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SUPER SUBS ON THE MENU AT THE LEXMARK INDY 300
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Spaniard Oriol Servia and Melbourne’s Owen Kelly have been labeled the ‘Super Subs’ of the Lexmark Indy 300 after both received late call ups to compete in this weekend’s Champ Car and V8 Supercar rounds on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Servia, who competed for PKV Racing in 2006, will campaign the #22 Pay BY Touch PKV Racing entry in round 13 of the Champ Car World Series while Kelly will pilot the #39 Sirromet Wines Commodore during round 11 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
After contesting 11 of the first 12 races this year for Forsythe Championship Racing Servia is currently sixth in the championship standings, just five points out of fifth place while Kelly has been impressive during recent V8 Supercar outings. The 30-year-old won round five of the Fujitsu V8 Series at Oran Park before securing third place in the Sandown 500 paired with Steven Richards in the Ford Performance Racing outfit. He finished 13th at Bathurst with Matt Halliday and currently sits 21st in the championship standings.
Servia, fastest qualifier at the 2005 Lexmark Indy 300, rates the Gold Coast circuit as his favourite track in the Champ Car World Series.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to continue my fight for a place among the leaders in the championship standings,” said Servia.
“I want to thank Mr. Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and Mark Johnson (joint owners of PKV Racing) for giving me this opportunity. The good thing is that I know a lot of the PKV Racing crew members and I will be working with my engineer from last year, Yves Touron, so we are already very familiar with each other.
“I have been fighting for wins on the street circuits all year and I am sure it won’t be any different in Surfers. Hopefully, I can get the win there for the team and myself.”
Likewise, Kelly is pleased to ‘sub in’ for this weekend’s V8 Supercar Challenge with the Gold Coast-based Paul Morris Motorsport team.
Having never competed on the 4.47km street circuit aboard a V8 Supercar previously, Kelly does at least boast Gold Coast racing competition previously in the Honda Young Guns, where he raced alongside current Team Australia Champ Car driver Will Power and V8 Championship leader Jamie Whincup, at the 2001 event.
"I've done plenty of V8 Supercar racing recently, but it's been in a Ford, not a Holden," said Kelly.
"This is a good opportunity to do some regular driving in the championship.
"When I get in the Commodore at 'Indy' this week I'll be using practice to settle in and get familiar with the car and the track. It's a street circuit so passing is never easy, and keeping the brakes 'alive' for the whole race will be hard.
"My aim is to try and get a fulltime championship drive and hopefully this will help. I haven't raced a V8 Supercar on the 'Indy' track before so this week will be a massive challenge. I will be taking a conservative approach to get myself up to speed."
Servia and Kelly will climb into their respective machines for the first time when they contest opening practice on Friday morning followed by qualifying in the afternoon.
If the duo has their way the ‘Super Sub’ will be on top of the menu following this weekend’s Lexmark Indy 300 and V8 Supercar Challenge.
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Servia, who competed for PKV Racing in 2006, will campaign the #22 Pay BY Touch PKV Racing entry in round 13 of the Champ Car World Series while Kelly will pilot the #39 Sirromet Wines Commodore during round 11 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
After contesting 11 of the first 12 races this year for Forsythe Championship Racing Servia is currently sixth in the championship standings, just five points out of fifth place while Kelly has been impressive during recent V8 Supercar outings. The 30-year-old won round five of the Fujitsu V8 Series at Oran Park before securing third place in the Sandown 500 paired with Steven Richards in the Ford Performance Racing outfit. He finished 13th at Bathurst with Matt Halliday and currently sits 21st in the championship standings.
Servia, fastest qualifier at the 2005 Lexmark Indy 300, rates the Gold Coast circuit as his favourite track in the Champ Car World Series.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to continue my fight for a place among the leaders in the championship standings,” said Servia.
“I want to thank Mr. Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and Mark Johnson (joint owners of PKV Racing) for giving me this opportunity. The good thing is that I know a lot of the PKV Racing crew members and I will be working with my engineer from last year, Yves Touron, so we are already very familiar with each other.
“I have been fighting for wins on the street circuits all year and I am sure it won’t be any different in Surfers. Hopefully, I can get the win there for the team and myself.”
Likewise, Kelly is pleased to ‘sub in’ for this weekend’s V8 Supercar Challenge with the Gold Coast-based Paul Morris Motorsport team.
Having never competed on the 4.47km street circuit aboard a V8 Supercar previously, Kelly does at least boast Gold Coast racing competition previously in the Honda Young Guns, where he raced alongside current Team Australia Champ Car driver Will Power and V8 Championship leader Jamie Whincup, at the 2001 event.
"I've done plenty of V8 Supercar racing recently, but it's been in a Ford, not a Holden," said Kelly.
"This is a good opportunity to do some regular driving in the championship.
"When I get in the Commodore at 'Indy' this week I'll be using practice to settle in and get familiar with the car and the track. It's a street circuit so passing is never easy, and keeping the brakes 'alive' for the whole race will be hard.
"My aim is to try and get a fulltime championship drive and hopefully this will help. I haven't raced a V8 Supercar on the 'Indy' track before so this week will be a massive challenge. I will be taking a conservative approach to get myself up to speed."
Servia and Kelly will climb into their respective machines for the first time when they contest opening practice on Friday morning followed by qualifying in the afternoon.
If the duo has their way the ‘Super Sub’ will be on top of the menu following this weekend’s Lexmark Indy 300 and V8 Supercar Challenge.
Back | Back to top
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