St. Pete: HVM Racing qualifying report

For Junior Strous, who is making his 2010 Firestone Indy Lights debut at this weekend's Honda Grand Prix at St. Petersburg, the day was about patience and perseverance. The former winner of two of the race events here last year, the young Dutch racer was going to have to overcome the challenges of no preseason testing and a lengthy absence from Indy Lights competition. Despite the mounting challenges Strous, along with his HVM Racing crew were ready to overcome the circumstances.

For the day's qualifying session, Strous and his # 6 Shell/Car Channel entry arrived at the 1.8 mile, 14-turn track on Saturday. Once the car was on track the youngster muscled his car around the circuit. He was hampered throughout the session with brake problems. The crew worked diligently throughout the 1 hour qualifying session on trying to improve the car. Despite the struggles Strous had managed to excel to the 4th position on the timesheet. But as the times continued to drop Strous was relegated to the 11th spot on the grid with a best time of 01:07.6581, after completing a total of 30 laps

Junior Strous, Driver- "It was a tough day but the crew and I are new to each other and it will take some time to gel, but I am excited about starting off the season here in St.Petersburg and can't wait for the race tomorrow."

Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing Team Principal - "It was the first race and the first time the car had ran, so it was not ideal for the team or Junior. However, we made some progress as a group and we are looking for a solid race tomorrow. We will work hard from there going forward."

-source: hvm racing