Sebring test notes

UPDATE #6 CORRECTION Glock's time as recorded by Cosworth was 51.75 sec on 50-mile old tires in cold weather. Like we said, he created quite a stir. 02/06/05 We heard that Glock turned a 52.8 sec. lap on Friday, the fastest of the day. It was much, much colder Friday than Saturday and people were impressed with him. 02/05/05 AutoRacing1.com has confirmed that Dick Eidswick and Kevin Kalkhoven will show up at Sebring this weekend. Paul Gentilozzi is already there. Not sure about Forsythe. They are stopping over at Daytona. Could a meeting with the Frances be in order, or are they going to show support for the Champ Car drivers competing in the Rolex 24? 02/04/05 First day of testing has wrapped up in Sebring and we will have a full report a bit later. Paul Gentilozzi did show up and was seen in deep conversation with RuSPORT boss Carl Russo. Timo Glock continued to turn heads on pit road laying down some fast laps despite a sometimes unorthodox line. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Nelson Philippe were getting seat adjustments in preparation for Saturday. We are still hearing that all three OWRS owners will be in town sometime Saturday. Are they going to be at Daytona Saturday for the start of the Rolex 24? Is some other big meeting coming down with the France family? We do know that all three are meeting in Indy Sunday where some important decisions are being made, including the key AOL deal. More later…. 02/04/05 From a cold Sebring – Spotted at Sebring so far today was Jouanny and Halliday testing with Mi-Jack Conquest. Timo Glock is fastest so far and has really impressed the Rocketsports guys. Ryan Hunter-Reay is hanging out with the Rocketsports team and will be on track tomorrow. Cristiano da Matta just made his first appearance in his new PKV ride. The Newman/Haas truck is here but buttoned down tight. Ryan Dalziel is also here. Alex Figge will test with the Mi-Jack team both Saturday and Sunday. Rumor has it that Kevin Kalkhoven, Dick Eidswick, Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe will make an appearance sometime this weekend. 02/03/05 French single-seater ace Bruce Jouanny gets his first Champ Car World Series test at Sebring this week. Jouanny, a former British Formula 3 Championship race winner and World Series by Nissan frontrunner, is getting a run with Conquest Racing – the team that ran Justin Wilson last season. Among the others testing with Conquest are believed to be Jouanny’s fellow Frenchman, Nelson Philippe, New Zealander Matt Halliday (a former Indy Lights ace) and Toyota Atlantic racer Alex Figge. Jouanny said: “Eric Bachelart [the Conquest team owner] would not give me the test if there was no chance of a drive. I’m looking to put something together, but it depends on the test and the money." Autosport Magazine 01/31/05 ALMS is testing at Sebring through Thursday. Then the Champ Car teams move in on Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday. We hear Walker, RuSPORT and Mi Jack Conquest will be there (among others). As reported by SPEEDTV, Mi-Jack Conquest will test Nelson Philippe, Alex Figge, Matt Halliday and Bruce Jouanny. They already tested Romain Dumas and Ricardo Sperafico. PKV has signed Cristiano da Matta as their second driver. The team may be running a three-car operation but the latest rumors are that the new general manager Jim McGee is not too keen on that course of action and so the others who had been hoping for the ride may now have to look elsewhere. The list includes Ryan Hunter-Reay, Bjorn Wirdheim and Ryan Dalziel. Mark C.