2009 IRL Team Reports: HVM Racing

IRL Team reports for the 2009 IRL season

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Post by mlittle » Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:28 am

Milwaukee: HVM Racing race report

No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara - E.J. Viso
Starting Position: 17th
Finishing Position: 18th

Notes:

A race that started with an early burst of speed for the No. 13 car ended when contact with the wall forced HVM Racing to retire early from the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt 225 Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile. E.J. Viso's PDVSA HVM Racing machine finished the race in 18th place after completing 175 of the 225 laps.

Starting from the 17th position, Viso was fast and aggressive from the green flag, passing five cars in the first 10 laps to move up to 12th position. But several laps later, Viso reported he could not shift the car out of fifth gear. He stayed out on the track, maintaining good lap times despite the issue.

A car into the wall on Lap 57 brought out a yellow flag, and Viso brought the No. 13 into the pit for repairs. The team worked quickly to repair the shifting issue in the car's gearbox, and Viso returned to the track 13 laps down in 19th place.

With a full six gears and the desire to make up some lost ground, Viso ran consistently strong lap times for the next 100-plus laps. But on Lap 191, as the race leaders were passing on the low side, Viso brushed the wall in Turn 4. He brought the car into the pit, where the team determined the suspension was broken and the car could not return to the track.

The No. 13 team is now 19th in the IndyCar Series Championship standings.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt 225:

"The start of the race was encouraging, especially after we didn't qualify as well as we'd hoped. We had decided to take a risk with an aggressive setup for the race and it looked to be paying off in the beginning.

"E.J. was as fast as the leaders and making some good moves. But then we had some problems come up and we wound up with another disappointing finish."

Comments from HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt 225:

"It was our fifth frustrating weekend in the year, and that's a shame because we felt like we improved from last year. But each race, something happens. This week in the team meeting, we agreed to do something aggressive. And we had a good car, but something went wrong and the car got stuck in fifth gear.

(On the contact with the wall) "One of the leaders came by a bit wide and I was in the marbles. I was on ice, and I just kissed the wall.

"I'm looking forward to Texas. We've been preparing for it for the last week and a half and we are making some improvements to the car, so I'm excited for Texas."
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:47 am

Texas: HVM Racing qualifying report


No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara - E.J. Viso

When the sparks start flying for the Bombardier Learjet 550k at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night, HVM Racing's No. 13 car will be looking for a spark of its own to move toward the front. E.J. Viso qualified 21st in the PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara on Friday afternoon with a speed of 211.553.

Going out near the end of the qualifying order, Viso turned a total lap time of 1:39:0388, putting the car on the inside of the 11th row for Saturday's show.

This weekend marks the team's second appearance in the Texas night race. Last year, Viso started 28th and finished 14th under the lights. The No. 13 machine will be looking for a similar push toward the front for this year's race, which begins Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Versus.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway:

"We had put some extra preparation into this car to produce a better performance than what we've been getting on the ovals. So we expected better results than what we saw today.

"The handling of the car was fine. We just didn't get the extra speed we were hoping for."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway:

"Well, it's another disappointing qualifying. It's a shame that after so much preparation for this race, especially for qualifying, that we haven't found any improvement. I think it's now time to react.

"Everyone is putting pressure on everybody. The sponsors are not happy, I'm not happy, the team is not happy. I think it's time to shake everything out and start working harder."
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Post by mlittle » Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:13 am

Texas: HVM Racing race report

The green flag had barely waved in the Bombardier Learjet 550k when HVM Racing's E.J. Viso got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Viso was the victim of an accident on Lap 2 when the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara was collected by a spinning car immediately in front of him, knocking him out of the race as it was just getting under way.

Starting in the 21st position, Viso took off with a fast car and was moving up the field during the first lap. But on the second lap of the race, Graham Rahal's No. 02 went sideways coming out of Turn 2. Viso was directly behind him with nowhere to go, and both cars spun into the No. 23 car of Milka Duno. Viso was taken to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and cleared.

The HVM team was looking to bounce back from previous disappointing results this season and was excited to race under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. But circumstances beyond the team's control led to an early exit and a 24th-place finish.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after Saturday's race at Texas Motor Speedway:

"Obviously we're quite frustrated right now. We put a lot of time and effort into preparing the car for this race and, even though we didn't qualify as well as we'd hoped, we were still optimistic about running well tonight.

"We didn't even have an opportunity to see what the car could do. We were just victims."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after Saturday's race at Texas Motor Speedway:

"We started the race and the car felt good straight away. I was able to move up some positions really fast. I was excited. We've been working so hard to get back up and have a good performance in the race and I think we were having it so far, and this thing happened. It was obviously out of our hands.

"I couldn't do anything. I was driving into Corner 1, then out of Corner 2, and I found that (Graham) Rahal was wiggling and suddenly he just had his car sideways and I had nowhere to go."
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Post by mlittle » Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:52 am

HVM Racing Richmond test notes 2009-06-10

HVM Racing Makes Progress at Richmond Test

HVM Racing completed a productive one-day test Wednesday at Richmond International Raceway, in Richmond, Va. The team tested various setups over the course of the day on the ¾-mile D-shaped oval in preparation for the season's remaining short oval tracks.

Driver E.J. Viso paced the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara around the track for 125 laps, using four sets of tires. Changes to the car made it progressively faster over the course of the day and Viso finished with the third-best overall time among the drivers testing.

HVM will use its test findings when it participates in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 21 at Iowa Speedway and when the team returns to Richmond International Raceway on June 27 for the SunTrust Indy Challenge.

Comments from HVM Racing Driver E.J. Viso after testing at Richmond:

"Everything went very smoothly. We were able to test lots of things and we are definitely in a much stronger position for the next short oval races.

"We did some work on setups to find more speed and grip. I believe we could have gone faster but we ran out of time to run different gear ratios."

Comments from HVM Racing Team Manager Vince Kremer after testing at Richmond:

"We improved steadily and went progressively faster all day. We worked through some setups to make the car comfortable to drive, and the driver was happy and encouraged with the results.

"We feel like we made good gains and we're encouraged to come back in a couple weeks to see how we do."
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Post by mlittle » Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:26 pm

Iowa: HVM Racing race report
Racing series INDYCAR
Date 2009-06-21

The Iowa Speedway did not provide a change of luck for HVM Racing Sunday, with a Lap 1 crash ending the team's day just as it was getting started. Cars were just getting up to speed after the green flag in the Iowa Corn Indy 250, when E.J. Viso's No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara spun into the wall in Turn 4.

Viso said he lost the car going into Turn 3 -- possibly from being hit by another car behind him -- and he initially was able to save it, but it got loose again and he was not able to regain control. The rear of the No. 13 machine hit the wall, causing irreparable damage and forcing the team to ends its day. Viso was taken to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released.

HVM came into the Iowa race weekend optimistic for better results. The team had a successful test at Richmond International Raceway on June 10 and believed the information gained would help with the remaining short ovals. Practice sessions on Saturday at Iowa Speedway were also encouraging, with Viso running solid lap times, finishing the afternoon session 11th fastest and reporting the car felt good.

The team now looks to next weekend's race, when they return to Richmond for Saturday's SunTrust Indy Challenge.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after Sunday's race at Iowa Speedway:

"It's getting rather difficult to describe the disappointment. Each week it's something different.

"We were hoping this race could be a turning point for us. We had a good test at Richmond, we saw some improvement in practice Saturday, so we were looking forward to making some progress here."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after Sunday's race at Iowa Speedway:

"It's very tough. This is the seventh DNF that we have. At this point, it's getting out of our hands. We've had so many kinds of issues. This time I don't know how to describe it.

"I was a couple car lengths behind (Tomas) Scheckter. I know he's a good starter, so I just tried to hold on behind him for a couple laps. And everything was going good until I was going into Corner 3, when I felt something weird in the rear of the car. I believe that another car might have brushed the back of the car. And I lost control, it just went completely sideways and I had nothing to do".
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Post by mlittle » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:49 am

HVM Racing Ready to Compete in the Heat
Team Battles High Temps with Help from Sponsor

Indianapolis, Indiana (June 24, 2009) -- One of the most challenging opponents that teams face throughout the IndyCar Series is not another driver
. It's the heat. With summer officially beginning this week, and temperatures rising, HVM Racing is making sure the team is prepared.

Dehydration and heat exhaustion are problems you don't want to throw into the mix at a race, so HVM always takes steps to beat the heat. With 90-plus temperatures in the forecast for the Richmond race weekend, the HVM transporter will roll into town stocked with more than 200 bottles of water and more than 15 gallons in water-dispenser jugs. Team Manager Vince Kremer and Crew Chief Daryl Fox remind the crew during team meetings at the track to keep drinking.

"We are constantly reminding them to stay hydrated," said Kremer. "We've got water in bottles and in a dispenser, and we keep the coolers stocked in both the garage and in the pit."

HVM team members also get hydration help from sponsor Herbalife. In 2007, the nutrition company introduced H3O fitness drink that replaces electrolytes and other nutrients to provide rapid hydration, sustained energy, and antioxidant protection. After driver E.J. Viso tried the product he recommended it to his team. He even uses the mixture in the No. 13 car's Camel Back drinking system during races.

"I start drinking as many fluids as possible about five days before a race," Viso said. "If I'm not well hydrated getting into the car, I will get symptoms. My eyes will be itchy, my tongue will feel dry and I will get a headache. H3O is a big help in keeping me hydrated and alert behind the wheel."

HVM Racing will take on the heat, and the IndyCar Series field, in the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday at 8 p.m. on Versus.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:34 am

Richmond: HVM Racing qualifying report


Recent testing at Richmond International Raceway proved to be valuable for HVM Racing Friday. E.J. Viso's No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara qualified seventh for Saturday's SunTrust Indy Challenge with a speed of 164.629 miles per hour and a total lap time of 1:05:6020. The result is HVM's best qualification result on an oval in the series to date and Viso's best oval qualification in his career.

HVM tested at Richmond International Raceway on June 10 in preparation for the season's remaining short ovals, and the information gathered put the team in a good position going into the race weekend. The No. 13 car was strong in the morning practice session, posting the sixth-quickest time.

The team is looking for back-to-back top-10 finishes at Richmond. Last year, Viso finished 10th after starting 19th.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge starts at 8 p.m. Saturday on Versus.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Richmond:

"It's nice to get a good result in qualifying after all the preparation we did at the test session and the weeks leading up to the race. Our previous qualifying efforts on ovals this year have not been up to expectations, so we knew we had to make some improvements.

"It will definitely be good to start closer to the front. This race can get rough, which we saw last year."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Richmond:

"I think we did a good job. This little achievement shows that testing is very important, and obviously the development we did here a couple weeks ago is paying off right now.

"It's also important to qualify close to the front at this track, being one of the most difficult tracks to overtake in the championship and being such a 'criminal' track last year in the race. Less than 10 cars finished, and that means there were many accidents. Obviously you want to be as close to the front as possible to have fewer risks in front of you."
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Post by mlittle » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:03 am

Richmond: HVM Racing race report


Untimely caution flags and fuel conservation played significant roles in HVM Racing's first finish of the season -- a 12th-place finish in the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway.

E.J. Viso had a fast car in the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara, starting in the seventh position for the Saturday night race on the D-shaped short oval. Viso kept pace with the leaders for much of the race, but fell two laps down on Lap 138 when the caution flag flew while the 13 car was on pit road for a scheduled stop for fuel and tires.

Once Viso was back on the track, HVM had to play the fuel-conservation game, hoping a timelier yellow flag would allow them to get a lap back. Another caution came out on Lap 248 when Helio Castroneves hit the wall, but Viso was already on pit road for service and was not able to regain any ground.

Viso spent the entire race in the Top 15, and managed a late-race pass of Ed Carpenter to take the checkers in 12th place for the HVM team.

The team looks to build on the finish at Richmond as it prepares next for the Grand Prix at the Glen on July 5 at Watkins Glen International.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after the SunTrust Indy Challenge:

"We are obviously happy to have that finish under our belts. We had various disappointments over the first seven races of the season, and we knew we had to turn things around. Even though we had our setbacks, we kept working to make the necessary changes to improve, and I think we reached a turning point.

"The important thing is that we had a competitive car. It's just a shame the cautions worked against us."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after the SunTrust Indy Challenge:

"Even if it's not the result we were looking for -- especially after the strong pace we had through all the practices and qualifying -- it's something that's going to pump our emotions a bit higher. We were all a little bit low because we hadn't finished a race so far. Finishing the race means a lot for the team and for me.

"We had a very fast car. I was running at the same pace as the leaders, I was saving fuel all through the race. It's just that yellow came out at the wrong time for us and that put us a couple laps down.

"I just need to thank the team and everyone that has supported me going through these difficult races. I want to thank them and tell them that I've been working harder than ever to achieve podiums. We've got the potential and we've improved the car a lot."
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Post by mlittle » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:00 pm

HVM Racing returned to the road course of Watkins Glen International with a strong qualifying run Saturday and a shot at the Firestone Fast Six; but the team was edged out in the final minutes of the second qualifying session when other cars gained in speed, and traffic on E.J. Viso's red-tire run allowed others to surpass the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara. Viso will start Sunday's Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen in the 11th position with a qualifying lap time of 1:29.5661.

The team made good use of the morning practice, making some tweaks to the No. 13 machine to prepare it for the afternoon qualifying session. The car was strong in the first qualifying round, advancing to the second round to battle for the Top 6. And early on in Round 2, Viso looked like he would make that final group easily. However, as the session wound down, the 13 car fell out of the Top-6 field as other cars were able to shave a few extra tenths off their lap times and Viso encountered traffic, pushing him back to 11th.

HVM and Viso are strong performers on road courses and look to move ahead when the green flag drops on Sunday. Last year, Viso earned a Top-10 finish after starting 15th and finishing 10th.

The Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen starts at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Watkins Glen:

"It was an encouraging start to the qualifying session. We had some good lap times and looked to be pretty consistent. But toward the end we lost out to traffic.

"We still have confidence going into this race. The qualifying times were all very close within each other, so we just need to make the most of opportunities. Now we need to focus on the race."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Watkins Glen:

"Qualifying was definitely a step forward. It's good that the little issues we had in the morning practice were all solved. I'm very happy, we got everything going in the right direction. The car felt very good.

"I don't believe we had a car to be on the pole, but I think we had a car to be in the Top 6. I was putting together a very fast lap until Marco Andretti messed up my qualifying lap. He was just basically waiting for me in Corner 8 and then as soon as he messed up my lap, he accelerated. So I am disappointed."
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Post by mlittle » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:00 pm

HVM Racing and E.J. Viso earned their first Top-10 finish of the 2009 season, taking seventh place in Sunday's Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen. The combination of a fast car, good pit strategy and sharp pit stops allowed the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara to rebound after early contact set Viso toward the back of the field.

After starting in the 10th position, Viso fell back to 19th after contact with Marco Andretti in Turn 8 forced him to pit on Lap 5 to replace a damaged front nose. But the HVM team had repaired the car quickly and gave Viso new Firestone red tires and fuel, and Viso briskly began making up lost ground, turning faster lap times than the rest of the field. By Lap 18, he was in 15th.

Viso made his second stop on Lap 20, on the tail end of the field's green-flag stops, coming into the pits in 13th position. A quick stop by the HVM team sent Viso back out with new black tires and fuel. After a third stop for fuel only on Lap 24 during a full-course caution, Viso continued to gain ground, passing for position up to 11th.

The team's final quick stop on Lap 44 gave the 13 car new red tires and fuel -- and a position in the Top 10 as Viso emerged in 7th place. He held off any challengers over the final 16 laps of the race and finished in 7th, HVM's first Top-10 finish of the season.

HVM now looks to carry the momentum of strong finishes at The Glen and Richmond into next weekend for the Honda Indy Toronto.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after the Grand Prix at The Glen:

"We have always been strong on road courses, so we always look to do well at these tracks. And the improvements we have made over the course of the last few weeks have enabled us to have a more competitive car right off the truck.

"We had the incident with Marco early on in the race, but we had good pit stops and got ourselves back in the race."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after the Grand Prix at The Glen:

"We had a pretty good race, forgetting the first few laps. I was behind Marco (Andretti) and he was blocking me a lot, and there was a point I was trying to overtake him in Corner 8, but he just blocked me so much, we hit each other. And he had a puncture and I broke my front wing. Other than that, we had a good car.

"We had very, very good pit stops. We moved many positions in the pits. And I am very proud of being able to work very hard throughout the championship to achieve, little by little, better results. Now we head to Toronto."
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Post by mlittle » Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:29 am

The 11 turns of the bumpy Honda Indy Toronto circuit are proving to be challenging in dry conditions for HVM Racing. E.J. Viso and the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara qualified 16th on Saturday afternoon -- after a fast run in the rain in morning practice.

Viso and the 13 car peaked early in the first qualifying session, but then could not shave as much off the lap time as their competitors to advance to the second group. He finished the session with a lap time of 1:02.1577 to start him in the eighth row for Sunday's race.

The Honda Indy Toronto starts at 1 p.m. on ABC.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Toronto:

"We are working with a different car for the team in the IndyCar Series. We raced here in Champ Car successfully, but this different element is obviously causing us some issues.

"We learned some things in practice yesterday, as well as in qualifying today, so we just need to focus on getting a good race set-up and have a good strategy tomorrow."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Toronto:

"Since we've been at this track we've been struggling a bit with the dry set-up. It's been difficult. We need to make the car better suspension-wise because it's very loose in the slow corners and it's very tough to drive. I brushed the wall more than 10 times just today.

"I pushed very hard in qualifying. I knew it was going to be tough to get into the Top 6, but I just gave my best with the resources I had in my hands. The important thing is to work on the race setup during warm-up tomorrow. We've got a little time to try some other new things in the car. But we definitely need to work very hard to be faster."
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Post by mlittle » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:53 pm

HVM Racing's second Top-10 finish of the season was in sight with just 13 laps remaining in Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. But E.J. Viso and the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara suffered a flat tire after being bumped off the course, and subsequently finished 13th.

The 13 car had been running well throughout the race after starting 16th, running as high as fourth early on. HVM's pit strategy kept the 13 car competitive, with the plan to pit just twice for fuel and tires. The first stops were quick and the car stayed within or close to the Top 10 for much of the race.

Viso was in seventh position on Lap 72 when he was knocked off course as Mario Moraes tried to dive inside Viso on Turn 3. The contact gave the 13 car a right rear flat tire, forcing the team to make an unscheduled third stop. Despite falling back to 14th position as a result of the incident, Viso pushed on and advanced one position over the remaining laps to finish 13th.

Viso and Moraes had additional interaction after the checkered flag waved. After the race ended and the cars were cooling down on the back straightaway, Moraes once again hit Viso from behind and spun him into the wall.

The team will use the upcoming off week to prepare to cross the northern border again. The series' next race is in Edmonton on July 26.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after the Honda Indy Toronto:

"We worked on developing the set-up of the car over the course of the weekend and we were confident we would have a good car for the race.

"Once again, we were focusing on the race strategy, which was playing out well until the incident with Moraes. That, unfortunately, took us out of a Top-6 finish."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after the Honda Indy Toronto:

"We were having a very good race. We were a bit scared at the start of the race because we didn't test (in the warm-up) and we had plenty of changes to the car because we had a little mechanical failure. I need to say that the changes were all positive, everything was going good and we had a good strategy. Everything was paying off.

"Then I had a big hit on the rear tire, and I got a flat tire because Moraes got into me in the braking of Corner 3. That's disappointing. That's what put me in Position 13.

"Then when the race was over, I already had my visor open, I was drinking water and -- you can see it in the video -- he came once more. He just hit me and spun me in the back straight. I can't understand what he was thinking. The race was over."
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:01 pm

HVM Racing and E.J. Viso will start the Rexall Edmonton Indy in the 14th position after trying multiple set-ups before qualifying Saturday on the rough and racy Edmonton City Centre Airport track.

The No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara was just over a tenth of a second from advancing to the second qualifying round, posting a lap time of 1:02.424 in Round One. Viso had been seven tenths faster, but lost his best lap after a brush with the wall. As did most of the competition, the car found its best speed after switching to the softer red Firestone tires after starting the session on primary blacks.

HVM Racing has been working this week to find the best set-up for the 14-turn course, which is one of the most challenging tracks in the series. Viso will now look to take advantage of passing opportunities on the wide turns of the airport circuit for Sunday's race.

Coverage of the Rexall Edmonton Indy starts at 5 p.m. Sunday on Versus.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Edmonton:

"Edmonton is a very tricky track and a difficult one to get a perfect set-up. If you counted the number of cars that spun or wound up in the grass over the past couple days, you'll understand.

"We didn't qualify as high as we had expected, but now we will just continue to focus on our race strategy for tomorrow. Our street-course strategies have worked well for us in the past and we hope to continue that here tomorrow."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Edmonton:

"This weekend has been pretty tough for us. We started yesterday trying some new things. We thought they were going to make us faster but they didn't. So basically yesterday we struggled with the lap times.

"Today we went back to our usual set-up, and in qualifying we had a much more competitive car. Another 1.9 tenths was going to put us into the second part of qualifying. But it didn't happen. So we are just looking to tomorrow's race."

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Post by mlittle » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:47 pm

In a race that started and finished with competitors' wrecks, HVM Racing and E.J. Viso battled the rough Edmonton City Centre Airport track to a 12th-place finish Sunday at the Rexall Speedway.

Viso started the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara in the 14th position and ran some good lap times and stayed away from trouble to maintain his mid-pack position throughout the race. Early on, wrecks by competitors allowed him to move up to 10th. Despite the difficult and bumpy track, HVM kept the car performing consistently through the various 14 turns of the airport circuit, which sent many cars into the grass or the wall over the course of the race weekend.

By Lap 77 of 95, Viso had settled into 12th position, where he would finish the race. The car crossed the finish line under a yellow flag after Tomas Scheckter spun into the wall with two laps to go.

The finish is HVM's fourth consecutive result of 12th place or higher. The team now returns to Indianapolis to prepare for Saturday's Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after the Rexall Edmonton Indy:

"It's a decent finish considering how challenging the track is. We played around quite a bit with the set-up over the course of the weekend and we made some good improvements by race time, and the car performed consistently."

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after the Rexall Edmonton Indy:

"This is the definitely one of the most challenging races of the championship. It's very tough to set up the car because there's such a different combination of corners and it's extremely bumpy, so it's almost impossible to find a perfect car. But we did improve the car over the weekend.

"Today in the race it was quite difficult to get up to pace at the beginning of each run, and it took us some time. But I think we had a quite consistent run."

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Post by mlittle » Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:25 am

Kentucky: HVM Racing preview


E.J. Viso: Things Are Going to Get Interesting

"Kentucky is one of the very nice ovals in the championship. We're going to try some different things, talking about aerodynamics on the car. They're going to allow the teams to use different parts, some different fenders on the sides next to the rear tires, some different downforce levels. It's going to allow the teams to try different things. It's always good to do that kind of thing because I think the series is a little bit stuck at some ovals and it's difficult to overtake. So I'm sure with these changes, we're going to make everything more fun and interesting.

"It's a very fast oval. There are a couple bumps. You can easily be faster or slower depending on how much you need to make that lift in the throttle. It's always good to have experience on that track. We raced there last year and did pretty well. I'm sure this year we're going to do even better. "
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