A six-week layoff since a frustrating weekend in Houston gave the Red Bull Team Forsythe Atlantic squad a chance to regroup in advance of this weekend’s return to Portland International Raceway where the team saw its last victory in 2006. With young rookie drivers Robert Wickens and John Edwards behind the wheels of their Red Bull / INDECK Atlantic cars, the team enjoyed improved results as Wickens took fifth spot on the grid for Saturday’s Race 1 of this doubleheader weekend. Edwards, suffering from a mysterious grip problem despite a setup similar to Wickens, found himself 7/10ths of a second behind his teammate and will start 18th on the 28-car grid.
Robert Wickens
#3 Red Bull / INDECK
Mazda-Cosworth/Cooper/Swift
Qualified Fifth
1m06.946s / 105.613mph / 169.963kph
“I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but it was good to find some speed. We’re headed in the right direction. I was able to find some space on track and got a quick time on my final lap. I was a bit lucky since I just barely missed getting the checkered flag as I started my last lap and it turned out to be the one I needed! We were struggling a bit with front grip and it seemed like we haven’t quite optimized our gear ratios yet but I’m looking forward to the race. Before that we have another Qualifying session for the second race of the weekend so right now we’re focused on improving our qualifying setup. Two tenths would have put us on the front row so we’re in the ballpark. ”
John Edwards
#7 Red Bull / INDECK
Mazda-Cosworth/Cooper/Swift
Qualified 18th
1m07.634s / 104.539mph / 168.235kph
“That was the most frustrating session of my life! The balance was spot-on but we just seem to have an overall lack of grip for some reason. It’s one of those times where you’re really glad you have a teammate so we can look at the data and see why the cars are behaving differently even though we have basically the same setup. The only bright spot is that Robbie found some speed so that’s a big improvement over Houston where we both struggled the whole weekend. I’m confident that the guys will figure out what’s missing and we’ll get a better grid position for the second race on Sunday. ”
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