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Race Report: Săo Paulo Indy 300
SĂO PAULO, BRAZIL March 14, 2010 – “A.J., I want to thank you for waiting for me,” Vitor Meira radioed in to his team owner A.J. Foyt after finishing third in the inaugural Săo Paulo Indy 300 Sunday afternoon. He also congratulated the crew, thanking them and sponsor ABC Supply during his cool down lap.
Brazil’s first IZOD IndyCar Series race weekend could be described as controlled chaos as officials battled difficult track conditions on Saturday which resulted in a Saturday night modification to a straightaway, a huge crash on the opening lap of the race and then a torrential downpour along with a loss of power midway through the race. In each instance, they rebounded quickly and gave Brazilians and the VERSUS TV audience a memorable season opener.
Particularly troublesome was a stretch of concrete straightaway leading up to the start/finish line, the one-third-mile Anhembi Sambodromo frontstretch, which drivers described as driving on ice. Numerous drivers lost control and hit the wall in practice (although Meira was not among them). To correct the problem, the promoters brought in machines Saturday night to grind the concrete surface and create more grip. League officials changed the schedule and postponed qualifying until Sunday morning.
Meira’s first race since his spectacular accident in the Indianapolis 500 in which he sustained two broken vertebrae proved the Brazilian had not lost confidence nor his skill. He showed the patience he needed in the streets to capitalize on other drivers’ mistakes.
The first mistake was a big one entering the first corner on the first lap! A multi-car crash ensued as 24 cars running two abreast tried to funnel into one lane. As Takumo Sato punted cars in the front of the pack including Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and his teammates Will Power and Ryan Briscoe, the chain reaction that followed saw Mario Moraes drill and then catapult on top of Marco Andretti’s car. No one was injured. Meira, who started 16th wended his way through the carnage and emerged in the eighth position when the dust cleared.
Meira moved into seventh and was maintaining his position before the first pit stop on lap 22, but a problem with the outside rear wheel proved costly as he lost five positions, due in part to some teams short-fueling to gain track position. Meira never lost his cool and when the skies opened up on lap 30, he was one of the first to duck into the pits to put on rain tires. He was able to avoid cars that were still on slicks that were spinning around the course. He was eighth when the race was red-flagged after 35 laps as officials waited out the storm.
When the race restarted, Meira was one of the few drivers to pit to change from the grooved rain tires to slicks, a strategy that paid off, despite dropping back to 14th. Five laps later, cars were spinning, but Meira drove past them into fifth. He dropped to sixth trying to lap Danica Patrick but gained it back the next straightaway when he powered past Dan Wheldon.
Solidly in fourth due to Ryan Briscoe’s miscue with six laps to go, Meira pressured Raphael Matos. Following the final restart, he got a run on Matos and outbraked him going into the hairpin to move into third with five laps remaining. It was his best finish since placing second at Indy in 2008.
“I know I wasn’t the fastest car in normal dry conditions but when the conditions became adverse, our car became alive and we started to gain positions,” he said in the post race press conference. “I’m glad it was mixed up the way it was.”
Will Power won the race and Ryan Hunter –Reay, who subbed for Meira last year, drove a strong race to finish second. Wheldon finished fourth and Scott Dixon was fifth followed by defending champion and race pole winner Dario Franchitti.
With the Brazilian flag draped over his uniform, Meira accepted his beautiful red trophy much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
Summing up his feelings, he said to told pit reporter in the post-race interview, “They waited 10 months and they believed in me after four races, so I just have to thank A.J. and the whole ABC Supply crew. Having experienced it, it’s very hard to have this happen to a driver. After having a big accident and having a team waiting on you, and then come back in a big way at home, it doesn’t get much better than that. I’m very pleased with everybody.”
He’s not the only one as Foyt said, “We had a good race and Vitor drove a helluva race. I’m really happy for him to be the top finishing Brazilian driver in his home country. It was a good way to start the season.”
Indeed!
The ABC Supply team, now third in the point standings, returns to action in two weeks when they compete in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. That race will be televised on ABC-TV starting at 3:30 pm ET. |
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ABC Supply Team Wraps Up Second Day of Testing in Alabama
LEEDS, Ala. Feb. 25, 2010--Vitor Meira and the ABC Supply team wrapped up their second day of testing at Barber Motorsports Park outside of Birmingham. Meira ended up 13th on the speed charts but all team principals deemed the test a success.
“Overall the test was very good,” Meira said, adding, “We have a very good race car. For me it's good to get back in the car- I've been out of it for too long. Working with Jeff Britton [chief engineer] is like we never missed a beat. We started right where we left off in 2005 which put us ahead of where we were last year. I feel very good about the season the way everyone is working so well together. “
The weather conditions were cold and breezy which made it difficult for the drivers to get heat in the tires. Many drivers spun off course and several teams’ sessions were cut short due to crashes. The 17-turn track is fast with many elevation changes, all of which combine to make it one of the most physically demanding courses on the circuit.
Meira logged a total of 60 laps today on the 2.38-mile course and was in the top 10 for most of the session which he finished 40 minutes early. Meira spun once towards the end of today’s session, citing his tires hadn’t gotten up to temperature. He didn’t hit anything and once restarted, was able to continue in the session. Meira’s lap time of 1:10.69 was about eight tenths off of Will Power’s quick time of 1:09.87 but only two tenths out of the top-10. Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Justin Wilson rounded out the top five.
Team Director Larry Foyt said, “I was pleased because I thought A.J., Vitor and Jeff worked really well together which I thought would happen because of Vitor and Jeff’s history and Jeff’s extensive experience in the IndyCar Series. Vitor, who hasn’t been on a road course in almost a year—that is a very long time to be out of the car especially on this type of track—he did a really good job.”
Team owner A.J. Foyt seconded the opinion, saying, “I’m very happy with what we accomplished with the ABC car. Vitor adapted to the course very well and at times was as high as third, and a lot of the time was in the top seven. We tried a lot of different things so we have a good idea of where to start when we come back. It was our first time to the track and the weather was really cold but we worked around it and learned a lot.”
The IndyCar Series will race at the pristine facility the weekend of April 11th. |
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Meira Satisfied with First Day of Testing at Barber
LEEDS, Ala. Feb. 24, 2010--Vitor Meira and the ABC Supply team got back on track today at Barber Motorsports Park for their first test session of the season and by all accounts, it was a positive session.
“We accomplished what we came to do which was to establish a baseline today working with Jeff,” Meira said, alluding to his new chief engineer, Jeff Britton who joined the team in the off season.
“It’s been over 10 months since I was on a road course and as you can see it’s taken its toll,” Meira added. “I’m still getting myself in the game. I didn’t push it as much as I normally would—I never even put a wheel off today. But today was more about gathering data to know where we are at so we can move forward tomorrow. It was a good day for the ABC Supply team.”
Cold temperatures delayed the start of the test until 11 a.m. and proved challenging for the drivers as the tires took longer than usual to build up heat (and adhesion).
Meira was as high as seventh in the mid-afternoon and then the team went back to the paddock for about an hour’s worth of changes to the set-up on the No. 14 ABC Supply car. They didn’t get quite as much track time when they returned to the pit lane because the action was slowed several times for off-track excursions. When asked to assess the changes, Meira replied that they were all in the right direction and told his chief engineer that he felt the car would have been between eighth to tenth if he’d gone out on new tires for their last run. Team owner Foyt decided to save the tires (teams are limited for the two-day test to seven sets).
Meira logged 48 laps total and was 14th out of 20 cars at the end of the day with his quickest lap around the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course clocking in at 1:11.91. Quick time of the day belonged to Ryan Briscoe who turned in a time of 1:10:50. Rounding out the top five were Helio Castroneves, Justin Wilson, Will Power and Scott Dixon.
Testing will resume tomorrow with the session scheduled to start at 9 a.m. but that may be delayed due to the cold weather predicted for tomorrow. |
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Vitor Meira and ABC Supply Team Prepare for First IndyCar Test of 2010
WALLER, TX Feb. 22, 2010—Vitor Meira traveled to the A.J. Foyt Racing team headquarters last week to spend a couple days with the team as they prepared the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda for the IZOD IndyCar Series Open Test February 24-25 at Barber Motorsports Park, outside of Birmingham, Ala.
Meira took the opportunity to get a final fitting of the seat, pedals, steering wheel, mirrors and belts in the race car before it was loaded into the transporter which departs this evening.
“I wanted to touch base with the guys, spend a little time with them as we all get ready for this test,” said Meira. “This way we can go to Barber with a clear head knowing everything is ready.”
Although he tested his Indy car last September at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this open test will be Meira’s first time back on a street/road course since he raced at Long Beach in April, 2009.
“Primarily, my goal for this test is to get reacquainted with everything and everyone,” said Meira who has been running shifter karts throughout the off season. “I want to get in as many laps as possible. We have an engineer (Jeff Britton)who is new to the team, but not new to me, and we need this time to work together so we can all learn each other.” Britton and Meira worked together at Rahal Letterman Racing in 2005.
“My biggest challenge is to get back to where I was before the accident so I can take 100% advantage of what the car is capable of doing,” said Meira, whose injuries sustained in the Indianapolis 500 sidelined him for the remainder of 2009. “The first day we’ll get a baseline set-up and then the second day we can explore different set-ups.”
Meira tested at Barber Motorsport Park in 2007 when he was with Panther Racing. The IZOD Series will compete there for the first time April 11th.
“From what I remember, the circuit is a lot like the European road courses with high speed corners and elevation changes,” Meira said. “It is most like Watkins Glen in that way but it’s narrower and doesn’t have very long straights. Passing will be a challenge there.”
When Meira was in Texas last week, he had an opportunity to race Larry Foyt in the I-Racing video game. “We raced Talladega in an Indy car,” said Meira. “I was sharing the car with Larry. I never realized I-Racing was so cool! I’m glad I saw it because it is definitely worth the trouble to buy the equipment you need to get set up properly.
“I will be using it this season for sure,” he added, explaining, “We have such limited track time in the actual Indy car so whatever you can do to simulate being on the track is beneficial. The I-Racing game will definitely be a part of my preparation this season.” Currently I-Racing features seven IndyCar Series tracks (Indianapolis, Barber, Chicagoland, Homestead, Infineon, Texas, and Watkins Glen) with Mid-Ohio being added soon.
Meira will arrive at the track Tuesday, fresh from an appearance in New Orleans for sponsor ABC Supply. He will participate in the pre-season media shoot as all of the drivers have photos taken and video shot which will be used throughout the season.
Testing at Barber Motorsports Park begins Wednesday at 9 am and will continue through Thursday until 5pm. The IZOD IndyCar Series season kicks off in the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil March 14th. |
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