Newman/Haas Racing
Opening Day
95th Indianapolis 500 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NOTES AND QUOTES - Saturday, May 14, 2011
TELEMUNDO DRIVER SERVIA SET 14TH FASTEST TIME IN PRACTICE FOR 95TH INDY 500 WHILE SPROTT DRIVER HINCHCLIFFE WAS 17TH; RAIN LIMITED RUNNING
1) Ed Carpenter 32 laps 224.786 mph
14) Oriol Servia 42 laps 221.954 mph
17) James Hinchcliffe 43 laps 221.454 mph
Oriol Servia, No. 2 Telemundo Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "It was a perfect day for the Telemundo team. It was trouble-free and we did exactly what we wanted and the car felt really good. It's hard to know where we stand compared to everybody, especially being the first day and everyone is running different downforce levels. We just have to base our judgement on how the car feels, and the car feels good so we are happy. This place is one that you always have to treat with respect. I had all sorts of nightmares last night because I think I was nervous. But the car felt great from the first lap. It's a great place to be."
FAST FACTS: Will be his third Indy 500 and first with NHR. Ran as high as eighth and finished 11th in 2008 with KV Racing after he qualified 25th. Was running 10th in the 2009 race with Rahal Letterman Racing when a fuel pressure problem forced him to retire after 98/200 laps. Qualified 25th and retired in 26th. First came to NHR as the replacement driver for Junqueira who suffered a season-ending injury in the 2005 Indy 500...Previous race on an oval was 2009 Motegi event for NHR where he finished fourth...Servia tested with the team in Sebring for two days in December 2010. Prior to that his previous time behind the wheel of an Indy car was also with NHR at the 2009 race in Japan where he finished fourth. He also tested in the open test at Barber Motorsports Park in March where he was fifth fastest...Servia, a native of Catalonia, Spain, has made 18 starts for NHR which include his first Indy car win (Montreal 2005) and pole (Surfers Paradise, Australia 2005) as well as a total of seven top-three, 12 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. In 2005, Servia replaced NHR driver Bruno Junqueira, who suffered a season-ending injury at the Indy 500 on May 29, and then went on to finish second to teammate Sebastien Bourdais in the point standings after 11/13 events with the team. Servia returned to NHR in 2009 for four races with a season-best finish of fourth at Twin Ring Motegi... Is THIRD in series point standings with 110 and is one of only three drivers to finish in the top-10 in each race so far (also Will Power and Dario Franchitti).
James Hinchcliffe, No. 06 Sprott Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "We really wanted to work on the rain setup today so it was pretty convenient that the weather cooperated. Just kidding! Today was all about getting up to speed and running with the full field for the first day because, obviously with Rookie Orientation there are only seven cars on track. We started really conservative because we should have a lot of track time. We started peeling off a little bit of downforce slowly but surely. We orchestrated a little bit of traffic running with Oriol which was good; it was certainly good practice for me. Everybody is going good so far. The car has been really stable and we're feeling really confident. Oriol got a bit more work done this afternoon before the rain started to come so we'll look over what he got done. I think we are heading in the right direction and we're on a good plan of being cautious over the week but then being there when it counts for qualifying."
FAST FACTS: The Indy 500 will mark his first time to compete on an oval in an Indy car...Earned a season-high start of eighth place in his debut at Barber and a season-high finish of fourth in Long Beach to date...He tested with NHR for two days at Sebring in December and another two days in January before testing at Barber Motorsports Park March 14-15 where he set the seventh fastest time overall at the test as well as temporarily held the fastest time on Tuesday...Toronto native Hinchcliffe, 24, finished second in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season standings after three wins and four poles. In total he earned eight podium finishes in 13 races... Is ranked 19th with a total of 66 points and is only three behind Rookie of the Year leader Hildebrand (69) after three of four events so far this season.
1 POLE (1987) & TWO SECONDS AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (IMS) FOR NHR: The 2011 entry will mark the 19th year for the team in the event and the sixth since 1995. Prior to 2011, the team prepared a total of 28 entries for drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal, Robert Doornbos and Hideki Mutoh. Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe competes for the team in 2011 and will bring the total to 30. NHR's highest finish in the Indy 500 is second place with Mario Andretti in 1985 and Michael Andretti in 1991 although team drivers have led many laps here. Mario Andretti also brought the team its highest start in the event when he won the pole position in 1987. NHR's 2004 entry of Junqueira marked the first time for the team to compete here since 1995 and they returned in 2005 with Junqueira and IMS rookie Bourdais. In 2008 they ran Wilson and Rahal here during a transition season in the series and ran Rahal and Robert Doornbos in 2009. They have earned Rookie of the Year once, with Mansell in 1993 when he finished third.
5 WINS & 6 POLES IN 500-MILE RACES: The team has won five 500-mile races. The most recent 500-mile wins came in 2000 (Christian Fittipaldi, $1 million purse) and 2001 (Cristiano da Matta, $1 million purse) at California Speedway. The team also won the 500-mile events at Michigan International Speedway in 1984 (Mario Andretti), 1989 (Michael Andretti) and in 1993 (Mansell). The team won poles for 500-mile races at Indianapolis (1987; Mario Andretti), Michigan (1984 – Mario Andretti, 1992 – Mario Andretti, 1993 – Mario Andretti, 1994 – Mansell) and Pocono (1987 – Mario Andretti).
