SEBRING, Fla. — Four days of testing for IndyCar Series teams concluded 45 minutes early Thursday when rain swept over Sebring Int’l Raceway.
Team Penske with driver Ryan Briscoe paced the final two days of testing, while Andretti Green Racing and veteran wheelman Tony Kanaan led the speed charts on the first two days of road course testing on the 1.7-mile airport circuit.
Briscoe turned in a quick lap of 52.4202 seconds, 114.689 miles per hour on the final day which was the quickest of his two days and slightly better than the lap turned in by his teammate, Helio Castroneves. Both Penske shoes were more than half a second quicker than any of their competitors.
“The track was really quick this afternoon? Helio turned a fast lap mid-session, so we had something to shoot for,” Briscoe said. “We went out on new tires, but we weren’t quite happy with the car, so I had to come in. We made a change, which proved to be very effective. It is amazing what a small adjustment can do to lap times around this circuit. The Team Penske car was performing very well at the end of the session and I think we made a lot of progress today.”
Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon were third and fourth, respectively.
However, the Penske Racing times were only slightly better than the circuits turned in by Kanaan and his Andretti Green mates during the first two days of the test.
Kanaan’s best lap was at 113.732 mph on his second day on the track.
“The car got a lot better,” Kanaan said. “We made huge improvements during the day. I gave some of my stuff to Hideki (Mutoh) and to Marco (Andretti) and to Danica (Patrick), and I got some stuff from Hideki. Actually, the last change that we made on my car was something that he tried and he liked it, so I’ve got to thank him for that.
“It was a great couple of days for me. After Homestead, where I had a rough test, it’s good to come out of here knowing that we got the job done. I have a lot of responsibility on my back right now with this team. I don’t mind, but it’s definitely a relief. Everything that was on the list, we got it done.”