The first day of IndyCar “Spring Training” testing from Sebring International Raceway is in the books. Ten drivers (six from Chevy, three from Honda and one from Lotus) turned in a combined 674 laps today around Sebring’s 1.67-mile ‘short course’.
Here are the quick times:
1. 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Chevy) — 114.334 mph/52.5826 seconds
2. 3-Helio Castroneves (Chevy) — 114.060/52.7092
3. 77-Simon Pagenaud (Honda) — 114.012/52.7311
4. 27-James Hinchcliffe (Chevy) — 113.622/52.9125
5. 2-Ryan Briscoe (Chevy) — 113.589/52.9275
6. 12-Will Power (Chevy) — 113.324/53.0512
7. 18-Justin Wilson (Honda) — 113.056/53.1770
8. 26-Marco Andretti (Chevy) — 112.835/53.2814
9. 19-James Jakes (Honda) — 111.486/53.9260
10. 78-Simona de Silvestro (Lotus) — 110.183/54.5640
That’s four Chevy-powered drivers in the top 5, with Andretti Autosport (Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe) and Team Penske (Castroneves, Briscoe) with two apiece. But while Pagenaud’s considered a rookie this season — presumably due to his lack of experience on ovals — he’s no greenhorn when it comes to road racing and he wasn’t too far off of RHR and Helio in his HP-backed Honda.
Power logged the most laps today with 84, followed by Castroneves’ 83 and Pagenaud’s 81. De Silvestro ran the fewest laps with 31 and her top time came in the morning session. Everyone else’s came in the afternoon.
