Moraes to KVRT for 2009

Last spring Mario Moraes was a teenager from Brazil that almost nobody in the IndyCar world had ever heard of until he was announced as a driver for Dale Coyne Racing. The steep learning curve that he faced in the early going resulted in alot of less-than-impressive race day results - and a few on-track incidents - which seemed to signal that his time in the series would be brief.

Unfazed, Mario kept at it and, by the back half of the season, began to look more like a disciplined and determined potential emerging young talent: He even managed to notch 3 top ten finishes.

His efforts last year appear now to have reaped ample rewards for the young man from Sao Paulo as he heads into the 2009 season. Mario has secured sponsorship backing from the Brazilian industrial conglomerate Votorantim and, with it, a contract to fill the seat recently vacated by Will Power at KV Racing Technology.

Although KVRT didn't find victory lane in '08, they were the best of former CCWS squads in terms of season-long results consistancy, and Moraes is looking forward to this chance.  "This opportunity to become a member of KV Racing is good for me because it's the best opportunity to develop as a driver."

"Mario is young and extremely talented," team co-owner Jimmy Vasser said. "He impressed us with his performances on both ovals and road/street circuits last year. We look forward to watching him grow and are confident he will be very competitive during the 2009 season."

As to who will fill the seat in KVRT's second car, Vasser said that the competition is down to last year's occupant, Oriol Servia, and Paul Tracy,  the big-name CCWS star who got shut out (except for a one-off at Edmonton) of the AWOR unification last year. The winner will be whoever gets their sponsorship package in order first.