|
 |
|
 |
| June 01, 2012 |
| Indy Lights: Month of May Challenges Belardi Auto Racing Once Again |
DETROIT, MICH. (May 31, 2012) - It has been a busy month of May for Belardi Auto Racing drivers Mike Larrison, Alon Day, and Jorge Goncalvez.
In addition to testing, practices, qualifying, and the Freedom 100, the Firestone Indy Lights drivers have been occupied with media appearances and community service all over Indianapolis. Larrison, driver of the No. 19 car, has been extremely busy conquering childhood dreams and racing five events in six days.
The USAC driver competed in five races last week finishing May off in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - a childhood dream of his - and at Lucas Oil Raceway Park during the "Night Before the 500" in the featured USAC Midget race. The Firestone Indy Lights rookie finished in ninth place at the famed Speedway, but was unfortunately caught up in an accident during the start of the USAC feature event.
"To actually look back now at running IMS is a wonderful feeling," stated Larrison. "The fact that I get to tell my story of how I got to live my childhood dream of racing at Indy is incredible. The whole week was an amazing chapter of my life because besides Indy Lights, I was racing Sprint cars and Midgets every day for a week. As a race car driver, it's very hard to complain about that. Looking forward after my dream come true at Indy, I'm looking to get more seat time for the next three ovals [on the Firestone Indy Lights schedule]. Truthfully I want a win, but a podium or Top 5 finish would be really great."
Larrison's teammate, Alon Day, had a great top-10 run in his first oval race finishing in P8. The rookie stayed out of trouble and was able to collect more points to secure a spot of ninth in the championship chase.
"It was pretty exciting for my first oval especially since it was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway," commented Day. "I didn't expect the race to be like this. To be honest I thought the oval would be boring, but I found, in the end, how physically demanding it was. I'm pretty happy with the results; I had a lot of problems [with the car] since the test a few weeks ago. We stopped the practice session early and changed the engine. The team did a really incredible job... everyone on the team. It was amazing because we had almost no time before qualifying and they changed the engine. They did a really awesome job. We finished eighth without having any time to develop the car, and the car is in one piece, so I'm pretty happy. I'm looking forward to Detroit because we have a few new things on the car and I'm sure it's going to be really good."
Unfortunately for Indy Lights sophomore Jorge Goncalvez, the No. 4 ended up getting pinched towards the inside wall, made contact and got loose in the penultimate lap of the 100 mile race. The team is unsure whether something broke when contact was made. However, after the crash, Goncalvez was checked and cleared by the medical staff at IMS and is able to resume all racing activities.
"I was having a pretty good race, moving up and going side-by-side with the leaders, but I ended up going back [in the field] a little and it got loose on lap 38,' added Goncalvez. " I don't know what happened, but I really don't think this place (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) likes me. I had a bad crash here last year and now this year. I'm okay. I'm ready to race in Detroit."
The Belardi Auto Racing team had just four days to turn their Firestone Indy Lights cars from an oval to street course setup following the finish of the Freedom 100.
After being involved in the accident, the No. 4 was beyond repair, and the Venezuelan will now compete in the car driven last weekend by teammate Larrison.
The Brownsburg, Ind.-based team is now in beautiful Belle Isle, MI to compete in the Detroit Grand Prix on Saturday, June 2. The 45-lap race on the 2.1 mile street course can be seen on NBC Sports Network on June 7 at 5pm ET.
Belardi Auto Racing is a USF2000 and Indy Lights team based in Brownsburg, Indiana. The 2011 season saw two race wins, 10 podiums, 17 top-five finishes and 36 top-tens. Follow the team on Twitter, Facebook or their official website, http://www.BelardiAutoRacing.com |
|
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
