Andretti tops 210mph mark

In Thursday's Newman/Haas test session on the 1.5-mile oval Andretti posted a fastest lap of 25.61s.

His overall speed topped the pre-season effort of Spring Training leader Max Papis of Team Rahal, who posted a quick speed of 209.907s.

"The conditions weren't the best because of the high winds but despite that, we have learned a lot since Spring Training," said Andretti.

"We started out the day knowing that the winds would pick up so we had to get down to business quick.

"The car feels great. All of the elements are coming together for a great season. We always set our goals (for the next season) high during the off-season, but our testing has given us a good level of confidence.

"The competition is going to be tough but I think we are in the best shape we have been in the past four years."

The 37-year-old driver took over testing duties from team-mate Christian Fittipaldi Thursday and ran 125 laps on the day, doing most of the speed work early in the day.

Due to high winds in the afternoon, the team made some slower, full-tank runs and practiced pit stops