Scheckter quickest once again, Carpentier gains 2
position
source:
irl.racing-live.com
Since the IRL began running open wheel cars on high
banked race tracks in 1997, the final warm-up for such events has always been a
"must-see" event for race fans.
Today's final practice for the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
continued that trend as veterans sought to perfect their cars in traffic while
newcomers learned the intricacies of racing in dangerously close proximity to
their competitors.
"To race on the oval and learn how to race on the oval is a completely different
story," said the session's quickest driver and race pole sitter, Tomas Scheckter.
"I don't car where you come from, you really have to learn to adapt to it, and
it can definitely take some time."
With five drivers in Sunday's field that have never raced an IndyCar on the
21-degree banking of the south Florida speedway, getting experience in heavy
traffic was paramount to their race preparations.
Ninth place starter, Danica Patrick will become the third woman to compete in an
IndyCar Series event and she spent her final practice session surrounded by
veterans. Looking to gain all the experience in "dirty air" she could, Patrick
ran several laps with teammate Vitor Meira sitting three feet behind her gearbox,
or directly alongside her Honda/Panoz as they worked through the pack.
While running side by side, Patrick often had to take the initiative and work
past slower cars running on the bottom of the track, thus creating some
particularly intense three-wide situations which the 22- year old handled well.
"Heading into tomorrow I'll be smart and try not to make any stupid moves that
could possibly put me into a bad frame of mind from the get go," said Patrick.
Joining Patrick as newcomers to the high speed oval game are Patrick Carpentier,
Ryan Briscoe, Paul Dana and Tomas Enge. Patrick bested her rookie counterparts
by placing 11th on the speed chart with Carpentier next in 17th.
Briscoe returned to the track in his back-up car after an early morning practice
crash caused him to miss qualifying.
Tomas Enge would never fully get to speed as his gearbox would not allow him to
shift any higher than third gear. Unable to quickly resolve the issue during the
30 minute session, Enge and Panther Racing used the time to practice stops.
Paul Dana continues to be slightly off the pace this weekend as his new team
works to sort out their growing pains and get him up to speed.
2005 Toyota Indy 300 : Warm-up
Pos Driver Diff Time Speed Lap C/E/T Status
1 Tomas Scheckter (4) 24.8445
2 Dan Wheldon (26) 24.8475
3 Tony Kanaan (11) 24.9495
4 Buddy Rice (15) 25.0030
5 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 25.0120
6 Vitor Meira (17) 25.0305
7 Sam Hornish Jr. (6) 25.0477
8 Dario Franchitti (27) 25.0980
9 Helio Castroneves (3) 25.1066
10 Bryan Herta (7) 25.1284
11 Danica Patrick (16) 25.1300
12 Scott Sharp (8) 25.1307
13 Roger Yasukawa (24) 25.1627
14 Alex Barron (51) 25.1987
15 Darren Manning (10) 25.2076
16 Scott Dixon (9) 25.2788
17 Patrick Carpentier (83) 25.3284
18 A.J. Foyt IV (14) 25.4277
19 Ryan Briscoe (33) 25.4287
20 Ed Carpenter (20) 25.7148
21 Paul Dana (91) 25.9638
22 Tomas Enge (2) 39.5214