INDIANAPOLIS (July 24, 2014) – David Ostella qualified fourth in the Prototype Challenge class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship on Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ostella posted his quickest qualifying time of 1 minute, 20.208 seconds on the last lap of the 15-minute qualifying session, climbing from eighth to fourth on the starting grid for the third annual Brickyard Grand Prix.
“It was good; I’m happy with qualifying and being so close to the front,” Ostella said. “Only four-tenths off Colin (Braun), who got the pole. I think I’m still struggling with qualifying. I’m not happy with how long it takes me to get up to speed. So I’ll be working on that. I’m happy with the performance.”
Ostella’s best qualifying lap was more than a second quicker than his top practice time Friday. He qualified just .359 of a second behind Braun’s track-record lap.
It was Ostella’s best qualifying performance this season in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhoods/Phillips 66 car. Ostella competed on the historic IMS oval in the Firestone Freedom 100 for Indy Lights in 2011 and 2012, but this was his first day on the new 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course that mixes the circuits used for MotoGP and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis Verizon IndyCar Series race.
“The Performance Tech team put together a great car,” Ostella said. “Now we just have to focus on race setup and get ready for tomorrow.”
Ostella and new teammate James French will start from the second row of the PC class in the 49-car field. The Brickyard Grand Prix – a two-hour, 45-minute race – begins at 5:45 p.m. (ET) Thursday. The race will broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
For updates on Ostella, follow him on Facebook and at @OstellaCorsa on Twitter. For personal updates, follow @DavidOstella on Twitter.