Sunday, May 1, 2011

INDYCAR: Rain forces postponement in Sao Paulo

SAO PAULO - Heavy rain showers forced the postponement of the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle, scheduled for Sunday, May 1, until 8 a.m. (ET) Monday, May 2.

The IZOD IndyCar Series race will be televised live on VERSUS at 8 a.m. (ET). It will resume at the point of Sunday's postponement on Lap 15 with approximately 1 hour, 19 minutes remaining in the two-hour race time limit.

"It's disappointing to have to postpone any event, but especially one that we anticipated to be such a great event," said Brian Barnhart, president of competition and racing operations for INDYCAR, sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series. "The city of Sao Paulo did an outstanding job on improving a circuit that produced 96 passes for position a year ago and had a lot of on-track action, but ultimately, it came down to a visibility issue and safety for our competitors is a priority.

"We thank the city and state of Sao Paulo and the event promoter and track workers for their efforts to dry the track. Hopefully, the great racing fans in Brazil who came today will come back tomorrow and fill the grandstands for the great event they came to see."

Pole sitter Will Power led the first 10 laps on the 11-turn, 2.6-mile circuit before it was red-flagged for 2 hours, 23 minutes the due to treacherous conditions that limited visibility. After a brief attempt to resume the race, it was stopped for a second time at 4:25 p.m. local time.

This is the first IZOD IndyCar Series to be postponed by weather since the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March 2010 at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., won by Power.

- From IndyCar

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