Castroneves gets Brickyard 'wake-up call'

While taking laps during the afternoon's ROP session, the CART ace who is preparing for his first Indianapolis 500 went into Turn 1 just a bit too fast. The next thing the Brazilian realised, he was sliding through the south short chute between Turns 1 and 2. Castroneves was able to keep the car off the
wall, but he admitted to being speechless for a few moments after his big "moment."

"I learned that you have to be careful with the weather," Castroneves said. "The warmer weather changed everything. I had a moment out there, which is why I have to keep working. The car was pretty good. I was running 218 miles per hour and was running almost flat for a flat-out lap. All of a sudden, the rear got out from under me.

"It was a little moment. A big moment actually! I didn't even have a voice to
talk to the team. I was sideways. It was enough to catch your breath. I think it was the wind. We are going to go back out and see if there is something wrong with the set-up."

Castroneves said the track surface temperature was 140 degrees. It was the
hottest day seen at the track so far during testing.

Castroneves went through ROP to gain valuable track time in the Indy Racing League cars that will compete in the 85th Indianapolis 500 next month. Castroneves drives a Reynard-Honda in CART, but will drive a Dallara-Oldsmobile Aurora in the IRL.

He used the last two days to help acclimate himself to the different car and was a quick learner until his moment.



Castroneves is attempting to follow in the footsteps of Juan Pablo Montoya, the Formula 1 driver who won last year's Indianapolis 500 as a member of CART's Chip Ganassi Racing squad.

"He's a big bold guy," Castroneves said. "I'm a bit bold, too, but I think
I'm going to use my brains more. Today, we have plenty of time to get the car set-up right. It doesn't pay anything today, which is why we are going to come back in a week for more testing.

"You have to respect this place. We aren't kidding here. We are above 200 miles an hour and we will be there, at least. The angles of the turn, if you have a big crash, it's not going to be a nice and smooth hit. It's better to walk down the pits rather than not walk at all. So far, I'm okay with that."

Castroneves hopes to draw on the experience of Rick Mears, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who works with Team Penske as a consultant. He has also obtained valuable advice from former driver Al Unser, another four-time Indy 500 winner who works for the IRL as a driver coach.

Mears once said driving down the front straight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and going into Turn 1 is like going 200 miles an hour down the hallway in a home then taking a hard left into the closet.



All nine drivers who participated in ROP passed the programme and are allowed to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is May 6.

The ROP includes four phases where each driver has to drive 10 laps at a specific speed range. Each phase builds up speed to a faster level. The fourth phase is 10 laps at over 210 miles an hour under the observation of IRL officials and veteran drivers.

Cory Witherill, who is attempting to become the first Native American ever to compete at the Indianapolis 500, was the last to pass the ROP on Saturday after getting a late start on Friday afternoon. The member of the Navajo tribe ran 77 laps on Saturday with a fast speed of 212.182 for Indy Regency Racing.

"Being here is such a great dream come true for me," Witherill said. "I have always wanted to be here and participate in such a historical part of racing history. I don't feel any pressure from being the only Native American here. I have so much support from all of the people I have met over the years. My friends and family always give me 110 percent support. This is really good for the Native American community as well, because we don't really have a lot of role models, at least not of this magnitude. It is such a good, proud feeling to represent the Native American community."

There were 956 laps run on Friday with 401 laps run on Saturday.

"All the rookies did a real good job and went through the tests real well, and then they got quite a few practice laps," said Phil Casey, the IRL technical director. "We had a pretty good crop of rookies and most have run our cars and that helped them a lot here. Realistically, only one car had to
go on through today and that was Cory Witherill, who only had to go through
the last phase.

"Helio Castroneves only had to go through a refresher course and as a rookie, they were able to get some more track time in and that really helped them a lot. Felipe Giaffone is another outstanding rookie and did a real good job."