Timo Glock also testing in Champ Car
source:
f1.racing-live.com
The last time that Cristiano da Matta unbuckled from
a Champ Car, he did it as the series champion after a seven-win 2002 season that
saw him wrap up the title with three races to go.
Twenty-seven months later da Matta strapped back into a Champ Car for his first
test session since rejoining the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford. Taking the opportunity to get in a day of testing, Da Matta
drove from Daytona, where he is teamed with Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Newman
in tomorrow's Rolex 24, to Sebring to join his new PKV Racing teammates for the
first of a three-day Champ Car test session.
Monday's cold temperatures delayed the start of the morning session, leading to
strategy changes that saw Newman/Haas and RuSport pocket their test days for
future use. The elements would eventually limit da Matta to a 50-mile day as he
joined a trio of rookie drivers on the 1.2-mile Sebring circuit during the
afternoon. Da Matta put in a short session, thus saving PKV Racing a full
testing day, before heading back to Daytona for the start of tomorrow's
endurance race.
"I can't say that I am completely comfortable in the Champ Car because we only
ran 30 laps, but I don't think that it will take much longer," da Matta said.
"We put in some good work today, got a lot of little things like adjusting the
pedals done so that at the next test, we will be ready to go hard right away. I
am impressed with this team already and the chance to work with guys like Jimmy
(Vasser) and (Jim) McGee makes me believe that we can do some good things this
year."