28-04-06
Cunningham fastest at Indy Test
Defending champion Wade Cunningham was back to his best at the official Indy Pro Series test day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, topping the time sheets with a best lap of 47.7263 (188.575 mph).
Aucklander Cunningham, 21, was forced to miss the doubleheader round of the 2006 Indy Pro Series at St Petersburg, Fla., at the beginning of the month, after an emergency appendectomy the Thursday before the meeting.
'Obviously it's good for us to be quickest here, but it wasn't as if we came here with that foremost in our minds,' commented Cunningham. 'This is the only test we get before the 500 weekend so we had a programme to work through and, if you like, that was our priority. It's a bonus being fastest, but at the same time we had a lot of work to get through on the car and we accomplished that so that was good too.'
Of the time - one of only two under the 48 second mark and almost a tenth of a second quicker than the time set by Englishman Jay Howard, who was second quickest.
'The track was very green with very little rubber down and extremely hard on the tires so you had to pick your time when you were going out on new tyres,' added Cunningham.
Cunningham was one of two Kiwi drivers at the test, with compatriot Matthew Hamilton fresh back from winning the Senior 100cc Yamaha Light title at the New Zealand Sprint Kart Championships in the Hawke's Bay over Easter.
It was Hamilton's first time on the hallowed tarmac of the 4km Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 23-year-old from Christchurch was taking one step at a time, setting the 16th fastest time lap time, 49.1058 (183.278 mph).
Class regular Chris Festa posted the third fastest time at the test, followed by rookie veteran driver Tom Wieringa, a former CART series team owner, top young UK driver Alex Lloyd, last year's Futaba Freedom 500 race winner Jaime Camara and 18-year-old second generation driver Sean Guthrie.
May is Indy 500 month in Indianapolis and for the next three weeks the Motor Speedway will be used by the Indy Racing League teams preparing for the annual 500 mile race.
The Indy Pro Series teams will get their turn on Thursday May 25 ahead of their race on Friday May 26.
