KV Racing Indy 500 practice day 2 report

KV RACING TECHNOLOGY HAS ANOTHER SOLID DAY OF PRACTICE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Tony Kanaan, KV Racing Technology Chevrolet

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

SPEEDWAY, IN. – May 13, 2012 – For the second consecutive day KV Racing Technology has a solid day of practice in preparation for this weekend’s qualifying for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.

Tony Kanaan, in the No. 11 GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS - KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone car, again posted the team’s fastest lap with a speed of 218.468 mph on the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway putting him 12th on the day’s practice report E. J. Viso, who pilots the No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA - KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone machine, logged a quick lap of 217.934 mph placing him 16th on the speed charts. Rubens Barrichello, behind the wheel of the No. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone entry, recorded a fast lap of 215.578 giving him the 26th fastest lap of the day. All three drivers increased their speed over yesterday’s first day of practice.

Kanaan, who is making his 11th appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, shook down his primary car today after running 20 laps yesterday in the backup 11T car. He did only 16 laps today, by far the fewest of most of the top drivers, yet was still able to post a competitive speed for the second day in a row. The 37-year-old Brazilian has qualified in the top-six in eight of his 10 previous races at the Brickyard with one pole, in 2005. He has finished in the top-10 five times with a best showing of second in 2004. Kanaan, who has led a total of 214 laps at the Speedway, is the only driver in history to lead laps in his first seven Indy 500 starts.

“We got some things accomplished today, but our work was limited because of the amount of track time we had,” Kanaan said. “It is only the second day of practice, so we still have time to develop the car and find the extra speed we looking for. Hopefully, we can have a productive day tomorrow as we prepare for qualifying this weekend.”

Viso completed 36 laps today giving him 65 over the first two days of practice in preparation for qualifying. He spent the day continuing the program he began yesterday and while developing the car still improved his speed. The 27-year-old Venezuelan is competing at the Speedway for the fifth time. In four previous races he has a best qualifying position of 18th in 2011 and a best finish off 24th in 2009.

“It was a good day of practice,” Viso said. “Once again everything went as planned. We are focused on our program, developing new things for the car. I think tomorrow is going to be a pretty intense day and I’m looking forward to continuing to make the same kind of progress we have made over the last two days.”

Barrichello, who will attempt to qualify for his first Indy 500 this weekend, and in fact his first oval race, ran 39 laps today and has now completed a total of 157 laps (over 392 miles) at the Brickyard including the 83 he ran during his Rookie Orientation Program on Thursday and the 35 he logged during yesterday’s first full practice day. The 39-year-old Brazilian, a veteran of 19 Formula One seasons, is trying to become the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the U. S. Grand Prix Formula One race that was held from 2000 – 2007 on a road course that incorporated part of the IMS oval. Barrichello won the Formula One event in 2002.

"It has been a bit of a different day”, said Barrichello. “Early on we were able to improve our speed a little but since then every change we have done hasn't been a positive result. At the end of the day I got Tony to drive my car, because I needed to see if I was developing the car in the right way or not. He was getting the same speed as me so that gives me more confidence to carry on my work. It is only the second day and luckily at Indianapolis I have another week to practice."

Practice again began at 12 noon with the first KVRT car taking to the track at 12:30 p.m. All three drivers ran until late in the afternoon although Kanaan’s time was limited due to some work his crew needed to perform. A total of 33 cars turned a total of 1138 laps today (1831 over the two days). Sebastian Saavedra posted the fastest speed today at 221.526 mph.