Castroneves Tops Indy Charts On Opening Day
May 15, 2010 at 5:35 PM by AHN · Leave a Comment
Indianapolis, IN, United States (AHN) – On the Opening Day of Indianapolis 500 preparation, defending race winner Helio Castroneves posted the fastest lap at 226.603 mph over the 2.5-mile oval.
Castroneves led 27 driver/car combinations that recorded 451 incident-free laps before handing things over to rookies and drivers undertaking a refresher course.
“It’s always good when you start with a positive wave, there is certainly still a lot of work to go,” said Castroneves. “It was just the right time and the right moment with two cars in front of me. It seems to be very interesting this year: Even if you are away from another car, the draft is tremendous. It is going to play a lot of tricks during the month of May.”
Target Chip Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti (226.535 mph) and Scott Dixon (226.237) were second and third-fastest respectively, while Dan Wheldon, runner-up to Castroneves in the Indy 500 last year, was fourth (225.609) in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car.
Tony Kanaan, the 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion, shook down all five Andretti Autosport cars before teammates Marco Andretti, John Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Danica Patrick took hold of their cars.
“We just wanted to make sure that all of our cars had the same feel and make sure that we had the same starting point for everybody. So they voted me the guy to do that,” said Kanaan. “They tell me it’s because I’m a veteran, but usually that means you’re old, and I definitely don’t see myself that way, so I’m not sure. But I’m glad to do it, and I think we’ve got a good idea of where we are as a team and where we need to go for the 7-Eleven car.”
As for the rookies, Simona De Silvestro, Ana Beatriz and Takuma Sato successfully completed two of the four phases of the Rookie Orientation Program.
