All systems go at Playa Del.

Despite the late change in their driving lineup, Indianapolis 500 hopefuls Playa Del Racing are looking forward to a successful race next Sunday with drivers Jaques Lazier and Roger Yasukawa.

Of all the Indy 500 one-off teams Playa Del have been among the most consistent during what has been a horrible practice period weather wise to the 90th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing with Lazier nipping at the heels of several of the IRL regulars and Yasukawa acquitting himself well despite being confirmed as one of the teams drivers less than 24 hours before qualifying.

Lazier will start from 24th position on the 33 car grid in the #21 Panoz-Honda after a four lap qualifying run of 221.151mph while Yasukawa will start 28th with a qualifying average of 218.793mph in the #12 Panoz despite having the least amount of practice laps (82) of the entire starting field.

"We're a lot different than a lot of the people here," Lazier said of his Pole Day qualification experience on Saturday. "We're second weekenders, so we're mainly working on our race set-up. I was flat all four laps, though. I felt like I had a lot more grip than I did earlier. This morning I was running a little quicker, but I had less grip. We went in to this and thought that the track would be warmer and we'd be just fine. And the track is just in awesome condition right now, and we had probably too much grip all around and probably lost a little speed with that."

Despite out pacing his elder brother Buddy and his fellow former Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr among other during Saturday's qualifying session, the younger Lazier felt that he and his team still left some speed on the table and will be capable of running in the midfield at least on race day.

"We didn't get quite what we wanted out of it, but we're at a 221-something average, which will put us safely in the field, and that's what we wanted," Lazier continued. "It's the same thing as last year; we've been working on our race set-up. Our qualifying isn't that much different than our race trim. Just a little less downforce . So we'll put a little more downforce on it, raise the car just a tiny little bit, and we'll be ready to go racing. I think, all things said and done, we've got a really good car come next Sunday. We'll probably go out tomorrow and do a full-tank run, fine-tune a couple of things and be ready to go racing."

The four-time Indy 500 starter is still a bit in awe of "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing" and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: "I'm happy with everything, and I'm very happy with everyone at Playa Del Racing. This place is so special, though. Every time you drive under the tunnel, you get butterflies. Anytime you can make the field, it's just a wonderful feeling. I remember my first year and I didn't. I told myself from that point on that I knew exactly how important this race is. And it was probably the best thing for my career was to miss the first one because now I know how special it is to be here. It's all about being consistent and smooth and hitting every point."

Three-time Indy 500 starter Yasukawa was still getting used to the fact that he will be racing in next Sunday's event after losing his IRL ride with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at the end of last season. Although he will be starting from the penultimate row of the grid the American based driver was just delighted to be part of the show.

"Yesterday, I was just walking around the garage and I ended up spotting for Jon Herb, and they put me in the car yesterday afternoon and now I'm qualified already," Yasukawa explained of his whirlwind week. "This is the biggest race in the world, and I've been here every day this month. It was painful walking around the garage and not being in the car. I didn't know that I was going to be in the car until this morning.

"Unfortunately, we did not get the time to make the car to my liking. So, we just wanted to make the show and to be in safely. I think we have enough speed for that. We have a lot of work to do for the race. We only have the rest of the day today and tomorrow for race set-up. We'll try to get the most out of the time we have. We just have to fine-tune the car to my liking, and we'll be OK. The car feels good."

The Playa Del Racing Team knew that choosing Yasukawa would give them a great opportunity to finish in the top 10 because Yasukawa has accomplished that feat twice out of three career starts at 'The Brickyard.'

"I'm really happy to be back here racing at Indianapolis. I love Indianapolis since it is my favourite race. I am really looking forward to next Sunday. I really have to thank the team for all the hard work they did last night to get me here. This is my fourth year, and hopefully I'll finish better than 10th. I think I had about 10 laps to get up to speed and prove that I can do the job. It certainly was not easy. It was a little nerve-wracking, but once you get back into the rhythm, it is better. I was originally talking to the team to perhaps do some races later on this year. I guess the deal came sooner than we thought."

Co-Owner of the Playa Del Racing Team, Gary Sallee, was optimistic about the week head after a steady week of progress during practice sessions.

"We are really happy for all of the Playa Del Racing owners and sponsors that we have qualified for our second Indy 500," said Sallee. "This is a great continuation of the progress this team has made over the past year in building for the future. Both Jaques and Roger did a fantastic job to get their cars into the field. We've got a really great crew that will give them the best possible chance of success during next Sunday's race. Now we can just concentrate on the week ahead and prepare our team and drivers for a really competitive race, and hope for a good, safe race for everyone."