Not much of a surprise at the top of the charts, as the three Team Penske drivers of Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Will Power are all within the first four positions. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing’s newest driver Justin Wilson kept a Penske 1-2-3 from happening by going P3, and Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon rounded out the top five on the first day of the Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park.
Here are some quotes from the top three testers:
6-Ryan Briscoe: “It’s nice to be at the top of the speed charts. It’s important because it is our only test before the first race, so we’re all comparing times. It’s nice to have the Team Penske cars on top. It’s a great way to start the year.”
3-Helio Castroneves: “Today was about getting a rhythm. The last time I was in a Team Penske car on a road course was Infineon (last August). You need testing to get your muscles back into shape. Even if you’ve been working out, you still need to get your rhythm back and get to work. That was the goal today. Tomorrow we’ll work on the small details.”
22-Justin Wilson: “The first day in the car was really good. It was a pretty positive day and we kept making improvements. All in all, I think that it went well and I’m pleased with P3. I’m getting comfortable in the car and with my new engineer and crew. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Unfortunately, at the end of the day I just clipped the grass going into Turn 1 and the car snapped around on me. The car isn’t too badly damaged and I’m OK.”
If you want to see where your favorite driver and/or team performed today, the speeds are below.
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(Car-Driver, Sponsor/Team, Lap Time, MPH)
1. 6-Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, 1:10.5052, 117.438.
2. 3-Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, 1:10.7146, 117.090.
3. 22-Justin Wilson, Z-Line Designs/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, 1:10.7397, 117.049.
4. 12-Will Power, Verizon/Team Penske, 1:10.7637, 117.009.
5. 9-Scott Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, 1:10.8927, 116.796.
6. 8-E.J. Viso, PDVSA/KV Racing Technology, 1:10.9186, 116.754.
7. 5-Takuma Sato, KV Racing Technology, 1:11.1138, 116.433.
8. 11-Tony Kanaan, 7-Eleven/Andretti Autosport, 1:11.1433, 116.385.
9. 10-Dario Franchitti, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, 1:11.1825, 116.321.
10. 06-Hideki Mutoh, Formula Dream/Panasonic/Newman-Haas-Lanigan, 1:11.2212, 116.258.
11. 26-Marco Andretti, Venom Energy/Andretti Autosport, 1:11.3557, 116.038.
12. 34-Mario Romancini, Conquest Racing, 1:11.4567, 115.874.
13. 32-James Rossiter, Marisco Liqueur/KV Racing Technology, 1:11.7759, 115.359.
14. 14-Vitor Meira, ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing, 1:11.9171, 115.133.
15. 2-Raphael Matos, HP/De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing, 1:11.9924, 115.012.
16. 37-Ryan Hunter-Reay, IZOD/Andretti Autosport, 1:12.1369, 114.782.
17. 24-Mike Conway, Dad’s Root Beer/Roll Coater/DRR, 1:12.1543, 114.754.
18. 7-Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com/Andretti Autosport, 1:12.5369, 114.149.
19. 78-Simona de Silvestro, HVM Racing, 1:12.8124, 113.717.
20. 67-Sarah Fisher, Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing, 1:16.0138, 108.928.
