Dario Franchitti posted the top time on Thursday during a one-day test session at Infineon Raceway in advance of the Motorola Indy 300, presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel, Aug. 24-26.
IndyCar® Series drivers from Andretti Green Racing, Vision Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing attended the test session over the 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course, as well as drivers from the Indy Pro Series™.
Franchitti (Andretti Green Racing) posted the top time at 1 minute, 16.87 seconds and was followed by Rahal Letterman Racing’s Scott Sharp and Vision Racing’s Ed Carpenter, who posted identical times of 1:18.20.
Other IndyCar drivers who attended the test were Ryan Hunter-Reay (Rahal Letterman, 1:18.30); Tomas Scheckter (Vision Racing, 1:18.30); and AJ Foyt IV (Vision Racing, 1:19.60). Danica Patrick (Andretti Green Racing) also attended the test but her time was not available. All times were provided by the race teams.
Franchitti’s time was slightly off the track record of 1:16.49, set by Ryan Briscoe in 2005. Andretti Green Racing has won the first two IndyCar events in Sonoma — Tony Kanaan in 2005 and Marco Andretti in 2006.
“I think as a team we have done a great job (here), ” said Franchitti, who placed second in Sonoma last year and is the current IndyCar points leader. “Marco drove a hell of a race last year and Tony the year before. We’ve had quick cars every time we’ve come here. Our team has done a great job in the pits and with strategy. Hopefully it will continue. ”
Jaime Camara (Andretti Green Racing) posted the top time of a number of Indy Pro Series drivers at the test (1:19.90). Camara has placed in the top 10 in each of the last five Indy Pro Series events.
The drivers will return to the Sonoma Valley next weekend for the Motorola Indy 300. Andretti returns as the defending champion — he became the youngest driver in history (19 years old) to win a major open-wheel race when he took the checkers last year.
Franchitti enters the weekend with a slim eight-point lead over Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi), while Kanaan is just 52 markers back
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