Sebring, 3° giorno: Oriol Servia segna il primo tempo

Oriol Servia ha partecipato soltanto all'ultimo giorno dei test di Sebring, ma tanto gli è bastato per ottenere il primo tempo assoluto. Lo spagnolo, salito sulla Panoz della PKV utilizzata martedì e mercoledì da Jimmy Vasser, nel pomeriggio di giovedì ha spiccato il tempo di 50"741. Occorre anche considerare che la mattina ha piovuto e di conseguenza solo otto piloti avevano tentato di girare con la pista bagnata. Nel pomeriggio la situazione meteo è migliorata e la PKV ha piazzato il rookie Neel Jani al secondo posto. Paul Tracy ha concluso in scia al duo PKV mentre questa volta Sebastien Bourdais si è dovuto accontentare del quarto tempo. Continua a sorprendere il team Coyne che con Bruno Junqueira ha ottenuto la quinta prestazione. I test di Sebring sono serviti alla Pacific Coast per acclimatarsi all'ambiente della Champ Car e non sono mancate le difficoltà. Prossimi test il 12-13 febbraio a Houston.

English
Only eight of the 14 cars gathered for Champ Car's first open test of the year turned laps in the wet morning, including Servia, but when the Central Florida skies cleared for the afternoon, everyone got in the act in attacking the 1.8-mile Sebring short course. The 2005 Champ Car runner-up didn't mind the additional traffic as he set the best lap of the three-day session in leading Thursday's outing, posting a best time of 50.741 seconds (118.413 mph). Servia's teammate Neel Jani was second-fastest today and was both the quickest and the busiest during the wet morning session. Jani turned 64 laps in the rain during the morning, then came back with 60 more in the afternoon, logging a best time of 50.904 (118.034 mph). Former Champ Car titlist Paul Tracy was third-fastest on the final day and was the only driver to break the 51-second barrier in each of the last two days. Tracy made a tour of the Sebring short course in 50.925 seconds (117.985 mph), posting his best time on the last of his 68 afternoon laps. Sebastien Bourdais was fourth-fastest after running a session-high 83 laps in the afternoon, and was followed by former teammate Bruno Junqueira, who piloted the Dale Coyne Racing machine to the fifth spot in his second day of testing with the Ilinois-based team. Junqueira turned a best lap of 51.116 seconds (117.544 mph), an effort that was just .008 seconds off of his best time from Wednesday. The Pacific Coast Motorsports squad completed its first official Champ Car test session with mixed results, as problems with Alex Figge's car limited him to less than 20 laps for the second time in three days. The outing gave the team a good look at what it can expect from Champ Car competition, and the California-based team is prepared to meet the challenge. The teams will now pack up and prepare for the second set of Champ Car tests, which take place at MSR Houston, February 12-13.

Nella foto, Graham Rahal.

I tempi del 3° giorno, giovedì 25 gennaio 2007

1 - Oriol Servia - PKV - 50"741 - 110 giri
2 - Neel Jani - PKV - 50"904 - 124
3 - Paul Tracy - Forsythe - 50"925 - 68
4 - Sebastien Bourdais - Newman/Haas - 51"056 - 83
5 - Bruno Junqueira - Coyne - 51"116 - 42
6 - Mario Dominguez - RuSport - 51"309 - 78
7 - Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas - 51"413 - 74
8 - Justin Wilson - RuSport - 51"547 - 51
9 - Katherine Legge - Coyne - 51"750 - 24
10 - Alex Tagliani - Rocketsports - 51"837 - 72
11 - Nelson Philippe - Minardi/HVM - 51"892 - 60
12 - Will Power - Australia - 52"394 - 48
13 - Ryan Dalziel - Pacific Coast - 52"459 - 73
14 - Alex Figge - Pacific Coast - 54"059 - 17

I tempi del 2° giorno, mercoledì 24 gennaio 2007

1 - Sebastien Bourdais - Newman/Haas - 50"888 - 56 giri
2 - Paul Tracy - Forsythe - 50"960 - 42
3 - Katherine Legge - Coyne - 51"060 - 47
4 - Bruno Junqueira - Coyne - 51"108 - 46
5 - Mario Dominguez - RuSport - 51"166 - 66
6 - Justin Wilson - RuSport - 51"273 - 73
7 - Jimmy Vasser - PKV - 51"520 - 53
8 - Neel Jani - PKV - 51"533 - 48
9 - Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas - 51"631 - 74
10 - Will Power - Australia - 51"839 - 76
11 - Alex Tagliani - Rocketsports - 51"973 - 32
12 - Nelson Philippe - Minardi/HVM - 52"410 - 22
13 - Alex Figge - Pacific Coast - 52"531 - 56
14 - Robert Doornbos - Minardi/HVM - 52"575 - 25
15 - Ryan Dalziel - Pacific Coast - 53"217 - 32

I tempi del 1° giorno, martedì 23 gennaio 2007

1 - Sebastien Bourdais - Newman/Haas - 51"024 - 58 giri
2 - Neel Jani - PKV - 51"620 - 50
3 - Paul Tracy - Forsythe - 51"708 - 116
4 - Mario Dominguez - RuSport - 51"717 - 57
5 - Justin Wilson - RuSport - 51"773 - 59
6 - Jimmy Vasser - PKV - 51"814 - 44
7 - Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas - 51"837 - 53
8 - Simon Pagenaud - Australia - 51"989 - 56
9 - Katherine Legge - Coyne - 52"110 - 69
10 - Alex Tagliani - Rocketsports - 52"854 - 27
11 - Robert Doornbos - Minardi/HVM - 52"912 - 54
12 - Ryan Dalziel - Pacific Coast - 54"048 - 25
13 - Alex Figge - Pacific Coast - 57"620 - 10