Moreas Paces KV Racing At Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, July 2, 2010: Young Mario Moraes, who put in a spectacular performance in his last road course event in April at Long Beach, led the three-driver contingent for KV Racing Technology in the opening round of practice Friday at the famed Watkins Glen 3.37-mile permanent road circuit.

Moraes, who drove from 15th to sixth place in the streets of Long Beach, piloted the No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car consistently in the top-ten for the entire one-hour afternoon session and posted the tenth best time of 1 minute, 32.256 seconds. The youngest regular on the IZOD IndyCar Series was pleased to be back on the road courses after over a two-month layoff, and expects to be more competitive in Saturday’s qualifying runs set for 1:15 p.m. EDT.

Moraes, whose best road circuit finish is fourth at Sonoma last year, comes off a tough incident two weeks ago at Iowa when he was eliminated in the first lap of the event due to another car spinning into his machine. Moraes qualified fourth at Watkins Glen last year and could be a challenger for a Firestone Fast Six spot in Saturday’s 90-minute time trials.

E.J. Viso, coming off a career-best third place finish at Iowa, was a little frustrated in Friday’s action due to slower traffic in the No. 8 PDVSA — KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car. Viso, who has recorded two top-ten finishes at Watkins Glen the past two years, was 14th fastest Friday with a 1:33.180 clocking. The Venezuela driver is thrilled to be back at Watkins Glen this weekend as the famous circuit is one of his favorites in the U.S.

Series rookie Takuma Sato, making his initial Watkins Glen appearance, spent most of the one-hour practice run learning the 11-turn permanent course. The driver of the No. 5 Lotus - KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry ran a total of 14 laps and registered the 18th fastest of the 25-driver field at 1:33.339. Sato’s last permanent road circuit performance at Barber Motorsports Park saw the Japanese star qualify sixth, his best starting position in his first eight IndyCar Series races.

DRIVER QUOTES:

MARIO MORAES -- #32 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: “Overall, the KV Racing Technology team had a good day. The car felt good but we are still a little behind the leaders. We will change some things tonight and see how that works tomorrow (Saturday). I feel great to be back on the road courses again and hope we have a good weekend.”

E.J. VISO -- #8 PDVSA – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: “We had a couple of issues that were out of our hands. I got caught in some traffic and didn’t get a quick lap. Plus we got our fastest laps at the end of the runs. We have a few things to fine tune for Saturday. But we have a good direction with the car. I have always like coming to Watkins Glen. This track reminds me of circuits in Europe with very fast corners. I think we’ll be in better shape tomorrow (Saturday).”

TAKUMA SATO -- #5 LOTUS – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: "I am happy to be back on road courses again especially as the test got cancelled a few weeks ago. Despite doing a track walk, I was surprised how bumpy and narrow it can be in parts, but very fast and I enjoyed it. Today was spent getting familiarized with the track and the car and getting back in the rhythm for road courses. We will look at the data tonight and get the car ready for tomorrow."