Saturday

KVRT’s Mario Moraes Qualifies 14th For Indy Grand Prix Of Sonoma

KV Racing Technology

Moraes, making his second appearance on the 2.303-mile, 12-turn road course, qualified with a lap of 77.4730 seconds (107.051 mph). The talented Brazilian will gird the #5 Azul – Votorantim – KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry on the outside of Row #7.

“The KVRT car was good, but we had some bottoming problems which slowed us down a bit,” Moraes said. “We will take a look at the data tonight and then use tomorrow’s warm-up to make some adjustments. I am confident we will have a good car in the race.”

Moraes was 10th on the speed charts after morning practice with a time of 78.2868 seconds (105.903 mph). For qualifying he went out in the second group in Round #1 and posted his fast lap using the Firestone alternate or “red” tire on the ninth of the 10 timed laps he ran.

Moraes, 20, is in his second IndyCar season and first with KVRT. He will be making his 12th start on a road/street course tomorrow. Moraes has now qualified in the top-seven in six of 11 events this year (Iowa and Kentucky qualifying cancelled, did not compete in Mid-Ohio), with two top-five starting spots, including a career high fourth in Watkins Glen and an oval career high fifth at Milwaukee. Prior to joining KVRT for the 2009 season, he had qualified in the top-10 in just one IndyCar event. Last year, in his Infineon Raceway debut, Moraes qualified 12th and finished 10th.

This is KVRT’s second appearance in Sonoma. Last year Will Power qualified third and finished 25th while Oriol Servia started fifth and finished 15th.

The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma will be broadcast live on Versus starting at 5:00 p.m. ET.

- KV Racing Technology Press Release