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Youngster Fights From 15th to 6th In Street
Course Battle
Mario Moraes hadn’t sat in IndyCar for nearly
five months during the winter, but the
21-year-old Brazilian is now showing that the
break might have been beneficial.
Moraes, the youngest full-time driver on the
IZOD IndyCar Series at age 21, turned in a
spectacular drive Sunday in the 36th annual
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach when he drove
his No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone
car from 15th to sixth in the 85-lap feature
event.
Moraes, who rejoined KVRT at the season opener
in Sao Paulo, Brazil, didn’t have any pre-season
testing with the team but has proven to be a
contender following his impressive Long Beach
performance. Starting 15th, Moraes, along with
solid pit stops from his KVRT crew, battled his
way around several title challengers to record
his best 2010 finish.
Moraes fought by the likes of Dario Franchitti,
Marco Andretti, Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe and
Helio Castroneves in a sensational run that saw
Mario pass the most cars in the race. The
addition of veteran engineer Iain Watt has been
a major factor in Moraes’ strong performance.
Watt joined KVRT before the Barber race last
weekend.
Moraes’ KVRT teammates, E.J. Viso and Takuma
Sato, recorded 15th and 18th place finishes
respectively on the tough, narrow 1.968-mile,
11-turn circuit. Viso, driving the No. 8 PDVSA—KVRT
Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine, moved as high
as tenth from his 17th starting position. Sato,
in his first Long Beach Grand Prix, had his No.
5 Lotus—KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone car hit
from behind by Alex Lloyd, causing a spin. Sato
returned to action to take the checkered flag.
Ryan Hunter-Reay won the event followed by
Justin Wilson, Will Power, Scott Dixon, Tony
Kanaan and Moraes.
KVRT now travels to Kansas Speedway on May 1 for
the Road Runner 300, the first oval race of the
2010 IZOD IndyCar Series.
Driver quotes:
Mario Moraws, #32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone,
Finished 6th: “Since the start of the weekend,
Iain (Watt, Moraes’ engineer) and I worked well
together. It is just Iain’s second race with the
team. Qualifying was disappointing. I thought we
had a better car than 15th. In the race, I got a
good start and tried to save fuel. It is very
hard to save fuel on this circuit. We were able
to use the tires well, and the car handled very
good throughout the race. I am very happy for
our KV team. Iain and I are learning about each
other with every race. I am feeling more
comfortable with him now. I am gaining more
confidence with my driving too. I was able to
make a move on Helio (Castroneves) on the
restart in turn one. The car just felt good all
day. Now, we move to straight four oval races
and we need to work on that setup in the test
this week at Kansas.”
E.J. Viso, #8 PDVSA - KV Racing Technology
Honda/Dallara/Firestone, Finished 15th: “It was
a straight forward race so we couldn’t do much
as far as strategy. It’s a shame because the car
was balanced all through the race, but we just
lacked a chunk of grip everywhere around the
circuit. We will just have to keep working hard
and I am confident that we will improve. But,
right now the most important thing is to get
ready for the oval in Kansas.”
Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus - KV Racing Technology
Honda/Dallara/Firestone, Finished 18th: “It was
a tough weekend. After qualifying Saturday, we
made a number of changes to the car for this
morning’s warm-up and it was a positive move.
The race started solidly. We saved our tires and
fuel to stretch our first stint. It was all
setting up nicely, but in the second stint, Alex
Lloyd came out of the pits on cold tires. He
couldn’t stop and struck my car under braking,
causing me to spin. That really ended my race
because there was no full-course caution until
the end. In all, it was a very disappointing and
tough race, but it was another good learning
experience for me. Next, we race in Kansas and
my first oval test will be there this coming
Friday. I am very excited to start my oval
adventure.”
copyright text and images:
KVRacing Technology
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