INDY LIGHTS: Servia Aims for Indy Lights Title at Laguna
7 September 1999
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Sept. 7, 1999) - - Oriol Servia has traveled
thousands of miles in pursuit of the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship,
but his next 76 race miles may be the most important of his career. Servia
could clinch the 1999 PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship at Laguna Seca
Raceway this Sunday, Sept. 12, as only two other drivers remain in
mathematical contention for the coveted crown.
This year's annual return to the picturesque central California
coastline will celebrate the 14th overall and consecutive visit of the
PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship to Monterey. An anticipated field of
over 20 cars will take the green flag at 2:45 p.m. (PT) for the 34-lap,
76.092-mile sprint around Laguna Seca's picturesque 11-turn, 2.238-mile
road course. This will be the 11th round of the 12-race Indy Lights season,
and will immediately follow the Honda Grand Prix's CART FedEx Championship
Series Texaco Havoline 300.
The 25-year-old Catalonian has forged an 18-point lead over his
nearest challenger and Dorricott Racing teammate Casey Mears, of
Bakersfield, Calif., 124-106. Servia's other nemesis and teammate, Philipp
Peter, of Monte Carlo, Monaco, is also still in the hunt although a distant
third place with 93 points.
Any combination of finishes for Servia at Laguna Seca which provide
a 23-point advantage over Mears and Peter will assure Servia of being
crowned the 14th champion since the series inception in 1986.
Servia's overall formula for success, however can be directly
attributed to an exemplary season in which he has consistently finished in
the top-five in eight of 10 Indy Lights races in 1999 including
second-place showings at Nazareth, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, and
Detroit. Combined with his most recent fourth place finish at Chicago and
fifth place finishes at Milwaukee and Michigan, Servia has only finished
out of the top-10 once this season (Long Beach, 12th).
Servia's consistency is also distinguished with eight top-four
qualifying starts, of which, four have been front row. His series leading
three pole positions came at Nazareth, Portland, and Detroit. Laguna Seca
has been good to Servia in the past where he started third and finished
second place in last year's Indy Lights race. A veteran European F-3
driver, Servia is Indy Light's third most consistent finisher this year
having completed 595 of 601 laps and 860.166 miles out of a possible
871.110 miles.
Mears's championship hopes depend on finishing significantly higher
at Laguna Seca than Servia. If anything this season, Mears has proven his
capability of finishing strong. Besides runner-up in race seven at
Michigan, Mears' has three other podium visits to his credit including
third place at Nazareth in round three, second place at Milwaukee in round
four, and a 10th round third place at Chicago.
After scoring season opening back-to-back fifth place finishes at
Homestead and Long Beach, Mears added fourth place at Portland in round
five. His Sooner Trailer/American Racing Custom Wheels Lola has scored
top-10 finishes in each race and hasn't finished lower than ninth place.
Mears is the only driver in the series who has completed every Indy Lights
race lap (601 laps) and every mile (871.110 miles) run this season.
The task for Mears and Peter cannot be understated. They must
ultimately draw to within 22 points of Servia going into the season finale
at California Speedway (Fontana, Calif.) on Sunday, Oct. 31, to hold any
chance of winning the championship.
That said, it isn't a reach to believe that Peter could also do
very well at Laguna Seca and perhaps inject himself into a literal
down-to-the-checkered-flag decision at Fontana. Peter qualified on the
outside pole in last year's Laguna Seca
Peter's electrifying victory at Michigan in round eight combined
with his second and fifth round victories at Long Beach and Portland made
him the first Indy Lights driver to win three races in 1999. Furthermore,
his overall consistency underscores the value of finishing races. He is
second place in Indy Lights for consistent showings with 868.106 miles and
599 laps completed.
A European road racing veteran, the Austrian-born Peter holds the
distinction of winning the closest race in CART-sanctioned history. Peter's
Red Bull/Remus/ESTEBE/Chicco d' Oro Lola literally battled nose-to-tail for
more than 96 miles before Peter prevailed over Mears by an imperceptible
0.002-seconds - the closest race finish in the history of Indy Lights and
CART-sanctioned events - in round eight on Michigan Speedway's two-mile
superspeedway oval.
The previous closest victory in Indy Lights history was when Calvin
Fish defeated Mike Groff by 0.028-seconds at Nazareth Speedway in 1988. The
former record for the closest victory in CART-sanctioned history was Mark
Blundell's 0.027-second victory over Gil de Ferran at Portland in 1997.
Dorricott Racing is a year-round professional motorsports
organization based at Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Race results, team and sponsor information may be viewed on Dorricott
Racing's web site, http://www.dorricottracing.com.
ESPN2 will telecast the Laguna Seca Indy Lights race on Sunday,
Sept. 12, from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET (8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. PT).
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