Kanaan: Penske, Ganassi closing in

AGR have won the last two IRL titles with Kanaan and Dan Wheldon, enjoying favoured team status from engine supplier Honda. Between AGR's four drivers, they won 11 of the 17 races held last season.

However, with the Japanese manufacturer supplying the entire field this year, Kanaan believes that the advantage they have had will be reduced.

Testing performance of both teams suggests that the former Toyota-powered teams have closed the gap.

Although Kanaan topped the opening official test session of the season at Phoenix in February, since then it has been new Ganassi driver Wheldon and Penske's Helio Castroneves who have been quickest in the subsequent tests.

"We cannot say we dominated the last four years, but we covered a lot of races because of volume," Kanaan told autosport.com. "Having four cars gives you four times the chances.

"But Penske were good with what it had, and Ganassi was the best team before we got going. Sooner or later, people were going to catch up with us. There's only so much you can do to improve once you've reached that level before others.

"The others will close that gap. Having all of the same equipment and same chassis will only make it better for them. Those two teams definitely gained some ground."