Last year he started 4th and finished 6th. After a late race collision, Servia, who was in contention for a podium finish, did a great job to avoid the pile up which resulted in him doing a 360-degree spin where he got the car back in control and finished the race in 6th position. He competed in CART/Champ Car races at the track from 2000 to 2008. His previous best starts were 8th in 2003 and 2006 and his best finish was 2nd in 2007. Servia has led 12 laps at the track.
At the second round of the season two weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, Servia qualified 26th for the race and finished 13th. The strategy worked for Lotus DRR as they went with a three-stop strategy, going off sequence and pitting early. As he crossed the start/finish line at the end of the race, Oriol came over the radio to the guys saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Great job guys, we will keep getting there.” Servia had very limited track time during the weekend as he only completed a total of 17 laps due to an electrical issue on the first day of practice and a motor problem for the second practice resulting in a motor change. Due to the unapproved engine change, Servia was penalized 10 grid positions for the race.
For the last three years Servia has called Santa Monica, California home. He moved out west with his girlfriend Jackie at the end of 2008 and the couple still lives in California, which will make this weekend a “homecoming” for the Spaniard.
This will be the first time that Servia has competed for Lotus DRR, he signed with the team in January. Servia has been reunited with his engineer, Yves Touron, who he has worked with in the pastand has a solid relationship with.
Last year Oriol Finished fourth in IZOD IndyCar Series standings….Recorded 11 top-10 finishes, with a best of second at New Hampshire and Baltimore….Among three drivers to be running at the finish in all 17 races….. Led all drivers in laps completed (2,103 of 2,011)….Oriol was the only driver to finish in the top 10 in first five races of the season.
Lotus DRR
• This year will be Lotus DRR’s 13th season of IndyCar competition, making them one of the longest tenured teams in the series.
• This weekend will mark the team’s 4th time to compete at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
• In 2009 the team started 16th and finished 19th with Darren Manning and started 16th and finished 21st with Conway. In 2010, the team started 3rd with Justin Wilson and 16th with Mike Conway at Long Beach and finished 2nd with Wilson and 10th with Conway in the race. Last year Wilson started 5th and finished 22nd and Ana Beatriz started 26th and finished 19th in the race.
Oriol Servia, No. 22 Lotus DRR, on the momentum leading into Long Beach:
“I have to say the brightest moment of the season so far has been both times when it has most counted which was in the race. All I feel is that we need to be able to have a normal weekend where we can practice and qualify. The closer to the front that we can start the better, that will be the key. I’m very happy with how we have performed so far. I think that we may have a bit of a struggle on the straight of Long Beach because it’s a longer straight than what we’ve had, but we’ll see when we get there.”
Oriol on the Long Beach circuit:
“Last year I had a great race in Long Beach and I was in position for a podium, but that last charge by Helio (Castroneves) on his teammate also took me out and we had that beautiful 360 spin that brought a lot of attention. I just hope that I have less of a crazy race. It’s been a track that I’ve always liked and I’ve raced there since 1998 in Indy Lights. Now I live here and it’s more of a reason to make it happen. I will have a lot of friends and supporters out for the race, so I hope that we can put on a good show.”