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RACE NOTES/QUOTES---- Lexington, OH, August 5,
2012
Fast Facts:
- Yesterday Servia qualified 11th for today's race, but due to
Alex Tagliani incurring a 10 grid spot penalty for an unapproved
engine change, Oriol started the race 10th.
- Unfortunately the start of the race took a disappointing turn.
As the green flag waved, Oriol lost the top three gears on the No.
22 machine and as a result he had to immediately come into the pits
to change the gearbox, causing him to go down six laps.
- Although the start wasn't what the team had hoped for, Servia
proved that he had the fastest car out on the track as he clocked
four of the fastest lap times and three of which were the quickest
of the race. His fastest laps were clocked on Lap 72 (leader lap)
with a time of 67.1757 seconds, his second fastest time was on lap
74 (leader lap) with a time of 667.3392 seconds and his third
fastest lap was on Lap 60 (leader lap) with a time of 67.3393
seconds.
- Luckily, the team was able to repair the problem and on Lap 15
Oriol said over the radio that car was okay. He pitted on Lap 35
for a full fill of fuel and to switch from the Firestone Firehawk
Primary (black-sidewall) tires to the Firestone Firehawk Alternate
(red-sidewall) tires. Servia came in for the final time on Lap 62
for a full fill of fuel and to switch from the Firestone Firehawk
Alternate (red-sidewall) tires to a scuffed set of the "red" tires.
He finished the race in 25th position.
- Servia was in Group 1 for yesterday's qualifying session. On
the last lap he bumped out Helio Castroneves to secure a spot in
the Fast 12. Unfortunately, he didn't advance to the Fast 6, but he
clocked the 11th fastest time of the day with a time of 1:06.2053
(122.782 mph).
- This weekend marked Servia's 8th start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course (four of those starts were in Champ Car from 2000-2003).
Last year he started 20th and finished 8th. In 2000 he started 17th
and finished 10th, in 2001 he started 26th and finished 9th, in
2002 he started 12th and finished 10th, in 2003 he started 8th and
finished 18th, in 2008 he started 8th and finished 5th, in 2009 he
started 14th and finished 11th.
- 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 eight races, tying with
a season best of fourth place at the Indianapolis 500 and in
Detroit.
- The Mecum Auction Company was the primary sponsor on the No. 22
this weekend. 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 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.
- This weekend marked Panther DRR's sixth time to compete at the
2.258- mile circuit. Last year, Justin Wilson broke his back during
practice and Simon Pagenaud had to fill in for him for the race.
Pagenaud qualified 18th and finished 13th and Ana Beatriz started
25th and finished 17th. In 2010, Wilson qualified 11th and finished
27th and JR Hildebrand started from 18th position and finished
16th.The team finished best of eighth in 2007 after starting ninth
with Buddy Rice. In 2007, Sarah Fisher qualified 17th and finished
15th. In 2009, Mike Conway started 16th and finished 20th and Duno
started 20th and finished 21st. In 2008, Rice qualified 7th and
finished 20th and Duno qualified 26th and finished 23rd.
- It was announced in May 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.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the Honda Indy 200
at Mid-Ohio: "We all know that this is apart of racing,
but it really stinks when it happens to you. At the start of the
race when I went to fourth gear it just broke and I don't know why.
We then changed the gearbox and we lost six laps because of it. My
radio wasn't working so I didn't know the fast times. I could see
that I was catching the guys in front of me and I kept catching
them and letting them go, but I had no idea that we were that fast
compared to everybody. So again, great job by the team and as I
said, we had good pace and a good car. It's just part of racing
when things like this happen. It's just unfortunate, because we
keep getting closer to the podium, but we have three races left and
I think that we will have good cars at all of them so we still have
time to shine."
Dennis Reinbold, Panther DRR Co-Owner: "We're
not happy with the result and we're frustrated that we had to start
out with a problem when we had one of the fastest cars out there
today. Fortunately, we will take our setup and apply it to future
races."
Back on Track: Panther DRR will head home to
Indianapolis to rest and gear up for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of
Sonoma. The race is scheduled for Sunday, August 26th at 4:30 pm
ET. Live coverage will be on the NBC Sports Network and the IMS
Radio Network. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com for more
updates.
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