INDIANAPOLIS 500 : School of Hard Knocks for Mansell : Auto racing: He gets quick education when passed by Fittipaldi and Luyendyk, then bangs wall trying to catch up.

Just as it was beginning to look as though Englishman Nigel Mansell would be the first rookie winner of the Indianapolis 500 since 1966, when Graham Hill, another British Formula One champion, turned the trick, a couple of old hands here welcomed him to Indy.

Coming off a caution period with only 15 of the 200 laps left in Sunday’s 77th running of the 500, Mansell, last year’s international champion who was considered much too accomplished a driver to carry the rookie label here, had only to protect the lead he had taken 11 laps earlier, after another caution period.

But Mansell had never experienced a restart as the race leader on an oval.

And so, Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk, both former winners here and well versed in accelerating to the green flag--and both using outside moves that were supposed to be impossible in the corners since the track’s recent reconfiguration--blew by him in Turn 1 on the restart, leaving Mansell feeling very rookie-ish, indeed.

And then, only a few laps later, he felt foolish again after sideswiping the wall.

After it all, Mansell finished third, behind now-two-time winner Fittipaldi and Luyendyk. And, under the circumstances, Mansell was happy to get it.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve raced on an oval, and the procedures are just so different. I’m not making any excuses, but I just goofed up on a couple of them.

“The restart was one. I thought I’d got on the gas early enough and all I see is ‘vroom’ (Fittipaldi), ‘vroom’ (Luyendyk)! And I’m thinking, ‘ You shouldn’t do that.’

“But there was a restart two times before that and I got the jump on Mario (Andretti, his teammate) . . . so that’s what you get on the restarts. It’s almost better to be second or third, rather than the pole man, unless you get a really good jump.

“I just didn’t execute. I didn’t get a good jump. And then, with about eight laps to go, I hit the wall in (Turn) 2--hard! Then instantly, for my self-preservation, the yellow lights came on as I came off the wall, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s great, they’ve done it for me.’

“After that, I did a couple of slow laps and just felt the car out and was just real happy to finish the race.”

All things considered, Mansell said, there was no covering for his lack of oval racing know-how.

“But I think, with all I’ve gone through (in switching from Formula One) from the beginning of this year, to sit here . . . at the greatest race in the world, to come in third, I’ve got to be happy,” he said. “And I am happy. I don’t mind being beaten today because I’ve been beaten by Emerson and Arie, and they deserve to be first and second. . . . I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Next year, hopefully, I’ll be able to go through it with a little bit more comfort.”

To hear him tell it, Mansell was not long on comfort for much of Sunday’s race.

“The race, from the point of view of the people watching, was magnificent,” he said. “From my point of view, I’m not so sure. When we had the yellow with 15 laps to go, that messed it up for me.”

That he was even in a position to win, however, was an accomplishment, Mansell said, adding that he spent much of his day in confusion.

“It was hell,” he said of the start. “Going down there, following the eight or nine cars into the first corner, there was no (clean) air and there were fumes that make your eyes water. It was a very impressive sight, and I had to remind myself that I was driving, as opposed to watching.

“A rookie? Hey, I missed my pit (on one stop). Drove right past it. What a splendid fellow!

“I think I got up to speed about halfway through, where I started enjoying myself. . . . I was real tentative until about 200 miles.”

Mansell said that, despite the ease with which he was passed for the lead, passing other cars was a chore for him all day.

“It’s OK following someone who’s not as quick as you and try to get past them,” he said. “But if you’re running roughly at the same speed, then your front end just washes out. You just get sheer understeer. It takes you right to the wall.”

He also issued a bit of a warning.

“The team did a fantastic job, and what mistakes were made today were made by me. . . . (But) I learned a lot out there this afternoon, I can tell you, from the point of view of driving on an oval. You watch these guys--they are professionals. I know I might not be a thoroughbred rookie, but from the point of view of tactics and the restarts and all the rest of it, they’re up to speed and I’ll catch up quickly.

“I must congratulate both Emerson and Arie. They did a fine job and their experience here told. . . . It will be different next year--wait and see.”

Fittipaldi doesn’t have to.

“I think he did well today,” he said of Mansell. “I didn’t like the way he was going there when he was leading. He was going too quick.”