MILKA DUNO FINISHES WELL IN DEBUT INDYCAR RACE
Duno
Advances Seven Positions, Finishes Fourteenth in First
IndyCar Race
CITY, KS. (April
29, 2007) - CITGO Racing's Milka Duno, who
just passed her official "Rookie Test" for the 2007 IndyCar Series
just
this past Thursday, started her debut race at the back of the pack
and
advanced seven positions through the field to finish 14th in today's
Kansas
Lottery Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.
In her first race of her ten-race rookie season and in only her fourth
day
behind the wheel of her #23 CITGO Racing Dallara Honda, Duno worked
through
some serious understeer at the start of the 200-lap race to ultimately
lap
the circuit at speeds in the 213mph range and achieve average lap times
as
high as 209mph.
During the first caution of the five-caution race, the crew added some
front
wing which helped correct the understeer - but not totally. During
the
second caution they added some more. By the third caution - and with
a final
adjustment to the wing - the team had the problem completely corrected
and
Duno was then able to power forward much more quickly.
"The car was handling crazy with so much understeer right from the
very
start of the race, said Duno. "It was very hard to drive and I just
wanted
to stay safe and be able to get the car to the pits for the first caution.
The crew went right to work and added some front wing and it helped
a little
- but we still needed more. More was added on the second yellow flag
pit
stop and it improved again and with one last adjustment on our third
stop it
finally felt really good. My lap times really improved from that moment
forward and I felt then that I had a pretty good car. The charts will
show
just how dramatic a change it made and my lap speeds and average laps
speeds
were really getting better and better - and not too far off the mark
from
the top contenders."
"For a new team and a new driver I think this shows that our communication
is really good and I was able to relay how the car was behaving and
the team
was able to translate that to into a solution that worked," added Duno.
"This is very important and a very good sign for us. We're working
very well
together as a team and I'm sure it will only get better from here on.
Today's race has shown us that we have an ability to quickly identify
a
problem, create a solution - and then fix it. We've now got our first
race
behind us with a respectful finish so alot of that "first race" pressure
has
been reduced. The team has worked very, very hard during a very concentrated
period of time with a lot of pressure and scrutiny - and as a result
we have
passed our rookie test, first set of practices, first qualifying and
first
race. Thanks to the entire team for an outstanding job well done -
and for
making our "firsts" successful for CITGO Racing."
"Milka did a really good job. We gave her a car that had a considerable
amount of understeer and she did a great job of just getting the car
to the
first pit stop safely, said team owner Peter Baron. "We made a little
over a
degree of wing change which helped her a little bit and brought up
her speed
a little bit and then on the next pit stop we added another degree
and a
half of front wing to increase the front downforce. After that the
car
started working well and her confidence in the car came in and the
car
started working well in traffic. Going into the race was really the
first
time we had the car in any real amount of traffic. Group practice sessions
have additional cars in them - but still fall short of actual race
traffic
conditions. You can be around and get around some cars - but a whole
group
of cars in the heat we had today - it was our very first opportunity
to do
that. The heat and the air from a group of cars really affects the
downforce
pressure on the car and took a lot of our front grip away. Milka did
a great
job of quickly identifying and relaying the problem and the crew did
a good
job correcting it. Once the problem was solved Milka really got into
it and
turned some great laps for the rest of the race."
By the team's next race at Indy, the #23 CITGO Racing Dallara Honda
will
receive some aerodynamic updates that had not arrived in time for the
Kansas
race. These updates will reduce drag - which should serve to increase
the
car's top speed and average lap times.
CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, marketer and transporter of
transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt
and
other industrial products. The company has been a major sponsor of
American
racing for 21 years in such series as NASCAR, Grand-Am Racing and now
the
IndyCar Series. CITGO is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly
owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national
oil company
of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information on CITGO
visit
www.citgo.com.
For additional information on Milka please visit www.milkaduno.com.
For more
information on the IndyCar Series please log on to www.indycar.com.
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