Bourdais sets Sebring testing pace

The Newman/Haas driver's 49.93 second lap on Wednesday stood as the best of the two day test, as rain on Thursday afternoon prompted the three teams present to pack up early.

"Things went very well for us," Bourdais said. "We had a very good first day, the conditions were just about perfect and we worked on quite a few things. I think we're ready for the season to start."

Newman/Haas were joined at Sebring by PKV Racing's Oriol Servia and Katherine Legge, and CTE Racing-HVM, who were running recent signing Nelson Philippe alongside potential second driver Dan Clarke.

The British Formula Three race winner had already tested with Conquest Racing earlier in the winter. He is keen to make the switch to the Champ Car World Series in 2006.

"The main thing that interests me about Champ Car is that it's a level playing field here," said Clarke. "The teams are much more equal than they are in Formula One and I want to race in a series that allows you to go out and show how good you are."

While CTE-HVM plan to remain at Sebring for another two days, the rest of the field will reconvene for open testing on 29-30 March.