IRL at Daytona

Day of firsts

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Kanaan tops speed chart on initial day of testing at historic Daytona

By Dave Lewandowski
indycar.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tony Kanaan sat in the cockpit of the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone on pit lane for what passes as an eternity to race car drivers, waiting for the green flag.

The 2004 IndyCar Series champion was champing at the bit (and his drinking system hose) to wheel the Andretti Green Racing machine onto the modified Daytona International Speedway road course in the first Open Test of 2007. Finally, the 2.72-mile, 10-turn circuit was his playground for almost seven hours. Sixteen friends/competitors joined in the fun.

On the first of two days of preseason testing, there were a number of firsts:

● First day that all the 3.5-liter Honda Indy V8s were powered by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol.
● First official day that IndyCar Series cars were running at the historic track (there was a compatibility test in fall).
● First day with a reduced fuel cell (22 gallons reduced from 30 because of increased fuel mileage with ethanol).
● First day that A.J. Foyt IV was on a road course in an IndyCar Series car (the No. 22 Vision Racing car).
● First day for some veterans with new teams (Danica Patrick with Andretti Green Racing, Darren Manning with A.J. Foyt Racing, Kosuke Matsuura with Panther Racing, and Scott Sharp with Rahal Letterman Racing).

For the record, Kanaan posted the quickest lap (with a few minutes left in the afternoon session) of 1 minute, 12.2493 seconds (135.549 mph).

Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske entry, was second on the list at 135.313 (1:12.3653). He topped the morning session at 1:13.3254; 133.542). Dan Wheldon, behind the wheel of the No. 10 target Chip Ganassi Racing car, was third (135.226; 1:12.4121), followed by Dario Franchitti (135.134; 1:12.4613) in the No. 27 Canadian Club car and reigning IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. (135.056; 1:12.5033) in the No. 6 Team Penske car.

Castroneves, Wheldon, Hornish, Sharp, Buddy Rice, Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter and A.J. Foyt IV saw many of the same corners -- and the high banking -- this past weekend when they competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“It is a good first day for the Team 7-Eleven crew,” Kanaan said. “I have to brag a little bit because I only have a few hours left and by tomorrow everyone will forget who was first today. I think the most important thing for all the drivers is to get back in the car. During tests, we make plans all winter, and we do tests in wind tunnels and the shaker rigs and we try simulations in the computer. Basically, we put all this stuff together and we pick the best out of everything and then we come here to prove it.

“That’s the good thing about testing. We try to accomplish it to make sure that the work that we did in‑house simulating things will prove itself at the track, so that means we’re on the right path.”

For the competition and name recognition, Kanaan supports an IndyCar Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

“The name says everything,” he said. “Once I walked into this place, and September was my first time, I was pretty impressed. About the race, I think a lot of things need to come together for that to happen, but why not? I think you’re asking a road course guy if he wants to ask for a road course, so the answer would be yes. I would like to see a race here, not taking any race out of the calendar, but if we could add another one.”

Ditto for Vitor Meira, driver of the No. 4 Delphi Panther Racing car.

“I actually got butterflies walking in here,” he said. “Just seeing all the new cars and driver combinations got me going.”