IZOD IndyCar Series Spring Training – Sebring International Racing,
TESTING NOTES/QUOTES – Thursday, March 8, 2011
TAKUMA SATO IS PLEASED WITH PROGRESS ON DAY 1 OF INDYCAR SERIES OPEN TEST AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
FASTEST: Scott Dixon (morning session) 51.7932
5th: Takuma Sato (afternoon session; 86 laps total) 52:4111
Takuma Sato, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a small issue this morning and also at the end of the day when we had a failure of a component but overall it was good. We evaluated quite a few different setups and collected good data so we are able to understand the car more and more. I look forward to continuing to do some more work tomorrow.”
Jay O’Connell, Technical Director: “The test is going okay. We have tried to get the car closer to the race specification especially with the driver ballast just coming out last week. We have the car at a race weight which is important and we focused more on St. Pete than Sebring this time. We tried to run the car softer in an attempt to get the car ready for the softer platform we will need at St. Pete. We are pleased with the pace today; certainly it was a good start. We are going to make some more good changes and try to find more speed tomorrow.”
NEXT UP: Testing will resume tomorrow from 9-5 PM ET for Group 2. The IZOD IndyCar Series season-opening Honda Grand Prix of