BHA Drivers Wilson, Saavedra Return to Racing Action in Iowa

BHA Drivers Wilson, Saavedra Return to Racing Action in Iowa

Topics: Sebastian Saavedra, Stefan Wilson, AvoidTheStork.com 100

BHA Drivers Wilson, Saavedra Return to Racing Action in Iowa

Andrew Herta
Bryan Herta Autosport
June 17, 2010

Following a three-week break in the schedule, the Firestone Indy Lights Series heads to Iowa Speedway for Round Five of competition this Saturday night – the AvoidTheStork.com 100. Located in Newton, just over 30 miles east of Des Moines, the .875-mile oval is the shortest track on the 2010 calendar.

Stefan Wilson will be preparing for his second oval race following an impressive debut in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month. The British talent picked up six positions to finish seventh and attained his goal of completing his first oval event.

Teammate Sebastian Saavedra returns to Iowa Speedway with unfinished business. Saavedra qualified third for last year’s race but lost several laps at the start with a mechanical issue. He had to settle for a 15th-place finish despite setting the fastest lap of the race.

Nine races remain on the schedule entering this weekend and championship points are crucial. Saavedra is currently fifth in the standings with Wilson trailing by only five points in sixth.

Of Note:

Wilson will be making his 11th Indy Lights start, but only his second on an oval
Wilson claimed his Indy Lights career-best finish of third at St. Petersburg this year
Saavedra will be making his 20th Indy Lights start
Saavedra garnered his best finish this season of third at Barber Motorsport Park, his eighth Indy Lights podium
Saavedra is a two-time winner in Indy Lights competition with victories at Kansas and Toronto last year

Stefan Wilson, #28 Dallara/Firestone: “This race is going to be completely different to my first oval race. It is a short track oval with steep banking compared to Indy which is two-and-a-half miles with very little banking. It is still going to be a big learning curve and, hopefully, we will roll out of the transporter with a good car and that will help things a lot. Again, it will be another learning curve and the main goal is to learn as much as possible and take home some good points.”

On the championship: “I’m sixth in the championship. We are only 55 points down on the championship lead and there are a lot of races to go. After the DNF we had at Long Beach, we just need to keep our noses clean and keep finishing all the races to try to make that points gap up.”

Sebastian Saavedra, #29 William Rast Dallara/Firestone: “Last year, I think we had everything to win the race at Iowa. Unfortunately, we had a mechanical problem and I had to come in and I lost a lot of laps. It was a shame because we had a car to win. I was feeling very fast. So this year I come with a lot of momentum and want to do a good job around this place because I like it a lot. There is a huge difference coming from a track like Indy to Iowa. With the amount of banking, the way the car handles changes a lot. It is going to be fun for sure.”

On the championship: “It has been quite an interesting start to the season and there is still a long way to go. We are still very positive on getting back into the championship battle. We will continue working and doing everything we can to improve in every way like our test at Mid-Ohio last week. It was a great test and one that we needed to try a few last things that we wanted. Stefan and I have been working well together to do a good job and we showed, with two different setups, that we were very competitive. This is going to be a fun part of the season.”