We are also excited to welcome the Michael Mondavi Family
Estates to our partnership and joining us on the #22 car for a
second year in a row. We wish Oriol the best on this exciting track
and have a special tribute to him on the car this weekend. IndyCar
racing truly represents the best of experience transportation and
we couldn't be more excited for this weekend."
* This weekend will mark Servia's 4th
start at Infineon Raceway. Last year he started 18th and finished
11th. In 2010, he started 17th and finished 6th. His first start at
the track was in 2008 where he started 6th and finished
15th.
* Additionally, the team feels extra prepared
this weekend because they had the opportunity to test at Infineon
Raceway last week with Servia. He had a very successful test and
logged in plenty of miles.
* Servia currently sits 11th in the
championship with 237 points and is 19 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 eight races, tying with
a season best of fourth place at the Indianapolis 500 and in
Detroit.
* For the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Servia qualified 11th, 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. He finished the
race in 25th 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 eighth time to compete at the
12-turn 2.303 mile circuit. Last year, Giorgio Pantano qualified
11th and finished the race 17th due to being penalized on the last
lap after having run in 6th place for most of the race and Ana
Beatriz started 10th and finished 13th. In 2011,
Panther DRR finished 6th with Wilson and 24th with Hildebrand, 3rd
with Mike Conway in 2009, 11th in 2005 with Roger Yasukawa, and
11th in 2008 with Buddy Rice. The team's best start at
Infineon was in 2010 with Justin Wilson and in 2006 with Ryan
Briscoe, who both started seventh.
* 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 GoPro Indy
Grand Prix of Sonoma: "We are in the last stretch and I
feel that the last races are very special because they are almost
like home races for me. First, with Sonoma, I live in California so
that's a home race for me and then we go to Baltimore, home of the
Orioles and then we come back to LA for the last race. We tested at
Sonoma and it was a good test. Not only did we learn about the car
but I think that the car looks awesome with the TranSystems paint
job and the Dali face. It's definitely hits a home run."
Oriol Servia on the new Infineon Raceway track
layout: "I think that it's great that the track is trying
to improve the race and the show. I think particularly Turn 7 will
bring more excitement to the race because it will provide more
overtaking and the chicane in Turn 9 is going to be also more fun
to see the cars going through there. I think that the race is going
to be very exciting and mainly because of the tires that Firestone
decided to bring to these tracks. I believe it will be a race like
Barber where when the tire is new it's a lot faster than when it's
old and it will provide a lot of action on track when people are at
different points of their tire life. I expect it to be a busy and
entertaining race for both the fans and the drivers."
Back on Track: Panther DRR will be back on the
track this weekend 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.