QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES---- Los Angeles, California, April
14, 2012
Fast Facts:
Oriol Servia
- Servia was in Group 2 for today's qualifying session.
Unfortunately he did not advance to the Fast 12. He clocked the
20th fastest time today with a time of 1:10.6835, making him the
fastest of the Lotus cars. Yesterday morning Lotus DRR had to
change the engine for the No. 22 Motegi Racing machine, and as a
result, the team was penalized for making an unapproved engine
change and will be penalized 10 grid positions for the race.
- This weekend will mark Servia's 10th start at the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach. Last year he started 4th and finished 6th.
After a late race collision, Servia, who was in contention for a
podium finish did a great job to avoid the pile up which resulted
in Oriol doing a 360-degree spin, got the car back in control and
finished the race in 6th position. He competed in CART/Champ Car
races at the track from 2000 to 2008. His previous best starts were
8th in 2003 and 2006 and his best finish was 2nd in 2007. Servia
has led 12 laps at the track.
- For the last three years Servia has called Santa Monica,
California home. He moved out west with his girlfriend Jackie at
the end of 2008 and the couple still lives in California, which
will make this weekend a "homecoming" for the Spaniard.
- Motegi Racing is the primary livery on the No. 22 machine this
weekend. Through technical partnerships with leading
professional racing teams, Motegi Racing Competition and High
Performance Tuning wheels are designed and engineered for
performance. Motegi Racing is owned by Wheel Pros, one of the
largest suppliers of branded custom wheels, performance tires and
related accessories for cars, SUVs and light trucks.
- 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.
Lotus DRR
- This year will be Lotus DRR's 13th season of IndyCar
competition, making them one of the longest tenured teams in the
series.
- This weekend will mark the team's 4th time to compete at the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
- In 2009 the team started 16th with Darren Manning and finished
19th and with Conway, started 16th and finished 21st. In 2010, the
team started 3rd with Justin Wilson and 16th with Mike Conway at
Long Beach and finished 2nd with Wilson and 10th with Conway in the
race. Last year Wilson started 5th and finished 22nd and Ana
Beatriz started 26th and finished 19th in the race.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Lotus DRR, on qualifying in Long
Beach:
"Today wasn't great and not what we wanted. We are still
learning as always and the Motegi Racing car was a lot better in
qualifying than it was this morning and that's a nice step. The
truth is we are disappointed because we didn't make the cut, but we
were still eight tenths from making it. We still need big
improvements and we need top speed. At least compared to the other
Lotus cars we did a good job.
Back on Track:
Lotus DRR will be back on track tomorrow starting with warm-up
at 9:15 a.m. PT for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race
will take place tomorrow at 3:30 pm ET. The race will be telecast
live on NBC Sports Network. Please visit
www.dreyerreinboldracing.com
for more updates.