Conway again fastest at Infineon

UPDATE #2 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing rookie Mike Conway paced the 13 drivers testing on the 2.303-mile circuit Aug. 13 with a quick lap of 1 minute, 17.48 seconds. He was followed by Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe, the pole sitter for the race last year, at 1:17.76 and HVM Racing's E.J. Viso at 1:17.94.

"(Aug. 12) was more of a shakedown for us to make sure we don't have any problems," Conway said. "On these test days it's really crucial that you can really back-to-back things because on a race weekend you don't get enough time. I think we should be looking OK for next weekend, and I'm looking forward to coming back."

Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon (1:17.98) and IndyCar Series championship points leader Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing (1:18.09) rounded out the top five. Defending race champion Castroneves clocked in at 1:18.25 for Team Penske.

"It's a special track and the car needs a lot of fine-tuning for it," said Robert Doornbos, who was driving on the course for the first time. "It was nice to work in the peace and quiet with my new team and try some different things. I'm fairly pleased with what we did.

"My engineer, Neil (Fife), and I are both very competitive, so we're never going to be completely happy. We're always going to keep pushing. But we're fairly happy with how the day went and we're looking forward to the race."

Doornbos, who competed in the No. 33 HVM Racing entry for the first time at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 9, had a best lap of 1:18.26.

Afternoon Times
1. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 1:17.48
2. Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:17.76
3. E.J. Viso HVM 1:17.94
4. Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:17.98
5. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing, 1:18.25
6. Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:18.25
7. Robert Doornbos HVM 1:18.26
8. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon Racing, 1:18.34
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay A.J. Foyt Racing, 1:18.37
10. Franck Montagny Andretti Green Racing, 1:18.91
11. Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 1:18.09
12. Nelson Philippe Conquest Racing, 1:19.13
13. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 1:23.3.

08/13/09 We added the remaining times from today's morning test session.

08/13/09 Mike Conway was again the fastest in 2nd day testing for the IndyCars at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. His time of 77.72sec topped Penske's Ryan Briscoe in the morning. More to follow from this afternoon….

Thursday AM Times
1. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 77.72s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 77.76s
3. Dan Wheldon PAN 77.98s
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi Racing 78.09s
5. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing 78.25s
6. Ernesto Viso HVM 78.26s
7. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 78.34s
8. Franck Montagny AGR 79.00s
9. Helio Castroneves Penske Racing 79.66s
10. Nelson Philippe Conquest 79.68s
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Foyt Racing 79.91s
12. Robert Doornbos HVM 80.46s
13. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 83.30s