Rising stars test at Sebring
Champ Car teams Forsythe and Dale Coyne Racing handed some of the sport's younger stars a chance to show their talents at Sebring earlier this week during an unofficial test to evaluate the drivers who could graduate to the series in the very near future
Although no official times were issued from the test, Alex Figge, a veteran of the Toyota Atlantic Championship, was credited with setting the fastest time as he completed 91 laps of the 'short' course in the car normally driven by Paul Tracy.
"I really want to thank Champ Car and the Forsythe team for this experience," said Figge. "I thought it was a good test and I ran as competitively as anyone. The biggest difference between a Champ Car and an Atlantic car is obviously the power.
"At 750-horsepower it's a big jump from the (240-horsepower) Atlantic car and that was challenging. At this point I'm still keeping my options open for next season but I'd love to be in Champ Car at some point down the road."
Formula BMW USA front-runner Andreas Wirth was also evaluated by Forsythe, completing more than 110 laps to end the day just a fraction behind Figge's best time.
"Wow, what a powerful car!" declared Wirth. "I learned a lot and I continued to improve my times, so I'm pretty happy. I just want to thank Forsythe Racing and both Formula BMW USA and Champ Car for this test."
American Bryan Sellers came away from the test with the most mileage in a single day under his best, having completed 130 laps for Dale Coyne Racing. The team also tested Australian sports car driver Marcus Marshall a run.
Formula BMW USA 2004 Rookie-Of-The-Year James Hinchcliffe set some impressive times during a two-day run, and he was joined on the second day by leading Toyota Atlantic rookie Andrew Ranger and Atlantic graduate Michael Valiante.
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