PANTHER DRR AND ORIOL SERVIA HAVE A GREAT RACE IN TORONTO TO FINISH 5th

RACE NOTES/QUOTES---- Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 8, 2012

Fast Facts:

• Today was a matter of staying out of trouble and that's exactly what Panther DRR and Oriol Servia did. Yesterday, he qualified 16th but due to two cars being penalized in front of him he started the race 14th.

• The Panther DRR strategy couldn't have worked any better for the team. Servia came in on Lap 18 for a full fill of fuel, turn of front wing, and to switch from the Firestone Firehawk primary (black-sidewall) tires to the alternate (red-sidewall) tires. When he came in he was in 15th position and filtered out to P18.

• On Lap 23 the yellow came out, which played in favor of Panther DRR's strategy helping to make it a two-stop race for the team. As a result, on the Lap 28 restart he started 7th due to the cars in front that had to pit. Unfortunately, he lost three positions and went back to 10th place.

• From that point it was a matter of saving fuel until the next window and Oriol did exactly that. He saved the necessary fuel and came in on Lap 52 for the final time to get a full fill of fuel and switch from the Firestone Firehawk alternate (red-sidewall) tires to another set of "red" tires. When he came in he was 10th, but filtered out to P12 after the stop.

• On Lap 79 the yellow came out and Servia was P7, but stayed out of the trouble happening in front of him and he filtered up to P4 at the restart.

• The green flag waved on Lap 81 and he lost a position, but fortunately avoided the multi-car crashes and another yellow came out on Lap 82. The race finished under yellow and he brought the No. 22 Valspar machine home in 5th position.

• Servia currently sits 10th in the championship with 215 points and just two points from 9th place.

• The Spaniard was in Group 2 for yesterday's qualifying session. Unfortunately he did not advance to the Fast 12. He just barely got knocked out as he clocked the 16th fastest time of 1:00.0004 (105.299 mph).

• This weekend marked Servia's 11th start in Toronto (eight of those starts were in CART/Champ Car from 2000-2007). Last year he started 6th and finished 12th. Servia has finished in the top-5 twice (2003-finished 5th and 2005- finished 2nd) and the top-10 twice (2004-finished 9th and 2007-finished 10th).  His best start was third in 2007 when he was driving for Forsythe Racing.

• 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 six races, tying with a season best of fourth place (was 4th in the Indy 500).

• Valspar was the primary on the No. 22 machine this weekend. The Valspar Corporation is one of the largest global coatings manufacturers in the world, providing coatings and coating intermediates to a wide variety of customers and applications. Since 1806, Valspar has been dedicated to bringing customers the latest innovations, the finest quality, and the best customer service in the coatings industry.

• 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 173 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 (inclues top-five) and has led a total of 130 laps in his career.

• Panther DRR competed for the fourth time at the 1.75-mile temporary street course. They have had one car qualify in the top six in the first two races at the track. Last year, Justin Wilson started 11th and finished 15th and Ana Beatriz started 26th and finished 11th. In 2010, the team set a track record and earned their first pole at the circuit with Justin Wilson, who led for 32-laps. Unfortunately, a late race spin caused Wilson to fall back positions, but he finished with a 7th place result. In 2009, Mike Conway started sixth and finished 22nd and Tomas Scheckter led for six laps before being eliminated from the race.

Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the race: "This Sunday wasn't the most spectacular day for the Panther/DRR 22 Valspar machine.  We took a little bit of a gamble with the setup before the start and it just wasn't working. Honestly, we just didn't have the speed.  I felt a lot better in the practices, but not during the race.  We just didn't have the pace during the race.  Dennis had a great strategy.  We were able to stay out of trouble.  There were a lot of drivers that were not driving that smart out there.  It was just a matter of keeping our nose clean and letting them make the mistakes.  We'll take the fifth place."