No winners yet in PacWest Indy Lights shoot-out

Alongside new signing Dan Wheldon - who fills the seat vacated by champ Scott Dixon -it fielded British F3 champions Marc Hynes and Ralph Firman, plus American Jeff Simmons who raced alongside Jonny Kane for Team Kool Green this year. Each of the three contestants ran on different days around Phoenix's Firebird Raceway and were judged by team manager Paul 'Ziggy' Harcus. He gave Autosport.com his impressions...

"He was impressive in the fact that he did a great job for someone who has not had a lot of time in a car over the last year. He was quicker on the day than Wheldon but it was also the first time that Dan had been in a Lights car as well."

"He was also impressive, but then we expected that out of him considering the fact that he has run cars of this calibre for the last few years. Wheldon was quicker overall - though at the end of the day, with both cars on new tyres, Firman was slightly faster."

"He ran the third day with no one to compare his times to as we were switching the other car to an oval set up, and the only other car running was our Champ Car. His times were the best overall from the three days, but once again we were able to bypass some steps in the programme as he had run a Lights car during the past year."

Wheldon also tested the Indy Lights Lola on Phoenix's oval course for the first time, the Toyota/Atlantic Rookie of the Year again impressing the team with his pace. As for the identity of his team-mate, the squad has yet to decide.

"I would say it's a little too early to say who I would rate as the best as all three have great points," added Harcus. "Hynes young and talented. Firman has tested an IRL car and so has limited oval experience, which helps, and Simmons has a year's experience in these cars on both ovals and road courses. All three were fast, so now we will send our reports off to the team owner and see what his decision is."

Wheldon 52.83s, Hynes 52.69s
Wheldon 51.91s, Firman 52.16s
Simmons 51.89s