CARB DAY NOTES/QUOTES---- Indianapolis, Indiana,
May 25, 2012
Fast Facts:
Oriol Servia
- Oriol clocked the 18th fastest speed today (218.846 mph) in the
final practice before Sunday's race, completing a total of 49
laps.
- Servia qualified 27th for the 96th Running of the Indianapolis
500. He secured a spot on the grid with a four-lap average
qualifying speed of 222.393 mph.
- The Mecum Auction Company will be the primary
sponsor on the No. 22 machine for the 96th Running of the
Indianapolis 500. Mecum Auctions has been specializing
in the sale of collector cars for 25 years, now offering more than
10,000 vehicles per year. Mecum Auctions is the world leader
of collector car, classic motorcycle, vintage wooden boat and road
art sales. Auctions are held throughout the United States and
broadcast live on Discovery's Velocity Network. For further
information, visit www.mecum.com or call 262.275.5050.
- Last Saturday's qualifying didn't go as planned for Panther
DRR. In the morning's warm-up session the team had a gearbox issue
that they had to fix. Panther DRR hurried to get the problem
repaired and had the No. 22 car ready to line-up for qualifying. As
Oriol was on his warm-up lap during his qualifying attempt, he got
loose in the exit of Turn 4 and he made contact with the wall.
Fortunately, the team was be able to repair the damage on the
primary car.
- Unfortunately, Oriol wasn't able to get any track time on Fast
Friday. As the team warmed the car up in the morning there was an
issue with the car smoking. Fortunately, what was thought to be a
problem with the motor ended up not being the reason, so the team
will not have to take the penalty in Detroit for an unapproved
engine change. However, the team had to spend most of the day to
change the motor and then change it back to the original, which
resulted in not being able to get out on track, but the team did
get to the bottom of the problem.
- On day one of practice Servia was 11th fastest (217.20 mph), on
day two he was 19th fastest (217.656 mph), on day three he was 8th
fastest (220.304mph), on day four of practice he was 15th fastest
(219.948 mph), on day five he was 21st fastest (219.021 mph), and
on day six he was 13th fastest (220.643 mph).
- With all seven practice days combined, Servia has completed a
total of 332 laps.
- Teammate JR Hildebrand posted a top lap speed of 219.771 mph,
finishing 12th in the final standings in his No. 4 National
Guard/Panther Racing entry.
- This weekend will mark Oriol Servia's fourth start for the
greatest spectacle in racing.
- Last year, Oriol qualified on the front row for Newman/Haas
Racing. He started 3rd, finished 6th and led for 18 laps. In 2009,
Servia ran for Rahal Letterman Racing and he started 25th and
finished 26th as his day was ended early due to a mechanical issue.
In 2008, he qualified 25th for KV Racing Technology and finished
11th. In 2002, Servia practiced for the month of May and attempted
to qualify for Walker Racing, but did not make the show.
- In the last four races combined, Servia has gained a total of
39 positions (7 positions in St. Pete to finish 16th, 13 positions
in Barber to finish 13th, 7 positions in Long Beach to finish 16th,
and 12 positions in Brazil to finish 11th).
- Last year Oriol Finished fourth in IZOD IndyCar Series
standings....Recorded 11 top-10 finishes, with a best of second at
New Hampshire and Baltimore....Among three drivers to be running at
the finish in all 17 races..... Led all drivers in laps completed
(2,103 of 2,011)....Oriol was the only driver to finish in the top
10 in first five races of the season.
Panther DRR
- DRR has competed in the Indy 500 for the last 12 years.
Last season the team ran four cars: Davey Hamilton (SP: 15th
/ FP: 24th), Justin Wilson (SP: 19th/ FP: 16th), Ana Beatriz (SP:
32nd/ FP: 21st), Paul Tracy (SP: 24th/ FP:
25th)...2010: Justin Wilson, Tomas Scheckter and
Mike Conway all led laps for the 500-first time in DRR history for
three of the four entries entered to lead the Indy 500. Wilson (SP:
11th /FP: 7th), Scheckter (SP: 20th / FP: 15th), Ana Beatriz (SP:
21st / FP: 21st). Both Bia and Mike had contact on the last lap of
the race....2009: For the first time in the team's
history, DRR entered four cars for the 500 with one of the entries
being with Richard Petty (making it his first Indy 500 entry). Mike
Conway (SP: 27th/ FP: 18th), John Andretti (SP: 28th / FP: 19th),
Milka Duno (SP: 30th / FP: 20th), Davey Hamilton made contact (SP:
22nd / 29th).....2008: Buddy Rice (SP: 17th/ FP:
8th), Milka Duno (SP: 27th/ FP: 19th), Townsend Bell (SP: 12th/ FP:
10th).....2007: Sarah Fisher (SP: 21st/ FP: 18th),
Buddy Rice (SP: 16th/ FP: 25th), Roger Yasukawa (SP: 23rd/ FP:
21st)....2006: Al Unser Jr (SP: 27th/ FP: 24th ---accident), Buddy
Lazier (SP: 25th/ FP: 12th)....2005: Roger
Yasukawa (SP: 17th/ FP: 18th -mechanical), Jeff Buknum (SP: 21st/
FP: 22nd -accident)....2004: Felipe Giaffone (SP:
25th/ FP: 15th), Buddy Lazier (SP: 28th/ FP: 23rd ---fuel
system)...2003: Robbie Buhl (SP: 18th/FP:
22nd-engine), Sarah Fisher (SP: 24th/
31st-engine/accident)...2002: Robbie Buhl (SP:
2nd/ FP: 16th), Sarah Fisher (SP: 9th/ FP:
23rd)....2001: Robbie Buhl (SP: 9th/ FP:
15th)...2000:Robbie Buhl (SP: 9th/ FP: 26th),
Steve Knapp (SP: 27th/ FP: 19th).
- Two weeks ago it was announced that the Indianapolis-based
squad has united with two-time IndyCar Series champion Panther
Racing to form a strategic alliance on Oriol Servia's entry for the
remainder of the 2012 season. The No. 22 Panther/DRR team will
utilize Panther's second Chevrolet engine lease and work in
conjunction with the No. 4 National Guard team and driver JR
Hildebrand beginning with this month's 96th Running of the
Indianapolis 500.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the final
practice before the 500: "I'm
really happy. We put the team to the test. They've worked really
hard in the last couple of days to try to put together all of the
data that we got from running the whole week and we came up with a
setup a little bit different from what we've been running. Just
having the time to think and go through the notes helped a lot.
Usually Carb day is a day that you just do a couple of outings to
make sure that you didn't change the car much, but we actually
changed the car and it felt really good. I'm feeling very confident
for the race."
Back on Track: Panther DRR
will be back on track Sunday, May 27th for the 96th Running of the
Indianapolis 500. The race is scheduled for noon (ET)
and live coverage on ABC and the IMS Radio Network will start at 11
a.m. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com for
more updates.