Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Champ Car World Series, GP2 Championship, EJ Viso, Rick Mears, Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia
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LAT Archive
In at the deep end... EJ Viso got
his first real taste of oval racing at
the Homestead season opener
Running in a pack at Indy with cars
all around and masses of turbulence,
it helps to know what you’re doing
Dan Boyd/LAT
TURNING LEFT FOR BEGINNERS
RE-LEARNING
THE OVALS
Some newbies have a little
oval experience to draw on
For many of the drivers in the
2008 IndyCar Series – those
classified as rookies who are
anything but, just new to the
series – it’s been a while since
they’ve raced on an oval. While
some may have oval racing
experience, Homestead was
the first time some had seen
a superspeedway.
Justin Wilson’s experience
on ovals is limited to the
Milwaukee Mile and one start
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
in Champ Cars. But, he says, “It
all comes flooding back from
when you last did an oval. You
just go out there; and you
know what you’ve got to do.
I’m still getting used to it. I feel
like I’ve learned a lot, but I
need to learn a lot more.”
At Homestead, Oriol Servia
was the top finisher among the
drivers transitioning from
Champ Car. But he’s no slouch
on ovals, with seven top-five
finishes in Champ Cars,
including a second at Las
Vegas. He says it comes back
quickly, but there are some
things to get used to again.
“I refreshed my memory a
lot on what happens when you
have five cars in front of you on
a superspeedway and you have
no grip and no downforce…
those kinds of scary feelings,”
he laughs. “I think we’ll be
having plenty of those feelings
this season! It was good fun,
and I can only imagine when
we’re up to speed how much
fun it’s going to be.”
2008 INDY500 PREVIEW 25
Michael Levitt/LAT
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