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[/media-credit]FORT WORTH, Texas (June 9, 2012) – Tonight’s IZOD IndyCar Series Firestone550 at Texas Motor Speedway was Katherine Legge’s chance to get back in her No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet after having to sit out last weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. She and her Dragon Racing teammate, Sebastien Bourdais, are forced to split their upcoming races until a second Chevrolet engine lease becomes available to the team.
“I was just excited to get back on the track in my TrueCar machine and get more laps behind me,” said Legge. “It was very tough to experience Belle Isle last weekend as a spectator and not as a competitor, so I’m just happy to have been racing again this weekend. A lack of testing has been our story all year, and this weekend was no different since all the other teams had tested here and I had to do my rookie oval test before we could start the first practice.”
The UK native was allowed to take the track before her fellow drivers yesterday to complete her rookie test. Nine minutes later she was cleared by INDYCAR president of competition Beaux Barfield to compete on all ovals. That was the extent of her Texas testing program before taking on the 1.5-mile 24-degree banked oval at Texas Motor Speedway for practice and qualifying. The TrueCar Racing driver and her Dragon Racing team managed to get in 51 laps of practice before her qualifying run. Legge went on to qualify 22nd in the field, with a two-lap average of 210.543 mile per hour.
Starting near the rear of the field would yield a surprise for Legge as she was struck by debris on her helmet visor while taking the green flag. Undeterred by the blurred visor, the rookie settled into race mode until the restart on lap 40 after a single car incident involving Charlie Kimball. Underway, Legge reported that the weight jacker system would not reset, taking away her ability to adjust the balance of the car during each stint. This left her with an ill-handling racecar for the remainder of the race.
“That was one of the most difficult races I’ve ever done,” said Legge of her first race at Texas Motor Speedway. “With the weight jacker broken, I had no way of adjusting the car to control understeer. We had also made some big changes to the car overnight, but we made some big gains. We were very shy on front wing at the start of the race, so we kept adding it during pit stops. I feel like we could have been competitive near the end of the race if we had the tools inside the cockpit that I could have used to adjust the car. In the end, it was a learning experience.”
Persevering, Legge ran a clean race and her team executed pit strategies that allowed her to advance seven positions during the race. The TrueCar Racing driver ultimately finished 15th and she now heads to Milwaukee, where she led laps in the Champ Car World Series in 2006.
The Milwaukee IndyFest is June 16 and will be aired live on ABC at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
About Katherine Legge:
Birthdate: July 12, 1980
Hometown: Guildford, England
Residence: Indianapolis
Marital Status: Engaged
Website: www.katherinelegge.com
Twitter: @katherinelegge (personal) and @KatOnTrack (for on-track updates)
Facebook: katherineracing
Career Highlights
Named to drive for TrueCar-Dragon Racing in 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season … Competed in European-based DTM touring car series as factory Audi driver from 2008-10, driving for Futurecom TME, Abt Lady Power and Team Rosberg … Drove in Rolex 24 at Daytona for Robinson Racing in 2007 … Competed in Champ Car World Series in 2006-07 for PKV Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, becoming first female to lead Champ Car race … Recorded five top-10 finishes in Champ Car in 2006 … First woman to win major open-wheel race in North America, with three victories in Toyota Atlantic in 2005. Finished third in series … Earned Formula One test with Minardi in 2005 … Drove for A1 Team GB in A1 Grand Prix, tested Champ Car in 2005 … Raced limited schedule in British and North American Formula Renault championships and Can-Am championship in 2004 … Competed in limited British Formula 3 schedule in 2003 … Competed in British Formula Renault in 2001-02, wininng pole in 2002 at Oulton Park with track-record lap … Earned British Racing Drivers’ Club “Rising Stars” honor in 2002 … Became first woman to win pole in British Formula Ford Zetec championship in 2000 … Competed in karting from 1990-99.
About TrueCar, Inc.
TrueCar, Inc. is an online automotive information and communications platform focused on creating a better car buying experience for dealers and consumers. Consumers want a hassle-free car buying experience anddealers want high-quality sales velocity. TrueCar helps achieve these goals by providing unbiased market information on new car transactions and by supplying an online communications platform through which dealersand consumers can communicate with each other. TrueCar’s market-based information provides both consumers and dealers with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of what others actually paid recently for similar vehicles, both locally and nationally. TrueCar’s communications platform then allows informed, ready-to-buy consumers to communicate directly with participating dealers. Some of the nation’s largest and most well respected membership and service organizations rely on websites powered by TrueCar to help educate their members and customers who are in the automotive market. TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, and has offices in San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX. After experiencing dramatic growth since 2006, TrueCar is developing a suite of products and services centered on radical clarity through the comprehensive analysis of market data and information. TrueCar’s participating dealer partners have sold over 500,000 new vehicles to TrueCar users nationwide.
You can follow TrueCar on Twitter and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook.
About Dragon Racing
Dragon Racing is an IndyCar Series team owned by Jay Penske, the Chairman and CEO of Penske Media Corporation (PMC). Dragon Racing began under the original banner of Luczo Dragon Racing founded by both Penske and Steve Luczo, the Chairman and CEO of Seagate Technologies. The team debuted in 2007 at the Indianapolis 500 with driver Ryan Briscoe and finished fifth. In 2009, during the team’s first complete season, it won Rookie of the Year honors with driver Raphael Matos. Dragon Racing has two entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2012: Katherine Legge, the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America, and four-time Champ Car Series champion Sebastien Bourdais. Dragon Racing has operations in Indianapolis, Indiana and Los Angeles, California. For more information on Dragon Racing or its drivers please contact press@dragonracing.com.
I was just excited to get back on the track in my TrueCar machine and get more laps behind me,” said Legge.
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