Sato Continues To Impress As A Rookie In Lotus Car

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 21, 2010) — With threatening skies throughout the day, the KV Racing Technology team prepared for two scenarios in "Fast Friday" practice runs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On one side, the Indy-based squad worked on qualifying setups with time trials set for Saturday, May 22, beginning at 11 a.m. On the other side, the team continued his race trim procedures with just three days left on the track before the world's biggest auto race, the Indianapolis 500, on Sunday, May 30.

The four KV Racing Technology drivers — Mario Moraes, Paul Tracy, Takuma Sato and E.J. Viso — were not as busy as the previous day but the quartet recorded some impressive lap speeds. Moraes, in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car, clocked the fifth fastest speed of the day at 225.805 miles per hour in just 13 laps. Helio Castroneves paced the Friday action at 226.558 m.p.h.

Tracy, who was second fastest on Thursday, got his No. 15 GEICO—KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry next to wall and brushed the outside barrier in turn two Friday. The GEICO car had very little damage but the team wanted to check over the suspension. Tracy didn't make a return run on Friday afternoon. The Canadian star's best speed was 224.783 m.p.h.

Rookie Takuma Sato was impressive Friday in the No. 5 Lotus - KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car with a best speed of 224.429 m.p.h. The Japanese driver, who placed third in the 2004 USGP here at Indy, will make his first attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 Saturday, and Sato has a great shot at being the fastest rookie in the 33-driver field.

E.J. Viso, in the backup No. 8T PDVSA — KVRT Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine, posted the most laps for a KVRT driver Friday with 51 circuits and a best speed of 223.363 m.p.h. Viso, still a little sore from Tuesday's hard turn one crash, boosted his speed throughout the day in the No. 8T as he seeks to make his third Indy 500 start on May 30 at the famed 2.5-mile oval.

Saturday's first round of qualifications will begin at 11 a.m. The Top Nine qualifiers will hold a shootout at 4:30 p.m. EDT for the $175,000 Indy 500 pole position.

Versus will telecast the qualifying runs on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

DRIVER QUOTES:

MARIO MORAES, #32 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: "Today was a good day for the KV Racing Technology team. We ran some qualifying setups and the car felt pretty good. We still have some setups to try tomorrow but I think we have a good car for qualifying. I hope we can be in the top-nine tomorrow."

PAUL TRACY, #15 GEICO - KVRT HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: "We had an okay day. We trimmed out for the first time today and we had the car a little too loose. The car was a little bit of a handful. We didn't get as much running as we would like today. I had a bit of a moment when the car got oversteer and I chased the car up the track. So I ended up brushing the wall. We checked over the car and had to go through the tech line again for Saturday's qualifying runs. We didn't get a chance to go back because the tech line was long. In the morning, we'll go hard at it in qualifying trim."

TAKUMA SATO, #5 LOTUS - KVRT HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: "Today the Lotus – KV Racing Technology team concentrated on the qualifying setup. We didn't do a lot of running but we completed the program we wanted to do. The weather once again was cooler than expected, which is a reason why we finished earlier. But I feel comfortable with the car and am looking forward to my first Indy 500 qualifying tomorrow."

E.J. VISO,#8 PDVSA-KVRT HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE: "The PDVSA – KV Racing Technology team were playing catch up today after a couple of days behind from my accident but it's a good feeling to know that things are getting back to normal. Today we started trimming the car. We still need to change a few things to reach the speeds we need, but I think we made some good progress with my 'T' (backup) car. Tomorrow we will be in a much better position to finish our work on our qualifying setup."