Viso And Sato Have Early Exit On Fast Oval Track

Mario Moraes drove the No. 32 KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry to 18th position Saturday night in the Kentucky Indy 300 at the fast 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway oval.

Moraes, who started a season-high seventh at the drop of the green flag, raced with the lead pack for the early portion of the 200-lap feature, the 15th round of the 17-race IZOD IndyCar Series. The 21-year-old Brazilian driver looked to be in a solid spot for a challenge in the second half of the race.

However, Moraes, still seeking a top-ten position in the final season point standings, lost a lap to the leaders in the middle stage of the event. Mario fought his way back to the lead lap, but couldn't advance into the top-ten.

Moraes' teammates, E.J. Viso and Takuma Sato, suffered early exits from the Kentucky event.

Viso, who passed six cars at the start of the race, was making his usual charge towards the front of the field when he was forced to pit on lap 46 with a part failure in the car's right rear suspension. Viso, driving the No. 8 PDVSA—KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car, was credited with 26th spot.

Sato, who qualified 14th in the No. 5 Lotus — KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry, was making his initial showing at Kentucky Speedway. The Japanese driver was knocked out of the race on the opening lap and finished 27th Saturday.

The KV Racing Technology operation returns to its Indianapolis headquarters this week to prepare for the overseas trip to Japan. The three-car team must coordinate all of the cars and equipment for departure this Thursday for the Sept. 18-19 race at the Twin Ring Motegi motorsports facility north of Tokyo.

KV NOTES: Sato, preparing for the upcoming Motegi race, participated in variety of promotional events surrounding the Japan round of the IZOD IndyCar Series… Takuma taped several video presentations as well as magazine and newspaper interviews to run prior to the Indy Japan 300… In fact, Sato leaves Monday (Sept. 6) for Tokyo to begin an intense round of sponsor and media activities throughout Japan leading up to the Sept. 18-19 weekend… Sato will have a huge contingent of fans attending the Motegi event… Viso will also be in Japan early for promotions including attending the Tokyo Giants baseball game on Sept. 12 at the Tokyo Dome as a guest of one of his sponsors, Arai… Several baseball players from Venezuela compete in Japan and will visit with Viso during his stay.

DRIVER QUOTES:

E.J. VISO, #8 PDVSA — KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE, Finished 26th: "At the beginning, the car didn't feel just right. But I kept passing cars in the early portion of the race. The crew noticed that we had high pressures in the tires and the car didn't seem to be pulling as usual. So I pulled into the pits. The team noticed we had a part failure in the right rear of the car. That is very unusual. But it was out of our control. It is a tough way to finish the night. I thought we would have a good race car."

TAKUMA SATO, #5 LOTUS - KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HONDA/DALLARA/FIRESTONE, Finished 27th: "The race started well and my car felt good. But then suddenly the back end came around in Turn 3. The car started to slide so quickly and I couldn't do anything at that point. It is obviously very disappointing as we were trying to carry good momentum into Motegi (the next race on Sept. 19)."