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RACE NOTES/QUOTES---- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada --
July 22, 2012
Fast Facts:
- Yesterday Servia qualified 20th for today's race, but due to an
engine change last night for precautionary reasons, Panther DRR was
penalized 10 grid spots. Fortunately, due to other drivers
incurring the same penalty, Servia started the race 24th.
- The Spaniard had a good clean start and gained one position on
the first lap going from 24th to 23rd. For the first couple of laps
it took awhile for the "car to wake up" as Oriol put it. However he
gained three more spots in the first stint.
- On Lap 24, Servia came in for the first time for a turn of
front wing, a full fill of fuel and to switch from the Firestone
Firehawk primary (black-sidewall) tires to the alternate
(red-sidewall) tires. He was P20 when he came in and filtered out
to P22.
- Servia would come in for the second time on Lap 49. He was P21
when he came into the pits. He received a full fill of fuel, couple
turns of front wing, and switched from the Firestone Firehawk
(red-sidewall) tires to a fresh set of "red" tires. Unfortunately,
the stop didn't go as planned for the team. As Servia went to leave
the pit box he kept stalling due to a problem with the clutch and
went down five laps as a result.
- Fortunately, on Lap 54 Servia got back out and was in 24th
position. As there was nothing more to gain due to being down five
laps, he came in on Lap 71 and called it a day, finishing the race
in 24th position (nine laps down).
- Despite the mechanical issue, Servia clocked the third fastest
lap of the race.
- Servia was in Group 2 for yesterday's qualifying session.
Unfortunately he did not advance to the Fast 12. He clocked the
20th fastest time of 1:17.3906.
- This weekend marked Servia's 6th start in Edmonton (three of
those starts were in Champ Car from 2005-2007). He has finished no
worse than sixth in first four starts at track (2005-2008). His
best finish was second in 2005 and his best start was third in
2008. Last year he started 8th and finished 22nd.
- Servia currently sits 11th in the championship with 215 points
and 15 points from 10th place.
- In eight races, Servia has gained a total of 98 positions (7
positions in St. Pete to finish 16th, 13 positions in Barber to
finish 13th, 7 positions in Long Beach to finish 16th, 12 positions
in Brazil to finish 11th, 23 positions in Indianapolis to finish
4th, 11 positions in Detroit to finish 5th, 16 positions in
Milwaukee to finish 4th and 9 positions in Toronto to finish
5th).
- Since making the switch to Chevy power, Panther DRR and Oriol
Servia have earned four top-five results in seven races, tying with
a season best of fourth place (was 4th in the Indy 500 and at
Detroit).
- This weekend Hurco was the primary on the No. 22 machine. Hurco
is a leader in advanced manufacturing technology for the worldwide
metal cutting market. Founded in Indianapolis 44 years ago,
Hurco holds numerous patents for manufacturing technology and
continues to revolutionize the industry with its development of
computerized machine tools that increase efficiency and
productivity, which ultimately makes Hurco customers more
profitable. The broad line of Hurco computerized machine
tools is used to make parts and molds for nearly every industry,
including motorsports, automotive, aerospace, defense,
energy/mining, agricultural equipment, medical, electronics, and
consumer products.
- 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.
- In 12 seasons of competing in open wheel racing, Servia has 174
starts, 19 podium finishes, a win in Montreal (2005), a pole
position at Surfer's Paradise (2005), 45 top-five finishes
(including podiums), 85 top-10 finishes (includes top-five) and has
led a total of 130 laps in his career.
- Panther DRR competed for the fifth time at the Edmonton City
Centre Airport circuit. Last year, Justin Wilson started 15th and
finished 5th and Ana Beatriz started 23rd and finished 13th.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the race:
"It was long day. To start with, I don't remember that last
time that we had an IndyCar race without a yellow, especially at a
place that I was saying before the race that there were going to be
many. It's interesting how we drivers can behave
sometimes. On our hand, it was the strangest race that I've
ever had in terms of how the car behaved early on. I think
that we had a malfunction in the diff, I have to guess, because I
couldn't brake at all without locking one wheel on the braking on
the rear and having a lot of wheel-spin. At the end when we
put a lot of front wing in and changed the car and on the Firestone
Firehawk alternate (red-sidewall) tires, we were able to do the
fastest lap of the race, so the Hurco car wasn't bad.
Unfortunately, we had a mechanical with the clutch on our last stop
that obviously made us go laps down and that put us out of the
game. It's a shame because we had a good strategy
going. Mechanicals happen in racing it's just a shame when it
happens to you. I'm glad that at the end we showed good
pace."
Back on Track: Panther DRR will head back home
to Indianapolis to prepare for the 12th round of the IZOD IndyCar
Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race is scheduled for
Sunday, August 5th at 1:00 pm ET. Live coverage will be on ABC and
the IMS Radio Network. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com
for more updates.
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