DETROIT — Ryan Briscoe will have a busy weekend at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix.
He’ll be in the Penske Porsche RS Spyder on Saturday as a replacement for Sascha Maassen in the American Le Mans Series on the 2-mile (3.3-kilometer) Belle Isle Raceway. On Sunday, he’ll return to drive his IndyCar for Team Penske.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” said Briscoe, fifth in the IndyCar driver points standings. “On the bright side, I’m really familiar with both cars. I don’t foresee any issues going from one to the other.
“Speed, breaking points, they’re similar and I know everyone I’m working with. They’re both very competitive cars and hopefully I’ll be able to come away with two good results.”
Briscoe drove for Penske’s ALMS team in 2007 before moving across to its IndyCar operation this year.
The 26-year-old Australian will share the No. 6 Penske Porsche with Patrick Long. Briscoe had two outright wins and three class victories when paired with Maassen last year.
BIG CHALLENGE: Detroit has been especially trying for South African driver Tomas Scheckter, who’s running just his fourth race of the season for Luczo Dragon Racing. Only one of those, last weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, was on a road course.
“It’s tough,” he said after Friday’s early practice session. “It’s completely different, from the setup of the car to the driving style. It’s a finesse game.
“It’s unfortunate that you have to come with a car that’s sort of in the ballpark. You’ll see us making a lot of changes this weekend.”
His best finish this season was 23rd at Kansas on April 27.
SPINNING WHEELS: Marty Roth’s first two IndyCar practices on Friday on the 2-mile (3.3-kilometer) Belle Isle circuit were ones he probably would rather forget.
Early in the first session, Roth went into the tire barrier on Turn 12 and had to be towed to the pits. He spun three more times during the afternoon practice.
Roth’s best lap speed of 87.664 mph (141.07 kph) was the slowest among 26 cars and was 14.131 mph (22.7 kph) slower than Helio Castroneves’ top lap of 101.795 mph (163.82 kph).
The Canadian owner-driver for Roth Racing declined to comment about his two practices.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Milka Duno is doing everything she can to prepare for Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan will be competing on a street course for only the third time in her IndyCar career.
“It’s a tough track, just like everybody says,” she said after Friday’s second practice session. “It’s a short time to learn everything. It’s a challenge.”
The Dreyer and Reinbold Racing driver ran a session-most 56 laps but still was more than 10 mph (16 kph) off the afternoon’s fastest lap. Only Roth, who stalled twice during the second session, was slower. Duno, ran only on ovals in 2007, finished 20th and 23rd this season in road-course outings at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio.
SPONSOR AGREEMENT: Just weeks after signing Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan to a five-year contract extension, Andretti Green Racing announced on Friday that it has reached a multiyear deal with 7-Eleven to continue sponsoring Kanaan’s No. 11 car.
“We’ve accomplished a lot together, but we feel like we can do even bigger things in the future,” said John Lopes, chief marketing officer for Andretti Green Racing. “The Team 7-Eleven car has been a fixture at the top level of the IndyCar Series since it debuted in 2003 and we expect to keep it there for a long time.”
Kanaan, the defending Detroit Indy Grand Prix champion, won the 2004 IndyCar Series championship and is currently fourth in this season’s driver point standings.
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