“We had a great race strategy and a great car, and it almost paid out for us in the end,” Viso commented, “I really like racing in the rain, but we took a gamble when we put the slick tyres on. Fortunately, it paid off for us. Had it not been for the last two yellows, we would have been on the podium for sure.”
Bernoldi gained two places at the start, and continued to make steady progress up the order before joining Viso in the pits on lap 34, also fitting slicks. By lap 43, as the4 rest of the field made their stops, Bernoldi was into fourth place, but wasted little time before hitting the front to lead the first laps of his IndyCar career.
Although the Brazilian dropped back as the field pitted under yellow for Ryan Briscoe's meeting with the wall, he gained one place by passing Dan Wheldon for sixth on lap 68 and then gained another place in the dash to the flag after a final caution period caused by Conquest team-mate Franck Perera's collision was Meira.
“I've been racing in the wet and the dry and changing situations my whole life, so I was used to it,” Bernoldi said afterwards, “I knew, if I could stay on the track, I could have a good race and fight for a win. I think, after last week at the oval, where I was so bad, it's a big week for the whole team to be leading the race and to finish fifth.
“I've been out of open-wheel racing for more than two years, so it takes a while for me to get back, but I think this was good practice.”
![Enrique Bernoldi - Conquest Racing [pic credit: IRL/Snoddy]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/426227.jpg)
