All’s Well That Ends Well at
Sebring Test
SEBRING, FL Mar 6, 2008—Darren Manning and
A.J. Foyt’s ABC Supply team logged the fewest laps
with the No. 14 Honda-powered Dallara of the 17 cars
that tested during the four-day IRL IndyCar Series
Open Test; however, they were seventh fastest
overall.
The IRL conducted two groups of testing with the
Andretti-Green, Rahal and Vision Racing teams
testing on Monday and Tuesday and the Penske,
Ganassi, Foyt, Panther, and Dreyer-Reinbold teams
testing on Wednesday and Thursday.
In just 96 laps, Manning and crew were able to zero
in on a set-up that worked over the bumpy 1.67-mile
road course. Manning posted a best lap of 113.341
mph (53.043 seconds) which was fifth quick behind
the Penske and Ganassi teams.
“We were able to try quite a few different set-ups
over the two days,” said team owner A.J. Foyt. “When
the rain came at the end of Thursday’s test, we had
already called it quits. We were happy with what we
learned and feel good about our basic road course
set-up. Darren is really strong on the road courses
and he knows what he wants in a car; he felt good
about what we gave him at Sebring. So I think he is
looking forward to St. Pete—we all are.”
The team did undergo a small glitch when the data
download connector broke prior to Thursday’s morning
session. The fix required over two hours as a repair
was attempted but it was then deemed that a total
replacement was necessitated.
Thursday’s session was interrupted by rain in
mid-afternoon and then finally cut short when the
skies opened up with just over an hour left in the
session. By the time of the late afternoon heavy
downpour, Foyt’s team had already made its way back
to their paddock area to begin packing up.
The IRL IndyCar Series begins its season with a
Saturday night (March 29th) race under the lights at
Miami-Homestead Speedway. The telecast begins at 8
p.m. eastern on ESPN 2. The following week, the
IndyCar Series moves to the street course in St.
Petersburg. That race will be televised on Sunday.
April 6th at 2:30 PM on ESPN.
