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Moraes, the youngest full-time
driver on the IZOD IndyCar Series at age 21,
moved as high eighth in the 90-lap feature in
the No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone
car after starting 12th in the 25-car field. The
Brazilian driver finished 13th Sunday.
Moraes’ KVRT teammates, E.J. Viso and Takuma
Sato, looked to be in position to challenge for
top-five finishes Sunday before over 40,000
spectators.
Viso, who hosted Grand Prix Grand Marshal
Charles Barkley in his garage before Sunday’s
race, started tenth and battled Justin Wilson,
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe in early
wheel-to-wheel action. However, in his first pit
stop, Viso stopped prematurely in Moraes’ pit
area. The miscue cost the popular Venezuelan
some ten spots. He came back to finish 16th in
the No. 8 PDVSA - KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone
machine.
Sato, the Formula One veteran in his third IZOD
IndyCar Series race, looked to be very
competitive at Barber Motorsports Park after
making the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying. The
driver of the No. 5 Lotus - KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone
car waged a tremendous battle with past IndyCar
Series champions Dario Franchitti and Tony
Kanaan. However, a throttle part failure left
Sato stopped on the course on lap 11. The Lotus
crew replaced the part and Sato returned to
action 22 laps later. Sato recorded solid laps
to finish the event.
The KVRT crew now prepares the three Indy cars
for one of the series’ biggest events, the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, this weekend
(April 16-18).
KVRT team owner Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 Long
Beach CART winner, will return to competition on
the race track this weekend. The 1996 CART
champion will compete against pro racers as well
as actors, athletes and singers in the annual
Toyota Pro-Celebrity Challenge on Saturday
afternoon.
Drivers quotes:
MARIO MORAES, #32 KV RACINGTECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE,
Finished 13th: “Overall it was a good race.
Unfortunately, we lost some positions early in
the race when my teammate (E. J. Viso)
accidentally stopped in my pit box during the
first round of pit stops. Because it is so hard
to overtake on this track I could not make up
those positions. The car was good. It was solid
and I was able to run good lap times. It is a
shame for the team. They worked hard this
weekend to give me a good car and I think we
deserved a better finish.”
E.J. VISO, #5 PDVSA - KV RACINGTECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE,
Finished 16th: “It was a disappointing day for
our team. It is very difficult to pass here and
you had to be patient. I made a mistake on my
first pit stop when I stopped at Mario’s (Moraes)
pit instead of mine. I am very sorry to my crew
for that. It was a tough weekend for us in the
chassis setup. The car was not the same as it
was at the test (in Feb.). We had a fast car
back there. The track conditions were much
different with the heat. We were able to improve
the car in qualifying, but it still was not as
good as it was at the test. I have been fast at
Long Beach in the past and so has the KV Racing
team. So I am very anxious to get there and
perform well next weekend.”
TAKUMA SATO, #5 LOTUS - KV RACINGTECHNOLOGY
HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE, Finished 25th: “It’s
motor racing and things happen but I had a good
start and a exciting battle with TK (Tony Kanaan)
in the early portion of the race through turns
2, 3, 4 and 5. That was fun. Then we had a
throttle part failure and we had to stop. The
crew did a good job replacing the part and I was
able to rejoin the race. I was racing with many
different people today and. despite being down
quite a number of laps, it was good experience
to run to the end.”
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