is the son of Mario Andretti, one of the most recognizable autoracing drivers of all time in America.

Michael Andretti started his racing career at the wheel of a 1980 Formula Ford. In 1981, he won six of the 11 Super Vee races and went on to win the championship. After that, he went into Formula Atlantic, where he won the Formula Atlantic Championship. During that same year, he made his Champ Car debut and also finished third in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1985, he won the Indianapolis Rookie of the Year award. He went on to win his first Indy race in 1986, finishing as championship runner-up that year and the next year He took his sole Champ Car championship in 1991.

As a driver, he is remebered for being unlucky at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1991 Indianapolis 500, he finished 2nd to winner Rick Mears. The next year, he dominated the race but with less than 10 laps to go, his engine blew up on turn 2, and he finished the 1992 Indianapolis 500 in 13th place.

He joined the McLaren Formula 1 team for 1993, alongside the great Ayrton Senna, but was not a success. A string of collisions meant that he only completed three laps in his first three races, and he never fully got up to speed in Formula 1 cars. He commuted to races and test sessions from the U.S., which many feel contributed to his downfall. His third place at Monza was perceived as too little, too late, and he mutually agreed to leave the team and the championship.

After being replaced from the McLaren team by Finnish ace Mika Häkkinen, Andretti returned to the Champ Car series, where he proved very successful, finishing as runner-up in 1996. In 2003, he began running his own Indy Racing League team, known as Andretti Green Racing, having bought into the "Team Green" squad Kim Green ran with his brother Barry, and moved it from the Champ Car series.

An Andretti Green Racing driver, Dan Wheldon, won the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Andretti has announced that he will return to the driver's seat for the 2006 Indianapolis 500 in a one-off effort to assist the development of his son, Marco, an IRL rookie in 2006.

Complete Formula One results

(Note: grands prix in bold denote points scoring races.)

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Athletes - Michael Andretti

Complete Formula One results

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