Unseasonably warm weather is working against HVM Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. The team came to the track armed with data from a spring test session at the South Florida track, but a drastic difference in temperatures is forcing the crews to change their set-up approach to Saturday’s Homestead-Miami Indy 300. After a day of practice and tweaking Friday, E.J. Viso qualified the No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara in the 18th position, and Robert Doornbos qualified the No. 33 HVM Racing Honda Dallara in 22nd.
"I’m going flat out, but it’s not enough."— Robert Doornbos
Doornbos was the first car on the track in the qualifying session, with the late-afternoon sun giving drivers a preview of race conditions for Saturday’s 5 p.m. race. He reached an average speed of 207.352 miles per hour with a total lap time of 1:43.1288. Viso went out a short time later in the sixth slot and ran a four-lap average of 209.773 and a total lap time of 1:41.9386.
Both cars improved their pace in qualifying over the earlier practice sessions and the team will work to pick up that pace even more for Saturday’s green flag. Watch the Homestead-Miami Indy 300 on Versus Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Homestead:
“The team has been working hard since we got here on the set-up for this track and these conditions and to try to set a good pace. We’re making progress and we’ll keep working to have the most competitive cars we can for tomorrow’s race.”
Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Homestead:
“Homestead is special for me because it’s the first track I touched when I came over from Europe to do IndyCar, and it’s always good to come back to a place you have a good memory of.
“The expectations were high. We tested at the beginning of the season, so we had a lot of data to work with. But unfortunately today is a lot hotter than when we tested – it’s over 40 degrees hotter – so that data is not helping much. Today we had a rough start of the day but we were able to improve the car a bit. For qualifying we even made the car a little bit faster than we thought we would.
“Tomorrow is going to be a long day and my race craft as a driver needs to be very complete. Pits stops, strategy, everything needs to be good, and I think we can achieve a Top 10.”
Comments from HVM Racing Driver Robert Doornbos after qualifying at Homestead:
“It’s a bit frustrating. We’re obviously not where we want to be. I’m going flat out, but it’s not enough. We’ll see what kind of work we can do.”
Venue: Homestead-Miami Speedway, 1.5-mile oval, Homestead, Fla.
No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara - E.J. Viso
Total Lap Time: 1:41.9386
Speed: 209.773 miles per hour
Qualifying Position: 18th
No. 33 HVM Racing Honda Dallara – Robert Doornbos
Total Lap Time: 1:43.1288
Speed: 207.352 miles per hour
Qualifying Position: 22nd
HVM is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In its eight years of competition, the team has earned six wins, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums since 2001. The team finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car championship standings in 2006 and 2007, and earned its drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. In 2008 with driver E.J. Viso, the team earned seven top-10 finishes, including a fourth at St. Petersburg in its inaugural year in the IRL Championship.
