Indy 1: Hornish fastest

The real surprise of the day however was the guy they bumped down to third in the final moments of the day. Robby Gordon, in his first test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for his IRL Indy/NASCAR Charlotte double-header on May 30, recorded a lap of 218.921 mph, which was fastest of the day until Hornish (219.271 mph) and Castroneves (219.256) topped it.

Gordon is attempting double duty for the fourth time, racing in the Indianapolis 500 in the early afternoon, then flying to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 later that evening. In spite of a brief pit fire and wind that hit gusts of nearly 30mph, Gordon topped the 25 other cars on only his 11th lap of the afternoon session.

"It's definitely a good start," Gordon said. "Our car is raw painted and has some decent-sized gaps and seams in it. We feel like we probably have another mile an hour, maybe a mile and a half, just with the paint job and trimming the car out."

The two-day test is seen as the second major hurdle for the IRL IndyCar Series' new rules package, which reduces engine capacity from 3.5-litres to three and introduces new aerodynamic elements designed to slow the cars. Hornish's lap was more than 12mph slower than Castroneves' pole-winning speed last year at Indy.

"I feel like this is the best chance I've ever had," said Hornish, who hasn't finished better than 14th in his first four Indy 500s. "That has a lot to do with getting experience and knowing more about racing. Everybody says, 'Well, you won two IRL championships,' but if you don't keep learning, you're just going to fall by the wayside."

At the first test of the new equipment earlier this month at Indy, the top speed was around 217mph. Drivers say they expect this year's pole speed to be in the low to mid-220s. "I think we can go a little faster," Castroneves said. "Probably the engine manufacturers will come out with something that will make us go a little bit faster. We'll have the whole month to work on it. I'm predicting 225. Hopefully, that will be me."

Gordon's lap was a boost for Chevrolet, which has struggled in the first three IRL races of the season, with a top finish of fourth. However, Chevy's new engine looked strong on Wednesday with Gordon and both Red Bull Cheever Racing cars, driven by Alex Barron (fifth-fastest) and Ed Carpenter (seventh).

Toyota, which won the Indy 500 last year with Gil de Ferran, proved strongest again Target Chip Ganassi Racing team-mates Scott Dixon fourth and Darren Manning sixth behind the two Penskes.

Manning was the best of the Britons on track at 218.319mph with Panther Racing's rookie Mark Taylor next best in 10th place at 216.680mph. Andretti Green Racing drivers Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti had a less successful day. Wheldon was 14th best on 215.292mph, while Franchitti survived a wind-induced brush with the wall, but was only 23rd fastest on 210.962mph.

Other speeds of note on Wednesday included Bruno Junqueira's first outing in the Newman/Haas Racing entry. Junqueira was 15th fastest with 214.187mph lap. Al Unser Jr., driving for Pat Patrick's team in its return to Indy, was 17th. Felipe Giaffone, replacing retired Robbie Buhl in the Dreyer & Reinbold car, was ninth quickest and Sarah Fisher, who has joined Kelley Racing for the 500, was 25th.

Testing will continue today.

Sam Hornish Dallara/Toyota 219.271mph
Helio Castroneves Dallara/Toyota 219.256mph
Robby Gordon Dallara/Chevrolet 218.921mph
Scott Dixon G-Force/Toyota 218.876mph
Alex Barron Dallara/Chevrolet 218.608mph
Darren Manning G-Force/Toyota 218.319mph
Ed Carpenter Dallara/Chevrolet 217.986mph
Tomas Scheckter Dallara/Chevrolet 217.737mph
Felipe Giaffone Dallara/Chevrolet 217.591mph
Mark Taylor Dallara/Chevrolet 216.680mph