Castroneves cheers up Penske at Sebring

The 26-year-old Brazilian lapped the 1.7-mile road course in 50.5 seconds, 0.3s quicker than Tony Kanaan's Mo Nunn-run Reynard-Honda. Castroneves' running was delayed, however, when he spun into a tyrewall and damaged the rear wing.

"We worked very hard," he told Speedvision.com. "We went very fast and did a lot of work. I'd say things are definitely going in the right direction."

His place will be taken today by team-mate Gil de Ferran, who will test despite heavy bruising from his recent high-speed oval crashes at Phoenix and Homestead. The reigning champion will be hoping accidents don't happen in threes...

Running in the 51.4secs bracket, according to unofficial timing, were returning former champ Alex Zanardi (Mo Nunn Reynard-Honda), Cristiano da Matta (Newman/Haas Lola-Toyota) and Paul Tracy (Team Kool Green Reynard-Honda). Max Papis (Team Rahal Lola-Ford) and rookie Kiwi Scott Dixon (PacWest Reynard-Toyota) lapped in 51.9secs, while Japan's Shinji Nakano was slowest in his Fernandez-run Reynard-Honda at 52.3secs.

Castroneves' next test will be in Indy Racing League machinery in the 'Test in the West' at Phoenix on Friday and Saturday where he may, or may not, be joined by de Ferran as Penske prepares for to contest two IRL races, including the Indy 500.