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Alex Tagliani didn’t forget Bruno Junqueira’s gracious act at 2009 Indianapolis 500, and the Brazilian driver will compete this May in a second FAZZT Race Team car in the famous Indy 500 race.
During 2009 Indy 500, veteran driver Bruno Junqueira had qualified his Conquest Racing car on Bump Day in the 30th position, bu he decided to step out of the entry in place of his ex-team mate Alex Tagliani, who had failed to make the field because of a crash in qualifications. Finally, Tagliani finished 11th, earning Chase Rookie of the Year honors. Tagliani quoted:
"Last year, with Bruno as the second driver in the team I was at, he let his spot in the field go after I had a mishap in qualifying. And it turned out, I had a pretty good race at the Indy 500 so it is nice way to say thank you to Bruno for what he did for me last year."
Junqueira used to compete in Champcars series for almost a decade driving in his rookie season for Target Chip Ganassi's Team and he was Sebastien Bourdais -4 times Champcar Champion- main competitor during mid 00s. However, as other ex top champcars drivers like Paul Tracy or Oriol Servia, he was left without any competitive racing seat after the merge of America's open-wheel racing series in 2008.
"I am thrilled with the opportunity to compete for the FAZZT Race Team at the Indianapolis 500. The team will give me the resources and support to compete in a car that has the capabilities of winning at the Indianapolis 500. To win at Indianapolis has always been a dream of mine. I've had some very competitive opportunities at Indianapolis and in each year I've led laps and scored two top-five finishes at the Speedway. I hope that in 2010 I am able to complete my dream of a win at Indianapolis since I have been so close in the past.”
Jim Freudenberg co-owner of FAZZT team along with alex Tagliani, Andre Azzi and Jason Priestley quoted:
"When we formed the FAZZT Race Team, we had a few goals in mind. One of those goals was that if we had the opportunity to field a second entry at Indianapolis that we wanted to put Bruno in that car. Because we have enough sponsorship to run a second car at Indianapolis, we felt it important to give that chance to Bruno. Bruno is an extremely talented driver and is the perfect complement to our current program. We are also excited that Bruno will be piloting the No. 33 car at Indianapolis as that is the car number he drove to the pole position in 2002, and we are hoping that number will serve him well again in 2010."
Opening Day at the Speedway is May 15.
