Buddy Rice's re-introduction to a Champ Car left the 2000 Atlantic champion impressed with his new team, the brakes on his Lola and the instant chemistry he felt with engineer Mike Cannon. source: champcarworldseries.com - by Robin Miller "I felt like it went well and I did everything I had to do," said Rice, who is taking over Gerry Forsythe's No. 7 car for the season finale this weekend at Mexico City. "I was super impressed with this team and their professionalism made the transition easy. And Mike Cannon and I were on the same wave length and that really made things enjoyable." Before last Friday's test at Houston's MSRaceway, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner had only driven a Champ Car one other time and that was during a 2001 test for Chip Ganassi. He's spent the past four years in the Indy Racing League with normally-aspirated engines but quickly got acquainted with the turbocharged Cosworth. "The things I noticed most were the throttle lag and the brakes," said the 30-year-old eteran from Phoenix. "There's definitely a lag between the IRL engine and the Cosworth but, once it kicks in, it kicks in pretty nice. "The Champ Car is more of a point and squirt because you have to have things pretty squared up when you get aggressive with the throttle. There's so much more wheel spin and it's nothing like an IRL car with traction control. I like it better because it puts it more in the driver's hands." Rice also raved about how quickly he could stop.
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