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INDYLIGHTS: Dorricott Racing Travels to Fontana

28 October 1998

SONOMA, Calif.- The 1998 Dayton-PPG Indy Lights Championship may already be decided, but Dorricott Racing and its three-driver contingent of Oriol Servia, Philipp Peter, and Brandon "Bud" Kaeding have no intentions of "winding down" when round 14 of the 14-race series unfolds at the California Speedway, Saturday, Oct. 31. This year's Lights finale marks the second appearance of the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship on the 2.029-mile oval at Fontana, Calif. An anticipated field of over 24 cars is expected to take the green flag at 3:00 p.m. (PT) for 50 laps (101.45 miles), setting the stage for the CART FedEx Championship Series Marlboro 500 the following day.

Servia, a European F3 veteran from Pals, Catalonia, Spain, categorically proved his front-running abilities when he finished second place in round 13 at Laguna Seca. Servia, who drives the No. 32 Catalonia/Elf/RACC/Sybervision/Heritage Bank Lola, improved to seventh place in the driver standings with 73 points.

Peter, of Monte Carlo, Monaco, suffered ill-fortune at Laguna Seca when a bolt on the front right secondary wing element broke on Peter's No. 31 Sebring/ESTEBE/Sybervision/Red Bull Lola. Peter, who qualified second and had been running in second place to that point of the race (lap 15), was forced to pit and replace his front nose assembly. It was a costly break in terms of driver standings as Peter finished outside of the points, and dropped to 10th place in the championship with 61 points. Regardless, the competitive positioning of both Servia and Peter throughout the season has placed Dorricott Racing among the elite teams in Lights competition.

"I am very pleased and excited by the progress we have made this season with our rookie drivers and the team," said Dorricott Racing team owner Bob Dorricott. "Oriol and Philipp have done well in qualifying as indicated by their ranking in Indy Lights Qualifying Ratings. We've had some bad luck during a few races that has affected our finishes. Overall, however, we have performed well. With the plan for these two drivers to return in 1999, I believe we will be a very strong contender for the Indy Lights Championship."

Joining Dorricott Racing at California for his fourth and final Indy Lights race of 1998 is rookie Brandon "Bud" Kaeding, of Campbell, Calif. The 18 year-old sprint car ace debuted at St. Louis and qualified fourth at Milwaukee in his second career Indy Lights start. His superspeedway debut at Michigan Speedway in July resulted in a 16th place qualifying spot and a 12th place race finish. Kaeding, son of nine-time Golden State sprint car champion Brent Kaeding, has distinguished himself throughout the West in sprint car racing and also has three top-10 career finishes in World of Outlaws competition.

"I am also very pleased with Bud Kaeding's ability to adapt to the Lights car and high speed oval tracks without any level of testing," added Dorricott. "Fontana should be a good opportunity for our three drivers to show that they have learned the importance of drafting and patience when racing on a superspeedway."

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 California Speedway Indy Lights race, Sunday, Nov. 1, from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT). An encore showing will air on ESPN2 on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 4:30 a.m. ET (1:30 a.m. PT).