INDYCAR: Monday Sebring Spring Training Report

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Monday Sebring Spring Training Report

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay saved the best for the end of the day, dropping the fastest lap from the morning by almost a half-second.

Marshall Pruett | Posted March 05, 2012

PM UPDATE

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay saved the best for the end of the day, dropping the fastest lap from the morning by almost a half-second just before the day's activities came to an end at 5 p.m. ET.

The American's 52.58-second lap in his Chevrolet-powered Dallara DW12 led fellow Chevy user Helio Castroneves, who topped the morning session with a 52.94-second lap and improved it to a 52.70 in the final 30 minutes of of the afternoon.

"We just kept working through some pretty big changes," RHR told SPEED.com. "We found speed in some and not in others, but that's what testing is all about. It's just great to be out here with all these DW12s painted up. It feels like we're starting the season already."

Simon Pagenaud led the Honda runners in third with a 52.73-second lap, followed by Andretti's James Hinchcliffe in fourth whose 52.91-second lap was set just before he ran out of fuel.

Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe set the fifth-fastest time with a 52.92-second lap, while his teammate, Will Power, was an uncharacteristic sixth on the speed charts...but for good reason.

The Aussie was sidelined just as the rest of the teams were posting fast laps due to a small fire that broke out in the engine bay.

With the local corner marshal taking longer to appear with a fire extinguisher than Power wanted, he took it upon himself to solve the problem.

Will Power prepares to turn Fireman at Sebring Monday afternoon. (Photo: Mike Levitt/LAT)

"I got out of the car--I could see it was burning, and the guy was taking his time getting across the track, so I ran, ripped the fire extinguisher off him and put the fire out," Power told SPEED.com. "I didn't want to see my Verizon car get burned to the ground..."

Power's mechanics and members of Ilmor, the firm that builds the Chevrolet engines, are working late into the night on his Dallara DW12-Chevrolet with the goal of being back on track when Tuesday morning's activities begin at 9 a.m. ET.

Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson ended the day in seventh with a 53.17-second lap, Marco Andretti went eighth with a 53.28 and Wilson's teammate, James Jakes, ran ninth with a 53.92.

Simona de Silvestro was slowest with a 54.56, but the time was not representative as her car suffered a misfire shortly after the afternoon session began.

With the Lotus running on five cylinders, the team opted to take the car back to its hauler, where it spent the rest of the day.

HVM Racing team informed SPEED.com the root of the problem was found in the wiring system, and like Power, de Silvestro should be on track in the morning.

Dragon Racing spent the afternoon sending its cars through tech as it waited on engines. Between observing the on-track activities, Dragon's Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge worked on the fitment of their respective steering wheels.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Sebring Spring Training 2012