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and Greg Spotts

Oriol Servia: ...getting a chance to drive a Champcar was my dream

 

Greg Spotts spoke with Oriol Servia via carphone on his way to the airport, the day after his first experience driving a Champcar. Servia was one of four Indy Lights drivers tested by PacWest on October 4-7 at the Putnam Park road course near Indianapolis. The 25 year-old Catalonian driver will return to his Dorricott Racing Lola at Fontana for the last race of the season, hoping to protect his 14 point championship lead over teammate Casey Mears. In his two seasons of Indy Lights competition, Servia has scored three poles and finished second five times, but has yet to win a race. While behind the wheel of an Avis Monte Carlo, Servia told us about the small village in Spain that he still calls home, his first impressions of the Champcar, his engineering degree from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, and his search for a ride in the FedEx Championship Series for the year 2000.


 

Question: So Oriol, where are you right now?

    Oriol Servia: I'm leaving Indianapolis going towards the airport. I'm stuck in traffic.

Question: What's it like for a race driver to be stuck in traffic? Is it more frustrating than for the rest of us?

    Oriol Servia: I guess it's the same feeling a sushi chef has when stuck in traffic.

Question: Was yesterday the realization of a longtime dream to drive a Champcar?

    Oriol Servia: Six years ago when I started racing in cars, getting a chance to drive a Champcar was my dream. But now, it's like the first step of the dreams I have now.

Question: How did the car feel?

    Oriol Servia: It was really nice to drive. Easier than what I expected. It was the same kind of driving as an Indy Lights car in fact, but with much more power, much more grip, and more downforce. Everything happens quicker, faster, and you have to pay more attention. I was impressed by the power. And with the setup, you change the same things and the car reacts more or less the same as the Lights car.

Question: Had you ever driven at Putnam Park before?

    Oriol Servia: That was my first time. They were testing four of us, Scott Dixon and my teammates Casey Mears and Philipp Peter. Each person had a separate time on the track. I had three or four hours driving on Thursday afternoon.

Question: Apparently you had a problem with the seat being too big?

    Oriol Servia: They put me in Mark Blundell's seat, who is obviously taller than me. So we did what we could, and the first thirty laps I could hold myself in the car. But it's a fast track, with lots of g's in the fast corners, so I had to use a lot of effort to hold myself in the seat. My left arm suddenly got dead, I think there was something pinching it. Then it was too late and I could not put a good lap together anymore.

Question: You were driving a Mercedes Reynard Firestone. How was the drivability of the Mercedes?

    Oriol Servia: I haven't compared it with other Champcar engines, but it looked to me that it's quite hard to drive. It has good power, but it derives all the power suddenly. It was a little bit difficult to get used to it.

Question: Did you go off course?

    Oriol Servia: I think all of us had a spin or two without consequences. You have to find the edge, the limit. It was the fun part of this car to try to find the edge. You could go so fast in the quick corners, it was amazing, amazing. It takes a while until the car starts moving in the corner, it has so much grip. But you always arrive at the point where the car says "enough."

Question: What was the atmosphere like among the drivers, you all know each other pretty well, right?

    Oriol Servia: It was very nice. Of course we've been racing together all year. PacWest did it very well, so that when one driver was testing, no other driver could be at the track. That was good. We could see each other afterwards in the hotel, but not during the test itself.

Question: Who was the fastest? .

    Oriol Servia: They did not tell us the lap times, so I don't know. I know I was not, because I did my fastest lap the first time I went in the car. I went like three or four times more, but I could not put together as good a lap. So I'm sure if I could do more I could go faster.

Question: Is Mauricio Gugelmin coming back to PacWest, or are they definitely looking for a new driver?

    Oriol Servia: They say that it's almost certain they will continue with the same drivers, but they obviously wanted to do the test for some reason. I hope we will know soon.

Question: Now that you've finally driven the car, does it make you feel better about the next step in your career?

    Oriol Servia: Obviously when you drive it you see that it is still four wheels, an engine and a steering wheel. You are the one to try to manage it, and I feel really confident with the car my ability to drive it well.

Question: When you get into the faster Champcar, is there a sense that the potential to get injured is greater?

    Oriol Servia: Well, you obviously go faster everywhere and the walls come faster to you. But the car itself is also much safer, and the people around you are better professionals and everybody knows what they are doing, so the stupid things happen less often I would say. Always you can have an accident and always you can have a bad crash. The truth is that even if you go at 240 miles per hour and you have a car passing you at 241, you want to be at 242. You never think about the danger while driving. While you're behind the wheel you just think about winning.

Question: Are you on your way back to Spain today?

    Oriol Servia: Yes, I'm taking a flight back to Barcelona today. I live in a small village called Pals about 100 miles north of Barcelona.

Question: Were you born there?

    Oriol Servia: Yes. There are two thousand people who live in the village, which is very old and pretty. The oldest part of the town is really beautiful-it has won some awards.

Question: Do you live by yourself?

    Oriol Servia: No, I live with my parents. I've been racing two years in the United States, and five years before that in France, so I really cannot say that I live anywhere.

Question: What kind of car are you driving in Pals?

    Oriol Servia: None, I don't have one. Hertz is what I'm always going with.

Question: Are you very close with your parents?

    Oriol Servia: Yes, I have excellent relations with them. They have always supported me with my racing career, as long as my studies were continuing. Last June, I took my last mechanical engineering exam and received a bachelor degree in engineering.

Question: There aren't very many drivers that have an engineering degree. Do you think it give you an edge?

    Oriol Servia: It at least gives me a background. The truth is when you go out of the university you don't know shit. But all this time I had to study and force my brain to think a little bit was good for me.

Question: Are there any drivers in CART that you've watched on the track and have impressed you?

    Oriol Servia: I think there are lots of drivers that are really really good. Of course starting from Franchitti and Montoya, to many others. I always liked the way Michael Andretti drives. Even Scott Pruett, who is not getting many results this year, I always like him when I see him on the track driving. But also the rookies, I think they are doing an excellent job. I had the pleasure of racing against da Matta last year and I know he's really good. There are at least 12 really good drivers fighting for the pole and the win each race-that make the series so beautiful.

Question: What is the likelihood of your racing Champcars next year?

    Oriol Servia: I really don't know. I'm feeling confident. I don't mean that it's going to be easy, but I have had some conversations with some teams that are looking pretty good. At Houston I spoke with all of the teams, and they told me I am at the top of the list. We'll see if all the business things that have to come with it work out.

Question: Are you speaking to Spanish companies as possible sponsors for you?

    Oriol Servia: Yes, I'm having good conversations with some Spanish companies. They show the CART races live on Eurosport, and a lot of Spanish people follow them because there is a lot more passing than in Formula One.

Question: Would you be especially proud having success in an American race series as a Catalonian?

    Oriol Servia: Yeah, obviously. It's far from home. Sometimes you feel homesick, but you feel proud of being from where you are, and you try to prove that you can drive as well as anybody no matter what place you go. In Formula One right now we have Pedro De La Rosa and Marc Gene, they are both Catalonians but neither driver has the car to prove what they are capable of, so I will have to prove it myself here.

Question: Are you going to drive conservatively at Fontana to try to protect the championship?

    Oriol Servia: Oh at Fontana, there is no really conservative way to drive. You're going to be hanging around for 55 minutes during the race, and the last two laps is when everything's going to be decided. My spotter and I will have to keep and eye on Casey. In Lights it's very easy to run flat all around the track at Fontana and Michigan, so we're going to end up bunched together in the final laps. It's going to be an exciting race to finalize the championship.