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All 3 Drivers Race In Top 7 With Sato Impressive
In Oval Debut
Mario Moraes placed seventh, Takuma Sato 24th
and E.J. Viso 27 in results sheet, but the three
KVRT drivers put on quite a show in the 200-lap
contest on the 1.5 tri-oval west of Kansas City
in the fifth round of the 17-race IZOD IndyCar
Series.
All three drove their way to the front of the
field Saturday and looked in position to score
top-five finishes. Unfortunately, two of the
drivers had to watch the finish from the pit
lane. But the performances by Moraes, Sato and
Viso gave the team a solid foundation leading
into the biggest race of the year, the
Indianapolis 500, on May 30. Former open-wheel
champion Paul Tracy also joins the team at Indy.
Sato, the Formula One veteran, was impressive in
his first oval start in the No. 5 Lotus—KVRT
Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine by charging to
sixth with 14 laps remaining when a collision
with Hideki Mutoh on the front straightaway
ended his day. Sato, starting 11th, drove past
the likes of Will Power, Victor Meira, Danica
Patrick and Ryan Hunter-Reay to compete for a
top-five finish before the mishap. Sato hadn’t
driven on an oval track until Wednesday’s rookie
testing session at Kansas Speedway.
Viso, driving the No. 8 PDVSA—KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone
car, made a sensational charge from 16th to
fifth before making contact in turn one while
passing a lapped car. Viso’s mount was not
repairable and he exited the race on lap 72.
Moraes, coming off a superb sixth place at Long
Beach two weeks ago, took the No. 32 KV Racing
Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car to a
seventh place finish to now move within three
points of the top-ten in the IZOD IndyCar Series
standings.
Scott Dixon won the race followed by Dario
Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves,
Hunter-Reay, Ryan Briscoe and Moraes.
The KVRT squad begins its assault of the Indy
500 with a testing session this week at Kentucky
Speedway. The famed Brickyard opens on Saturday,
May 15, with practice rounds.
Indy 500 qualifications are schedule for
Saturday, May 22 (for the first 24 positions),
and Sunday, May 23 (for the final nine spots),
for the coveted 33 starting field.
Driver quotes:
Mario Moraes, finished 7th: “We had a problem in
qualifying that hurt us. We tried to fix it for
the race, but maybe it wasn’t enough. The car
ran pretty good though. The setup wasn’t the
best for today. Now, we have to work harder to
get ready for the Indy 500. We also had some
problems with our pit stops today. Overall, I
thought we could have had a better placing. So
there are some things we can work on for Indy.”
Takuma Sato, finished 24th: “Today was a very
exciting day for me being my first race oval
race. I was running in sixth place with 14 laps
to go when a yellow flag came out. There was a
pack in front on the restart while I was racing
Hideki (Mutoh) side-by-side. It looked like he
was pushing up to the wall and I had nowhere to
go. After having a conversation with Hideki, he
was being pushed up into me by the lapped orange
car. We both had nowhere to go. It’s very, very
unfortunate. I feel bad for the fan,
particularly for all of the Japanese fans and
all of Hideki’s fans. The KV Racing Technology
Lotus Team did a fantastic job. It’s just
frustrating and I’m very disappointed not to
finish. However I really enjoyed racing with
many great drivers and gaining a lot of
positions as well as understanding how oval
racing works.”
E.J. Viso, finished 27th: “We were running very
fast today. The car was very good to drive. I
could go almost anywhere on the track. We went
from 16th to fifth. I made a mistake for
speeding in the pit lane and had a drive through
penalty. But I came back and was able to get by
other cars again. Unfortunately, I tried to get
around (Rafael) Matos in turn one and got into
the loose stuff near the wall. The car slid up
into the barrier. The contact broke the front
suspension. I feel very badly for the team and
sponsors because our No. 8 PDVSA KV Racing
Technology car was extremely fast today.
Overall, I think we shown that our team has good
oval setups and we are anxious to get to
Indianapolis now.” |
