BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 4, 2011 – KV Racing Technology – Lotus driver Tony Kanaan overcame an horrendous crash in the morning warm-up and long odds to finish third today in the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix on the 2.04-mile, 13-turn downtown temporary street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland.

Kanaan, No. 82 GEICO – KV Racing Technology – Lotus, had a horrendous accident in the morning warm-up when his brakes failed.  The damage was so extensive that the entire KVRT – Lotus team including Kanaan himself, team co-owner Jimmy Vasser and General Manager Mark Johnson all worked alongside crew members of all three KVRT – Lotus cars for over four hours repairing the car and getting it to the grid on time.  However, the team decided to switch tubs (the area where the driver sits), so Kanaan, per IndyCar rules, gridded 27th instead of 11th where he initially qualified.  Kanaan drove intelligently during the early stages of the race and the team decided to use an alternative fuel strategy bringing him in for fuel on lap 12.  Even with the early stop Kanaan still managed to make progress through the field and was running in 19th place when he pitted for fuel for the second time shortly after the first caution.  His big break came following the restart which resulted in a massive crash in the hairpin.  Kanaan avoided the carnage and when the dust settled and the field had been “reorganized” by series officials, he found himself in 11th place.  At that point the team made the crucial decision to come in for  a final splash of fuel and the stage was set.  Kanaan immediately passed three cars to move into eighth place and when the lead cars, who were on a two stop strategy began to pit starting around lap 60 he found himself in third place.  Saving fuel and defending his position, Kanaan made it the final 30 plus laps to finish on the podium.

Commenting on his day an exhausted Kanaan said, “Wow, what a day.  We had a problem in the morning warm-up that caused a huge crash and destroyed my primary car.  My guys really worked hard to get the backup car together.   I mean, everyone from the team was helping to get the car ready for the race.  Then we start 27th on a road course and finish third… What can I say? I’m as happy as I can be with this podium. Finishing third was a victory for us.  It was a great performance from the whole GEICO-KVRT-Lotus team at GEICO’s hometown.   It was awesome, great calls from my guys in the pits, huge support from my team, Kevin Kalkohven, Jimmy (Vasser) and Mark (Johnson) and a hard race where we fought for every inch and used every opportunity we had.”

Kanaan scored 35 points today and moved back into the top-five, at No. 5 in the championship race with 340 points.  The 36-year-old Brazilian has finished in the top-10 nine times including seven top-five showings and three podiums (second at Iowa and third at St. Petersburg to go with today’s third).  Kanaan has finished in the top-10 in six of the nine street/road races contesting this year including four top-five finishes and two podiums (St. Petersburg and Baltimore, third;  Edmonton, fourth; Mid-Ohio, fifth also placed sixth at Barber and eighth at Long Beach).