Castro Neves cautious despite practice pace

He does not feel that the practice times carry much significance. The Chicago oval is a new experience for all the teams and qualifying tomorrow could be a totally different story.

'Tomorrow I think is going to be quicker for everyone,' he admitted.

The track, unlike any of the other short ovals, requiring a surprising amount of heavy braking into the turns.

Earlier this season, there were complaints from the drivers after the new low-downforce aerodynamic package now mandatory on the ovals led to some disappointingly processional racing. It was hoped that the unique layout of the Chicago track would alleviate this problem, and the drivers agree so far.

'This is a difficult track because it's so heavy on brakes through the corners,' said Mark Blundell, 4th quickest in practice. 'In some ways, it's more of a road course approach.

'It should produce good racing, that's what it's all about.'

'You have to go from 180 to 130mph in the corners,' added Roberto Moreno, the fastest Swift runner in practice and 3rd overall. 'You have to be extremely smooth here. The guys who late-brake are going to have problems.'

Moreno is one of the favourites for this race. Like Max Papis, who finished the session in 2nd place, he concentrated on finding a race set-up and working on consistency over long-distance runs.

While Helio Castro-Neves' lightning pace suggests he could be a contender for his third pole of the season, it looks like Moreno and Papis could be among the men to watch when the flag drops on Sunday afternoon.

(For session times, see separate report.)