SEBRING, Fla. — Teammates Oriol Servia and Will Power were fastest Thursday on the second and final day of testing for some of the new IRL IndyCar Series teams at Sebring International Raceway.
Three two-car teams, led by KV Racing Technology’s Service and Power, took advantage of the special road racing test set up on the 1.66-mile Sebring circuit for the teams that formerly raced in the Champ Car World Series.
Two other teams expected to make the move to the newly unified open-wheel series were unable to get their new Dallara chassis ready in time for the test. But the 26-car entry list announced Thursday for the IndyCar opener March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway includes five former Champ Car teams and a total of 10 cars.
Power was fastest Wednesday, but Servia moved to the top of the speed chart Thursday with a lap of 52.702 seconds (114.072 mph). Power was close behind at 52.945 (113.552) as the new KV teammates also led everyone with a total of 304 laps.
“Being fastest is always nice, but I don’t think we should give too much importance to the lap times,” Servia said. “There was a lot of rubber on the track, so the times can be a little deceptive.
“What I am happy about is the balance of the car. Yesterday we tried some things and I didn’t really like the car and I was starting to think that maybe this is the way this car feels. But today we made some changes that really suited me and now I like the car.”
Power was just as pleased by the two-day test, the first chance for any of the former Champ Car teams to run the new cars.
“This was a very positive test,” Power said. “The main objective was to run as many miles as possible and learn as much as we could about the car. I understand more about the car now, but I still have a lot to learn.”
Any of the former Champ Car teams that are ready will get a chance to test their Dallaras on the Homestead oval Monday and Tuesday.
Jimmy Vasser, co-owner of the KV team, said it’s too early to be too optimistic.
“We are not overly confident right now,” the former CART champion said. “We have our eyes open. I know we have a great group of people here and we are all focused on working hard and learning, but certainly we understand that the teams we are going to go up against have a lot more familiarity with the chassis and the series. That puts us at a big disadvantage, but we will chip away at it.”
Also taking part in the Sebring test were Dale Coyne Racing’s Bruno Junqueira and Mario Moraes, as well as Conquest Racing’s Franck Perera and Enrique Bernoldi.
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