Penske duo looking good at home

Helio Castro Neves ended the day fifth fastest, slightly disappointed not to be breaking into the top three, while his team-mate Gil de Ferran slipped to ninth in the afternoon after a spin despite topping the morning times.

'The first session was pretty good, the car was handling well,' reported Castro Neves.

'The set-up is very critical here because of the long straights, but I'm confident we'll improve and be in the top three tomorrow.'

De Ferran was lucky to keep his car intact after his turn four pirouette.

'I had just put new tyres on and I thought they were okay so I just nailed it to get a good exit,' he explained.

'I started to lose the rear end so I tried not to panic. I just tried to keep the back end off the wall when it came around. I kind of flicked the car to make it spin, then you just let off the gas and try to get it pointed in the right direction.

'I have a lot of practice doing that, you know...'

Both drivers are still hunting for Penske's 100th victory. The team last won at Gateway in 1997, but De Ferran took pole at Homestead and Long Beach and both drivers have run at the front throughout the 2000 season so far.