RACE ADVANCE NOTES/QUOTES---
St. Petersburg, Florida, March 20, 2012
Fast Facts:
Oriol Servia
- This season will mark Servia's third start at the St.
Petersburg track. In 2008, he qualified 7th and finished 7th and in
2011 he qualified 15th and finished 9th.
- Artistic Inspiration: Servia has been inspired by the
artwork of Salvador Dali, both were born in Spain's Catalonia
region. Since 2003, Oriol has always had some connection of the
famous artist's work on his helmet from the ants running up his
chin, to the most current version of Dali's self portrait on the
side of his helmet. Servia and Robbie Buhl will tour the Dali
Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida at 2:00 pm on Thursday, March
22nd. The tour will be open to the media. Please contact Liz Power
(contact details are below) if you are interested in
attending.
- This will be the first time that Servia has competed for Lotus
DRR, he signed with the team in January.
- Servia has been reunited with his engineer, Yves Touron, who he
has worked with in the past and has a solid relationship with.
- Last year Oriol Finished fourth in IZOD IndyCar Series
standings....Recorded 11 top-10 finishes, with a best of second at
New Hampshire and Baltimore....Among three drivers to be running at
the finish in all 17 races..... Led all drivers in laps completed
(2,103 of 2,011)....Oriol was the only driver to finish in the top
10 in first five races of the season.
Lotus DRR
- This year will be Lotus DRR's 13th season of IndyCar
competition, making them one of the longest tenured teams in the
series.
- This weekend will mark the team's 8th time to compete at the
St. Pete street circuit.
- In 2010, the team started 4th at St. Pete with Justin Wilson
and finished 2nd in the race. Last year Wilson started 6th and
finished 10th.
- TranSystems will be the primary livery on the No. 22 machine
this weekend. TranSystems is a global engineering firm focused
on delivering solutions across the entire transportation
world. To achieve this, TranSystems consulting services span
all modes, including architectural, engineering and planning,
management and supply chain, transportation security and
transportation real estate consulting services.
- During the off-season Lotus DRR (formerly known as Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing) underwent a huge rebranding effort and was able to
display their new logo and livery at Spring Training in Sebring,
Florida.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Lotus DRR, on the first race of the
season: "All of the teams and drivers are in the same boat
headed into St. Pete. We really don't know what to expect or what
each engine specs are what compared to the rest and it's a new car.
I couldn't feel more supported and as a driver that's what you
want. I know whatever I ask for with the car will happen, and
that's a great feeling going into the weekend. We all know that we
haven't had the testing that we would have liked to have like the
other guys. Yes, I would like to be better prepared, but I feel
better prepared than years past and I'm excited and motivated."
Oriol on the St. Pete circuit: "St. Pete is a
tricky street circuit, it's slippery and we are using the runway of
the airport which always makes it tricky in the braking area.
There's a lot of paint, oil and bumps from the planes so it's not
an easy one. We go to some windy streets in the back and then a
fast chicane and a hairpin, so it has everything. I've always liked
the track and driving there. Through the years I've been quite fast
several times, but I've never had a stellar weekend. I've never
been on the podium or have won the race or been on pole, so I guess
I'm just getting better at it and better prepared. Hopefully, this
time we can leave with an all-around good weekend that I haven't
had there before."
Back on Track: Lotus DRR will be on track starting
with practice on Friday for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The race will be telecast live on ABC. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com
for more updates.