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ADVANCE NOTES/QUOTES---- Indianapolis, IN, August 28,
2012
Fast Facts:
- This weekend will mark Servia's second start at Baltimore. Last
year he started 14th and finished 2nd.
- Oriol will visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards and will throw the
first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles versus the Chicago White Sox
game on Thursday, August 30th at 12:35 pm ET.
- In recognition of his first name being a near-match with
Baltimore's MLB team, Servia will debut a special helmet design for
this year's Grand Prix that incorporates an oriole. Servia hails
from Catalonia, Spain, also home of artist Salvador Dali, which
prompted his series of unique, Dali-inspired helmet designs.
- Servia currently sits 13th in the championship with 249 points
and is 37 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 nine races, tying with
a season best of fourth place at the Indianapolis 500 and in
Detroit.
- For the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Servia qualified 20th
for the race, but due to two cars in front of him incurring a 10
grid spot penalty for an unapproved engine change, Oriol started
the race 18th. Oriol got a good start and gained two positions on
the first lap going from P18 to P16. On Lap 15, Servia came into
the pits for his first stop, receiving a full fill of fuel, a turn
of front wing and switched from the Firestone Firehawk Primary
(black-sidewall) tires to a set of "sticker" Firestone Firehawk
Alternate (red-sidewall) tires. He filtered out to P22, but once
all of the stops were done he went up to P17. Things were going
smoothly until Lap 34 when James Hinchcliffe broke too early which
damaged Oriol's front wing. Fortunately he was able to make his pit
window. Servia came in on Lap 39 to replace the front wing, receive
a full fill of fuel and switch from the Firestone Firehawk
Alternate (red-sidewall) tires to the Firestone Firehawk Primary
(black-sidewall) tires. He came into the pits in 15th position but
would drop back to P22 as a result. Servia, running at P17, came in
for his last pit stop on Lap 63 to receive a full fill of fuel, a
turn of front wing and to switch from the Firestone Firehawk
Primary (black-sidewall) tires to a set of "sticker" Firestone
Firehawk Alternate (red-sidewall) tires. On Lap 74 there was a full
course caution for contact between Josef Newgarden and Sebastien
Bourdais. The restart was on Lap 74 and Oriol started in 15th
position. Another yellow came out on Lap 74 and the restart was on
Lap 76. Unfortunately, on Lap 78, Oriol was battling for position
and was P14 at the time, but made contact with Mike Conway and had
to serve a drive thru penalty for avoidable contact on Lap 81. He
finished the race one lap down and in 19th position.
- 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
- This will mark the team's second time to compete at the
temporary street circuit. Last year, Ana Beatriz qualified 22nd and
finished 18th, Tomas Scheckter started 24th and finished 22nd , and
Giorgio Pantano started 15th, but was at the wrong place at the
wrong time when he made contact in all of the mayhem in Turn 3. His
day was ended early on Lap 43 and he finished the race 26th.
- 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 Grand Prix of
Baltimore Presented by SRT: "Last year was a great event
and everybody agrees that it was a packed house, so it's always fun
to go back. I had a great race last year and finished behind Mr.
Power. This year we've been getting closer and closer to the podium
and we only have two races left, so we definitely want to seize the
opportunity. I think we should have a good car. We've been
improving our street course setup the last few races and I feel
like we will be in contention. Unfortunately, we're not
in the championship hunt, but that also puts us in a position where
all we want is to go for the win and the race and we don't care
about points anymore. We're in an interesting position and we are
going to take advantage of it."
Oriol Servia on the new Baltimore track layout:
"I think that the track was pretty good for a new track last year,
but there were a couple of things that they needed to improve like
the railroad and the little chicane and I think that they are doing
that. I think that it's going to be okay and you always hope that
they can convince the city to add a couple more blocks of the city
so that the track can be longer, I don't think that's possible, so
I'm welcoming the changes that they've done."
Back on Track: Panther DRR will head straight
to Baltimore, Maryland for the Grand Prix of Baltimore Presented by
SRT. The race is scheduled for Sunday, September 2nd at 2:30 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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