Viso Has New Attitude For Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, June 29, 2010: E.J. Viso brings a new attitude to this weekend’s Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen, the ninth stop on the 17-race IZOD IndyCar Series.

Viso, driver of the No. 8 PDVSA — KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine, returns to the famed 3.37-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen road circuit after an impressive third place finish ten days ago at Iowa Speedway. It was the personable Venezuela driver’s best career showing in the IndyCar Series and tied KV Racing Technology’s top performance in the campaign.

Viso, teaming with engineer Bill Pappas and the entire PDVSA KVRT team, seeks another podium run when practice opens this Friday (July 2) for Sunday’s 60-lap main event on the legendary track. Viso’s confidence at the Glen comes after back-to-back top 10 finishes (7th in 2008 and 10th in 2009) and Pappas’ winning strategy last year with Justin Wilson driving to victory lane for Dale Coyne Racing.

Viso hopes Pappas’ setups this weekend will put him back in on the victory podium when the green flag drops at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

But Viso won’t be the only KVRT driver ready for an outstanding run this Sunday. Series rookie Takuma Sato, in the No. 5 Lotus—KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry, must be considered a challenger on the permanent road course. Sato, who qualified sixth in his last permanent road circuit race at Barber Motorsports Park, will be back in his comfort zone with seven years of Formula One competition. Sato had a tough learning curve with four straight oval races in the past two months but demonstrated impressive performances. He now returns to his roots on the road course. Lotus also has a storied history at Watkins Glen.

The third driver for KVRT this weekend will be talented, young Brazilian Mario Moraes, who started fourth in last year’s Camping World Grand Prix. Moraes has driven the No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car to sixth at Long Beach this year and fifth at Infineon Raceway last year for his top road circuit finishes in the IndyCar Series.

The Watkins Glen event will be televised live on ABC-TV beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

DRIVER QUOTES:

E.J. VISO, #8 PDVSA - KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE:

“Watkins Glen is a beautiful track, so many different types of corners, some especially fast with a lot of g's. There is a lot of changes in altitude and types of surface from pavement to tarmac. Unfortunately, we couldn't test there because of the rain, but despite this, I think we still have the potential of doing very well. Scoring my first podium in the IndyCar Series is a great achievement. Being in the series for two and a half years, I think a podium finish was needed for me. Now my initial feeling is to try and win a race. I believe we have so much potential here at KV Racing Technology. There is no reason why we can’t be on the podium more often. We have been very close this year but we have had our share of problems.”

TAKUMA SATO, #5 LOTUS - KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE:

“The first half of my season was like a roller coaster. Very exciting and some surprises, good and bad, but I had great fun. We haven't yet been able to achieve the results we wanted but I am learning a lot and feel very positive that we are now close to some strong results. So I can't wait to be back to the road courses again after two months of many left turns and am looking forward to a challenging and exciting second half of the season.”

MARIO MORAES, #32 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE:

"I am excited to get back to road courses again. The last few races for KV Racing Technology have not shown what we are capable of and I hope to change this at Watkins Glen this week. I have some good memories of this track, finishing 7th in 2008 and last year my best IZOD IndyCar road/street course start of fourth. Unfortunately the test here got cancelled a few weeks ago because of the weather, but I'm confident that we will still have a good weekend."