Frustrating Friday for FAZZT at Edmonton

Honda Indy Edmonton Friday Practice Report

Driver:

ALEX TAGLIANI

Entry:    

No 77 Bowers & Wilkins Hot Wheels FAZZT Race Team Dallara/Honda/Firestone

Event:

3rd IRL sanctioned Honda Indy Edmonton – 95 laps/ 299.659 kilometers

6th Indy Edmonton since its launch in 2005 (with Champ Car)

Track:  

Edmonton City Center Airport circuit, Alberta – 3.154 km temporary street course

Event Dates:   

Qualifying and Fast 6 on Saturday, July 24 from 5:30 to 6:50 pm ET

Race on Sunday July 25 at 5:55 p.m. ET, live on TSN & VERSUS starting at 5:00 p.m.

Live Timing & Scoring and Video is available at www.indycar.com

Race:       

11 of 17

TAGLIANI FRIDAY PRACTICE RESULTS

TAGLIANI POSITION: 14th     

TAGLIANI BEST TIME & SPEED: 1 m 02.7894 s – Average speed of 182.0506 km/h

FAST THREE DRIVERS IN FRIDAY PRACTICE AT THE HONDA INDY EDMONTON

1st Will Power, Team Penske; 1 m 01.6690 s (185.3578 km/h)

2nd Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske; 1 m 01.9474 s (184.5257 km/h)

3rd Helio Castroneves, Team Penske; 1 m 02.0152 s (184.323 km/h)

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (July 23, 2010) – FAZZT Race Team driver Alex Tagliani didn’t quite have the kind of practice he was hoping for in preparation for this weekend’s Honda Indy Edmonton. After some improvements during two practice sessions on Friday, the Canadian driver still found himself 14th on the timing and scoring sheets. Tagliani posted his fastest lap time on his final run around the challenging 3.154 -kilometer temporary airport circuit with a time 1 minute 02.7894 seconds for an average speed of 182.0506 km/h aboard the no.77 Bowers & Wilkins Hot Wheels machine.

Team Penske dominated the practice with all three of their drivers taking the top spots on the speed charts. Will Power set the fast time of 1 minute 6690.1433 seconds (185.3578 km/h) with teammate Ryan Briscoe on his heals with a time of 1 minute 01.9474 seconds (184.52577 km/h) and Helio Castroneves completing the Penske trifecta with a time of 1 minute 02.0152 seconds (184.323 km/h). Dario Franchitti of Target Chip Ganassi and Takuma Sato of KV Racing Technology rounded out the top five positions.

The Fazzt race team tested various set ups in both sessions in the hunt for good balance over the bumpy surface of the airport runaways at Edmonton City Centre, but fell a bit short of their expectations by the end of the practice day.

“The team made some changes between the sessions that were positive but when we put new tires on, we’d lose the balance of the car, giving the car instability under braking and understeer in the high speed portions of the track,” said Tagliani after the final practice of the day. “It’s a bit frustrating but I have confidence that we’ll get it sorted out before qualifying on Saturday. Qualifying position is important on this track as it is difficult to pass and our goal is still to make that Firestone Fast 6 session. We have a lot of work to do tonight to get there but there won’t be a lack of effort. What makes it disappointing to have a frustrating day like this is that we really want to do well in front of what we consider to be our home crowd. Our team is supported by Canadian sponsors, a Canadian owner in Andre Azzi and me as a Canadian driver. We wanted to overcome the disappointing result in Toronto with the no.77 Bower & Wilkins Hot Wheels car by coming out of the transporter in Edmonton really positive but this is a really competitive series and we still have to remind ourselves that this is still a process for a first year team. We’ll get there. It’s just going to take a bit of time to go with all the hard work.”

Qualifying for the Honda Indy Edmonton will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday late afternoon. The fastest six drivers following the first segment of qualifying will move on to the Firestone Fast 6 shootout session for pole position. Round 11 of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar schedule is an 95-lap, 299.659-kilometer event that will be broadcasted live this Sunday July 25 on TSN and VERSUS starting at 5:00 p.m. E.T. Live Timing and Scoring as well as video coverage of all practice sessions, qualifying, and the race are available at www.indycar.com.

Previous Winners in Edmonton

Defending Edmonton pole and race winner Will Power returns to the site of his first IZOD IndyCar Series win as the series point leader on the strength of four wins in six road/street course starts. Scott Dixon won the inaugural race in 2008 en route to the IZOD IndyCar Series title. The one former Edmonton winner under Champ Car/CART sanctioning is Justin Wilson (2006). The only driver entered who won a pole at Edmonton under Champ Car/CART sanctioning is Will Power (2007). Six drivers entered in the event will make their first starts on the Edmonton circuit; Bertrand Baguette, Simona De Silvestro, Milka Duno, Alex Lloyd, Mario Romancini and Takuma Sato

Point Standings

Team Penske driver Will Power increased its lead atop the leader board with 377 points following his win at Toronto, while Dario Franchitti is just 42 points back in second place. Scott Dixon is third with 299, seven more points than Ryan Briscoe. Tagliani is currently in 14th place in the overall standings with 182 points.

Weekend Schedule July 24-25, 2010

– Saturday Morning Practice: 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. ET

– Saturday Qualifying & Firestone Fast 6: 5:30 – 6:50 p.m. ET

– Sunday Warm-Up: 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. ET

– Sunday Race: 95 laps for 299.659-km with the green flag at 5:55 p.m. ET

© RIF | FAZZT