Catchfence

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - June 5, 2012 -Belle Isle proved to be another bump in the road for the Firestone Indy Lights team at Belardi Auto Racing. The team have hit a snag of lows recently, and the season has not proved to be what they had hoped and prepared for.

Running quickest in the first practice session in moderate rain, Israeli Alon Day was very happy with his car and proved he could run with the top of the field when he qualified P4. He was the only car in the Top Five not belonging to Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Unfortunately due to brand new parts on the rear wing that needed time to settle, the No. 9 did not pass tech inspection post qualifying. Day was put to the back of the field and started the 40-lap, 2.07-mile street course in P12. After passing a few cars and avoiding the accident that took out Peter Dempsey of Younessi Racing, Day was able to secure another Top 10 finish in P8.

Teammate Jorge Goncalvez had even worse luck when the Venezuelan crashed just after reaching the second highest speed in the second practice session. Goncalvez got the No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing machine off the dry line of the Belle Isle circuit just for a moment, and ended up crashing badly causing significant damage that was not able to be fixed in time for the race. The 20-year-old was not hurt in the accident and will be able to drive in the Milwaukee IndyFest.

The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix can be seen on NBC Sports Network on June 7 at 5pm ET. Belardi Auto Racing will travel to Milwaukee, WI next week for the Milwaukee IndyFest – a two-day event held at the Milwaukee Mile. The Firestone Indy Lights 100-mile race will go green at 5:45pmCT.

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ALON DAY, DRIVER OF NO. 9 BELARDI AUTO RACING:

“It’s a bit disappointing. I finished eighth after great practices, good qualifying and overall good weekend. Since qualifying when I was disqualified, it seems everything went bad. I don’t know…started from last and I tried to do my best. I know the whole team did their best and we will improve. I’m ready to regroup and move on to Milwaukee.”

About Belardi Auto Racing

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,www.BelardiAutoRacing.com.

Source: Belardi Auto Racing, Press Release