PDVSA HVM Racing Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County Qualifying Report:
Venue: Infineon Raceway, 2.245-mile road course, Sonoma, California
Lap Time: 1:17.4189 seconds
Speed: 107.090 miles per hour
Starting Position: 14th
Notes:
PDVSA HVM Racing turned in their best road qualifying run since the Iowa Speedway at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Viso just barely missed moving into the second segment after a car spun directly in front of the No. 33 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda during its final lap forcing Viso to slow.
Pole qualifying consisted of two groups with Viso included as one of the 13 other drivers in group two. The 20-minute session was interrupted twice for full-course cautions that didn’t help Viso get a clean lap in early. He did, however, post the third best lap before other cars were able to get back to speed and knocked him out of the six top drivers who advance into the second segment.
Viso, seventh in his group, made one last effort as time was expiring in the session. It was then when the car in front of Viso went off kicking up sand and dirt on the track. Viso lost his momentum and it was the difference of .1178 seconds that kept the team from advancing. Still, the 14th starting position equals the best of the season for the team on a road course and is their best IndyCar Series road course start.
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“Well, it was clearly the most competitive group, with the second group of drivers eventually earning four of the top six starting spots for tomorrow. We were very close to being one of the cars to advance from the group and we had the speed to do it; it came down to the last lap for us.
“This team has done a good job of racing to the front on race day, and hopefully starting further towards the front will improve our ability to finishing up front. We know that our times are very favorable to those of the front runners. That makes us feel positive for a good finish on Sunday, despite the frustration of today.”
“It was a good session for us, but it’s disappointing not to advance into the second segment because we know the car is fast. I felt confident the last lap, but Justin (Wilson) went off the course and that made the track pretty dirty. I had to slow on that turn and it killed the lap. I still feel good about everything and think we’ll be competitive tomorrow.”
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Contact:
Jeff Dennison; HVM Racing Press Office 57A, Gasoline Alley, Indianapolis, Indiana
Phone: 317-241-3955 Cell: 704-252-3356 E-mail: press@hvminc.net
For more information on HVM Racing visit www.hvm-racing.com
HVM is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In its 7 years of competition in the Champ Car World Series, the team has earned 6 wins, 2 pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums since 2001 when Keith Wiggins took over Bettenhausen Motorsports. They finished 4th and 3rd, respectively, in Championship standings in 2006 and 2007 and drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos were named Rookie of the Year in 2002 and 2007, respectively.
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