Castroneves, along with Penske Racing teammate Ryan Briscoe, spent much of the afternoon testing their Honda-powered cars amid the scorching heat on the three-quarter mile Richmond International Raceway that is among the most challenging venues on the Indy Racing League schedule.
“Richmond is a challenging place,” said Castroneves, the 2005 winner here. “It’s a fun place if you have a very good car, and a nightmare if you have a bad car.
“We want to make sure when we come back we’ll have a stable car that can go all the way to the end.”
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The Penske drivers shared the testing sessions with three other drivers—Dan Wheldon, E.J. Viso and Raphael Matos. All five drivers endured the heat and humidity during a four-hour afternoon session as they worked on setups and pit stops.
“We’re always excited to get any kind of testing in, especially at a short track like this,” said Briscoe, the IndyCar Series points leader. “Any kind of track time is important.”
“It’s like being on a bicycle in a bath[tub]. It’s a very difficult track, and there aren’t many places to make mistakes. It’s a physically and mentally challenging place.”—E.J. Viso on Richmond International Raceway.
“It’s difficult for manufactures to commit when the economy is like it is. Honda has done a fantastic job of spicing up the competition. All the engines are the same. It’s pretty much restricted. A lot of people were skeptical about the [IndyCar Series] having one engine program.”—Dan Wheldon on Honda as the sole supplier for the IndyCar Series.
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