Vitor Meira is more determined than ever to claim his first win in the IndyCar Series, after a stirring performance in the 92nd Indianapolis 500 not only earned him an eighth second place, but also provided Panther Racing with its best result at the Brickyard.
Just over 24 hours after the team's 'junior' driver, Dillon Battistini, had driven to Freedom 100 Indy Lights success, Meira rose to the front of the 500 field, pulling off the move of the race to pass both Ed Carpenter and Scott Dixon for the lead on a lap 159 restart.
Although he subsequently led for the next twelve laps, Panther's first out front at Indianapolis, the Brazilian was not destined to break his 80-race search for a win, as a final pace car period allowed Dixon's Ganassi crew to get the Kiwi back out in front, from where he was able to control the run to the flag. Meira's second place, however, matched his 500 effort with Rahal Letterman Racing in 2005, boosted his championship position and gave him added belief that he may be able to win this year.
"Panther is back!" he exclaimed later, "We wanted to win today, but this is a major step forward for us. I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was Dixon, me, Marco [Andretti] and [Helio] Castroneves, so it's right there - Ganassi, Panther, AGR and Penske, we are among the big three and ahead of two of them.
"It's just time, a matter of time, until we come back and be better. I'm really confident [about] the team. We have only one car; let's not forget we have only one car, so that hurts a little bit, but, with good people, we are making a difference, and that's how we're going to continue.
"It's very close. This feels like a victory for us. How many, even in the grandstands here, how many of you guys counted me as leading lap 160 or whatever? Not many. We did and we believed it and we're always going to. We are always, no matter what, going to do our best. We took everything out that we had. Looking at the beginning of this year and the end of last year, this is a very, very good result."
