| 05 March 2012
The reason is elementary, my dear race fan: He had no Lotus engine.
Simona de Silvestro did have one and put 31 laps on her No. 78 HVM Racing machine today, and the other Lotus-powered teams -- Team Barracuda/BHA with driver Alex Tagliani and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with driver Oriol Servia -- are slated to test on Thursday and Friday.
Now it appears Bourdais will have to wait until then as well to get laps in. A tweet from SPEEDTV.com's Marshall Pruett says that the Frenchman hopes to be in the car on Thursday. His teammate, fellow Champ Car alum Katherine Legge, is also slated to test on Thursday and Friday, too.
But the question remains. Where was the powerplant for Bourdais? Perhaps we'll know tomorrow, which is when it should be available according to this tweet from the AP's Jenna Fryer, who's also in Sebring this week.
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Andretti Autosport is looking to be at the front more consistently in 2012, and while one test does not a season make, it never hurts to start off on the right foot. Two of their three drivers, Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe, cracked the top five in today's testing with RHR leading the way thanks to a hot lap of 52.5826 seconds.
Like the other drivers, Hunter-Reay is still getting used to his new 'office' in the turbocharged Dallara DW12. But he's quickly noticed the differences.
"Everybody is making a lot of adjustments to their cars, and the car is a lot of fun," said Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 DHL/Sun-Drop Chevrolet. "The car is a lot different with the carbon brakes, it being lighter and the power output with the Chevy twin turbo. The funny thing is if you didn't have any lap times you'd think you were two or three seconds a lap quicker just because of the power delivery of the turbo. When it gets going, it really sets you back in your seat.
"I think the lap times at St. Pete will be quicker, and this car will certainly go faster and faster as we develop it."
As for Hinchcliffe, the reigning Sunoco Rookie of the Year, he was fourth-quickest on the day with a 52.9125-second lap around Sebring's 1.67-mile layout. Afterwards, he dubbed Monday "a good learning day."
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow as we have a good baseline to work with," said the pilot of the No. 27 GoDaddy Chevrolet. "[Hunter-Reay] was obviously very quick, but we'll just keep working on all of the things we set out to test."
The third Andretti Autosport driver, Marco Andretti, took his No. 26 RC Cola Chevrolet to P8 on the charts with a time of 53.2814 seconds.
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Four of the top five drivers in today's session were part of Chevy's "Bowtie Brigade," but Honda also showed a bit of its strength today with the help of Simon Pagenaud and the newly-dubbed Schmidt/Hamilton Racing team. Pagenaud peeled off a fast lap of 52.7311 seconds in the No. 77 HP Honda, a time that was good for third-quickest on the day and within a tenth-and-a-half of Hunter-Reay.
It was a pretty big day overall for the squad, who announced its aforementioned alliance between team owner Sam Schmidt and veteran racer Davey Hamilton.
"I've known Davey for what seems like forever, and he's a great friend who is trusted and liked by everyone," Schmidt said in a team statement. "He's also experienced in just about every facet of the racing business, so he'll be a huge asset for the team. Most importantly, I know him as a fierce competitor who has battled life's challenges both on and off the track. We can relate to each other like no one else I have met."
As for their driver Pagenaud, he said that the team was on pace and just needed some "fine-tuning here and there."
"We made quite a few changes getting ready for St. Petersburg with its low-grip conditions, which we had here today as well," he said. "We made some big steps forward. I'm very happy tonight. The Honda engine is really good. I'm improving every time I go out. The team is doing a great job and that's making me feel more and more confident. There are a lot of familiar faces in this team for me, so it already feels like home. That's one reason we are shining already on the track."
Another Honda team, Dale Coyne Racing, placed seventh and ninth on the time charts respectively with Justin Wilson and James Jakes. The rest of the Honda teams -- which includes the four-car armada of Chip Ganassi Racing -- will hit the track Thursday.
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All quotes in this article were taken from team and league releases.
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