Sebastian Saavedra tops Firestone Indy Lights Test

On Tuesday, Sebastian Saavedra topped a Firestone Indy Lights Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twenty-one drivers had five hours to prepare for the Firestone Freedom 100, which will be run May 22.

Sebastian Saavedra Credit: Indy Lights

Saavedra, who won the April 26 race at Kansas Speedway, turned a best lap of 47.0520 seconds, 191.278 mph. 2006 race winner Wade Cunningham was second at 190.969 mph, Martin Plowman was third and J.R. Hildebrand was fourth.

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing, fastest): "We are working hard on our race setup. I think we were able to pick up the pace very early, and throughout the day we made small changes on last year's setup. From there we worked as a team, and we did an awesome job. I can't wait to come back for the race."

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports, second): "It's nice being back. It's good validation to be in a good car, then put up a good result. I had a great car that enabled me to go quick straight away. It was a bit difficult for everyone with tire wear in this first test because there was no rubber down. Obviously, we still have a little bit of work to do because the AGR car is still a little bit quicker, but we've got a couple of weeks before the race where we can sit down and analyze where we can come up with a stronger package and come out race weekend and contend for the win."

MARTIN PLOWMAN (No. 15 Panther Racing, third): "It always nice to see your name at the top of the time sheets, but this is only an Open Test. It's important to come away with a good feeling for the car and the track. I think we achieved that today. I learned a lot. There's still some work for me as I learn the line, but the car is fast. We did some qualifying simulations at the end of the day, and we were very happy. I'm confident that the 15 car will be competitive."

J.R. HILDEBRAND (No. 26 Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing, fourth): "We were really quick early in the day. We had some trouble with our setup pad, so we didn't run much in the afternoon, but I think we were one of the first or second quickest cars running on our own, so that sets us up for qualifying. We never ran low fuel or put in much tow time. I'm just looking forward to the race. I had a great race weekend last year, and it's such a cool opportunity to race at the Speedway. Any track time you can get is fun."

ANDREW PRENDEVILLE (No. 2 Team Moore Racing, fifth): "It's a beautiful day, which we didn't get last year. The track is in good condition, so everyone has gone quick. I'm very happy. Our car is good. It's good in traffic. We've had quick cars everywhere we've been. We've just had issues that set us back. We just need a trouble-free weekend. I'm sure we'll be there on Race Day."

J.R. Hildebrand, driver of the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing entry, returned to action following his weekend debut in A1GP. Hildebrand competed in the round at Brands Hatch, England, recording a fourth-place finish in the Sprint race and an 11th in the Feature. He had previously participated in three rookie practice sessions for Team USA, but had not competed in a race.

J.R. HILDEBRAND: "Overall, I feel pretty good about the whole weekend, but we would have liked better results today. I'm just proud of the guys on Team USA and all the work they've done. I think I could have done a better job, but I also know that we showed we had the speed to compete. We probably missed a couple of opportunities this weekend to move up in the field, both in qualifying and in the race. But, again, I think we proved we have the pace to run up front."

Firestone Indy Lights driver Richard Philippe was working with a new team at Indianapolis. The French rookie drove Team PBIR's No. 37 entry in hopes of gaining seat time in advance of the Firestone Freedom 100.

RICHARD PHILIPPE: "I got some good mileage in a (Firestone Indy) Lights car on a oval. At Kansas, I got about 20 miles between crashes. It's nice to be here at this track. It's so famous, and I'm happy to be able to drive around here."

Another rookie on the move, Ali Jackson, who moved from Guthrie Meyer Racing to RLR Andersen Racing following the Kansas race, missed most of the Open Test as his team worked on preparing the No. 6 car for the test. The car, which was acquired from HVM Racing, still carried the charcoal-and-green livery of its previous owner. Jackson recorded 26 laps.

Print This Page	Go back to the previous page