KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Pollock from the remnants of the PacWest team.[1]

United States KV Racing Technology
Founded2003
Founder(s)Kevin Kalkhoven
Jimmy Vasser
Folded2017
BaseIndianapolis, Indiana, USA
Team principal(s)Kevin Kalkhoven
Jimmy Vasser
James Sullivan
Former seriesChamp Car World Series, IndyCar Series
Teams'
Championships
0
Drivers'
Championships
0
KV Racing's No. 5 car at the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The team has also sponsored drivers in the Atlantic Championship.

Champ Car

edit

In its first season, the team fielded one car and employed several drivers including Patrick Lemarié, Bryan Herta, Max Papis and Mika Salo, the latter of which scored the team's best result of third late in the season.

For 2004, the team was significantly revamped. It was renamed to PKV Racing, as businessman Dan Pettit and veteran driver Jimmy Vasser replaced Pollock as co-owners. The team also expanded to field two cars for Vasser and rookie Roberto González. Vasser scored the team's best finish and second podium with a second place at Toronto, but the season was otherwise lackluster. In 2005, PKV replaced Gonzalez with former series champion Cristiano da Matta, who took the team's first win at Portland. Da Matta finished 11th in the championship, while Vasser scored two third-place finishes and was sixth overall.

For 2006, the team fielded full season entries for veteran Oriol Servià and rookie Katherine Legge. Vasser retired from racing after driving a third car at Long Beach. Servià scored a third place at Cleveland and finished 11th in the championship, while Legge struggled and finished 16th overall. The team's 2007 driver lineup was Neel Jani and Tristan Gommendy. Mario Domínguez subbed for Gommendy at Edmonton, and Servià replaced Gommendy for the final two races due to sponsorship issues. The team's best results were Jani's pair of second places finishes at Toronto and San Jose.

IndyCar

edit
 
Takuma Sato at the 2011 Indy Japan: The Final.

The team switched to the IndyCar Series following the unification of American open wheel racing in 2008. Dan Pettit ceased his ownership role in the team and the team changed its name to KV Racing Technology. Australian businessmen Craig Gore and John Fish brought their Team Australia branding from Walker Racing along with driver Will Power to partner Servià.

Power won the Champ Car finale, the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach a race which also counted towards the IndyCar Series championship. Vasser also competed in the race in what was his true final race. In the 2008 Indianapolis 500, the first for the team and both drivers, Power qualified 23rd and finished 13th, while Servià qualified 25th and finished 11th.

 
Bryan Clauson's damaged No. 88 Jonathan Byrd's Racing car, run in conjunction with KV Racing Technology. returning to the garage at the 2015 Indianapolis 500.

In 2009, the team ran a full-time program for Brazilian Mario Moraes. Paul Tracy also made five starts for the team: Indy 500, Watkins Glen, Edmonton, Toronto, and Mid-Ohio. Townsend Bell drove a third car for the team at the Indy 500. In 2010 the team ran full-time programs for Takuma Sato, E. J. Viso, and Mario Moraes, plus a part-time program for Paul Tracy. James Rossiter tested for the team at Barber. For 2011, Sato and Viso returned to the team, as well as gaining technical support from Lotus Cars, re-branding the team as KV Racing Technology – Lotus, or KVRT-Lotus. The team added Tony Kanaan in a third car, the #82, as a tribute to the late Formula One and Indy 500 champion Jim Clark.[2]

In the 2011 Indianapolis 500, Sato and Viso were the first two cars retired from the race due to separate accidents.

For 2012, Sato would leave KV for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, replaced by former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barichello. The team also announced that it would be partnering with Chevrolet. Although he was winless, Kanaan would finish 9th that season with a best finish of 2nd at Milwaukee. Both Viso and Barichello would struggle that year for results, with both drivers leaving the team at the end of the year.[3]

On 30 October 2012, HVM Racing's Simona de Silvestro joined KV for the 2013 IndyCar Series season.[4]

Kanaan's win in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 was the first for KV, while de Silvestro scored her first podium at Houston. Kanaan departed KV to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2014 IndyCar Series season, while de Silvestro also departed the team at season's end.[5] They were replaced by Dragon Racing teammates Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastián Saavedra for 2014.

The team had moderate success in 2014, with Saavedra claiming his first pole at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Bourdais taking his first IndyCar win at Honda Indy Toronto. Though Bourdais finished 10th in standings, a lack of results saw Saavedra's release from the team. His replacement for 2015 would be former GP2 driver Stefano Coletti. Coletti would struggle heavily adapting to IndyCar, with a best finish of 8th at the 2015 Grand Prix of Indianapolis.[6] Bourdais would take his second win at the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. KV would release Coletti at the end of the season, reducing to only Bourdais' No. 11 for the 2016 season. The team would take its second consecutive win in Detroit.

Despite the win, funding for the team was in doubt as Kalkhoven wished to sell the team's equipment. In response, Bourdais departed KVSH for Dale Coyne Racing. Without proper funding, Kalkhoven and Vasser attempted to sell the team to Indy Lights owner Trevor Carlin, but the deal fell through. On 16 February 2017, Vasser and Kalkhoven released statements confirming the end of KV Racing Technology, and the sale of equipment and technical data to Juncos Racing.

In February 2018, former KVSH co-owners Jimmy Vasser and James "Sulli" Sullivan formed a partnership with Dale Coyne to field Sébastien Bourdais for the 2018 IndyCar Series as Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan.[7]

Drivers

edit

Racing results

edit

Complete Champ Car World Series results

edit

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pts Pos Pts
PK Racing
2003 STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LAG POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN MIA MEX SFR
Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t B   Patrick Lemarié 27 10 10 13 11 19 18 21st 8
  Bryan Herta 11 25th 2
  Max Papis 15 12 16 9 4 9 9 17th 25
  Mika Salo 14 3 5 11 16th 26
PKV Racing
2004 LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LSV SFR MXC
Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t B   Jimmy Vasser 12 16 12 4 8 5 2 10 8 17 8 17 5 12 5 8th 201
  Roberto González 21 14 9 12 10 7 13 13 16 12 10 14 10 11 12 15th 136
2005 LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL LSV SRF MXC
Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t B   Jimmy Vasser 12 9 14 5 6 6 4 11 11 15 7 3 3 6 6th 217
  Cristiano da Matta 21 10 6 11 1* 16 17 17 10 18 6 12 19 14 11th 139
  Jorge Goeters 52 18 29th 3
2006 LBH HOU MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL ROA SRF MXC
Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t B   Oriol Servià 6 18 12 8 5 10 3 12 4 8 15 16 4 13 6 11th 197
  Jimmy Vasser 12 14 24th 7
  Katherine Legge 20 8 14 14 6 13 8 14 13 12 9 13 16 15 16 16th 133
2007 LSV LBH HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SJO ROA ZOL ASN SFR MXC
Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8t B   Neel Jani 21 10 7 15 12 3 6 2 9 2 10 8 5 8 9 9th 231
  Tristan Gommendy 22 5 11 13 7 13 12 15 8 7 16 4 12th 140
  Mario Domínguez 17 18th 78
  Oriol Servià 14 3 6th 237

Complete IndyCar Series results

edit

(key)

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pts Pos Pts
2008 HMS STP MOT LBH1 KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF2
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Oriol Servià 5 12 7 11 11 6 26 16 5 23 16 5 5 12 15 4 17 5 9th 358
Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8t B 5
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Will Power 8 25 8 27 13 14 13 9 25 15 11 4 22 26 25 8 5 22 12th 331
Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8t B 1*
  Jimmy Vasser 12 10 NC
2009 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT HMS
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Mario Moraes 5 21 19 11 33 9 10 17 16 14 11 23 18 4 3 5 7 14th 304
  Paul Tracy 7 23rd 113
15 9 20 19 6
  Townsend Bell 8 4 32nd 32
2010 SAO STP ALA LBH KAN INDY TXS IOW WGL TOR EDM MDO SNM CHI KTY MOT HMS
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Takuma Sato 5 22 22 25 18 24 20 25 19 15 25 9 25 18 26 27 12 18 21st 214
  E. J. Viso 8 12 17 16 15 27 25 11 3 11 19 8 26 19 27 26 15 19 17th 262
  Paul Tracy 15 DNQ 13 6 27th 91
  Mario Moraes 32 24 21 13 6 7 31 21 25 5 14 7 12 11 17 18 24 27 15th 287
2011 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO NHA SNM BAL MOT KTY LSV
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Takuma Sato 5 5 16 21 8 33 5 12 8 19 20 21 4 7 18 18 10 15 C3 13th 297
  E. J. Viso 59 19 23 25 13 32 7 10 20 17 9 20 15 12 9 15 21 23 C3 18th 241
  Tony Kanaan 82 3 6 8 22 4 11 5 19 2 26 4 5 22 28 3 17 17 C3 5th 366
2012 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO SNM BAL FON
Dallara DW12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6t F   E. J. Viso 5 8 18 12 9 18 18 19 5 24 20 16 20 16 9 25 20th 244
  Rubens Barrichello 8 17 8 9 10 11 25 DNS 10 7 11 13 15 4 5 22 12th 289
  Tony Kanaan 11 25 21 4 13 3 6 11 2 3 4 18 6 10 20 18 9th 351
2013 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW POC TOR MDO SNM BAL HOU FON
Dallara DW12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6t F   Tony Kanaan 11 4 13 20 21 1 13 12 3 10 3 13 5 24 24 13 15 21 24 3 11th 397
  Simona de Silvestro 78 6 18 9 8 17 16 24 16 24 21 11 10 14 11 9 5 2 10 8 13th 362
2014 STP LBH ALA IMS INDY DET TXS HOU POC IOW TOR MDO MIL SNM FON
Dallara DW12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6t F   Townsend Bell 6 25 32nd 22
  Sébastien Bourdais 11 13 14 15 4 7 13 20 20 4 5 16 19 1* 9 2 12 11 18 10th 461
  Sebastián Saavedra 17 11 9 18 23 15 14 22 14 15 17 15 17 19 21 20 18 16 17 21st 291
  James Davison 33 16 29th 34
2015 STP NOL LBH ALA IMS INDY DET TXS TOR FON MIL IOW MDO POC SNM
Dallara DW12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6t F   Stefano Coletti 4 20 17 23 19 8 25 15 16 19 23 11 20 20 19 24 17 19th 203
  Sébastien Bourdais 11 6 21 6 8 4 11 14 1 14 5 14 1* 9 17 23 20 10th 406
2016 STP PHX LBH ALA IMS INDY DET ROA IOW TOR MDO POC TXS WGL SNM
Dallara DW12 Chevrolet IndyCar V6t F   Sébastien Bourdais 11 21 8 9 16 24 9 1 8 18 8 7 20 5 10 5 10 14th 404
  Stefan Wilson 25 28 34th 14
  1. ^ Run to Champ Car specifications.
  2. ^ Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
  3. ^ The final race at Las Vegas was cancelled due to Dan Wheldon's death.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Pollock launches PK Racing team". Autosport.com. Autosport International. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Sato, Viso confirmed for 2011 IndyCar season with KV Racing Technology-Lotus". PRNmag.com. Ignition & Luxury Performance Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  3. ^ Lamm, John. "Rubens Barrichello to IndyCar". Road & Track Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Simona de Silvestro to drive No. 78". ESPN. Associated Press. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. ^ "IndyCar: Ganassi Signs Kanaan, Announces Switch To Chevy". Fox Sports. Associated Press. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  6. ^ "KV Racing Technology names Stefano Coletti for 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seat". Autoweek.com. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Coyne_Racing_News_05-24-15". Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
edit

  Media related to KV Racing Technology at Wikimedia Commons