HVM AND MINARDI DRIVERS COMPLETE FINAL CHAMP CAR RACE AT LONG BEACH

Long Beach, CA (April 21, 2008) – The 34th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is complete, and with it, the Champ Car World Series passes into the history books. HVM and Minardi drivers EJ Viso, Nelson Philippe and Roberto Moreno were all plagued by misfortune at various stages of the race. EJ finished 9th, Nelson 15th and Roberto did not complete the race, but was classified 17th at the checkered flag.

EJ started the race from 14th position and had a tough battle to improve the five places to his eventual finishing position of 9th. He was working on saving fuel while maintaining a competitive pace, when unfortunately, on lap 31, while making his way through slower traffic, he encountered Nelson, who was preparing to enter the pits. The two cars came together, with EJ’s suffering only minor damage, and he was able to continue without any issues. His race was fairly smooth after that, with the exception of a stall in the pits, and he steadily improved his lap times, eventually turning the third fastest lap of the race on lap 78. He also earned valuable points in the IndyCar Series Championship, where he is now ranked 12th overall and 5th in the Bombardier LearJet Rookie of the Year standings.

Nelson started 7th, and was running a good race, but unfortunately, when he and EJ came together, Nelson's car stalled on the track and he went a lap down to the leaders. Ultimately, he wasn't able to recover from the lost time and thereafter drove his own race, determined to see it to the end. As the steering wheel of the damaged DP01 became heavier and heavier in the closing laps of the race, Team Manager, Vince Kremer, simply said over the radio, “Class In, Class Out, Class Act. Bring it home,” and that he did.

Roberto Moreno was driving an impressive race until his DP01 once again suffered a mechanical problem , which caused the car to lose drive and forced the popular Brazilian to retire. He had led at one point and was making steady progress, but his day sadly ended prematurely, on lap 46. As always, the veteran maintained a positive attitude and, despite the disappointment, was pleased to be a part of Champ Car’s historic last race.

EJ Viso:
“Well, we finished 9th, and this is what happens when you qualify at the back. That is why qualifying is very important. Other than that, I am very happy with the behavior of the car. During the middle of the race, when I had the red (Bridgestone “Option”) tires on, my car was slower. Then we put on the black tires and I was flying - nobody was quicker on the track at that point. In one of the pit stops, I had a problem coming in and stalled the car, which didn’t help me either. I feel bad that while in slower traffic I came up on Nelson (Philippe), we just clipped each other and he spun. I do feel bad, as he’s my team mate.”

Nelson Philippe:
“Today is not a day reflective of my Champ Car career, as it was pretty disappointing. The car’s steering was too heavy and I have big blisters on my hands. The first stint was okay, although I had the red (Bridgestone “Option”) tires on and they went off too early, so that didn’t help us. Right before we were supposed to pit, Viso took me out and pretty much ruined my day. It’s too bad, because the number one rule in racing is ‘don’t take out your team mate’. After that, it was quite hard running the race by myself a lap down. In the back of my mind, I was a bit angry. I did the best I could, though, and at the end of the race, I tried to do two laps to see how quick I could go, and got the 8th fastest lap. Again, thank you to Keith for trusting me and I hope we can do this again. Thanks also to all the Champ Car fans who came out in support of us today.”

Roberto Moreno:
“Overall, we had a great weekend, because coming here without driving for a few years was tough, but I think I caught up very quickly. The team helped me to do that. They put a car together for me very quickly. There have been some good sides and bad sides to the weekend, however. On the positive side, it was very good to be back racing and to see how quick I could get up to speed. On the bad side, I can see that all that is missing is the opportunity. I am chasing the opportunity to drive, and my next goal is to try and do (the) Indy (500).

Keith Wiggins, Team Owner:
“Well, we went from having two extremely fast race cars to the two of them having a coming together, which dictated the outcome of the race. It’s pretty disappointing to end up where we did. Roberto was also having a good race until he had a mechanical issue. Overall, it wasn’t a good day, but as always, we’ll just move on.”

HVM is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In its 7 years of competition in the Champ Car World Series, the team has earned 6 wins, 2 pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums since 2001 when Keith Wiggins took over Bettenhausen Motorsports. They finished 4th and 3rd, respectively, in Championship standings in 2006 and 2007 and drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos were named Rookie of the Year in 2002 and 2007, respectively.

Ends

Further information about Minardi Team USA is available at www.minarditeamusa.com; the Champ Car World Series, at www.champcarworldseries.com

Media contact

Aislinn Miller
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email: amiller@minarditeamusa.com

Graham Jones
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e-mail: Graham.Jones@MinardiTeamUSA.com