Team Penske 1-2-3 leads shortened first day at Spring Training

DAY 1 QUOTEBOARD:

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “We’ve had to try different things, so it’s a good day for that. Obviously the track conditions are exceptional, a lot of grip because it’s so cold, you gain a little bit of downforce. You’re always learning, there’s no use in belting around there not learning anything. We found some more good stuff, crossed off things that don’t work and I think we’re in a good place.” (About Juan Pablo Montoya): “Montoya brings some good ideas, he’s very quick so it’s only help for us. Obviously he becomes a competitor, but it’s up to me to do the job on the track. We found some good stuff over the winter, worked hard. It looks like everyone is, once again, so close, running the same set-ups, it’s just ridiculously competitive. It’s up to me, like I said. Collectively as a team we try to improve the car and learn from each other, but when it comes to racing, the better guy is going to be winning. It’s competition; it’s just how it is. This series, he could win the first race quite easily. I expect him to definitely drive to the front everywhere, so if you’re at the front knocking on the door, eventually you’re going to get a win.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Just trying to get better and figure out new tires a little bit. I’m trying to learn how to get more out of the car and we’re getting there. It was good today, but there’s a couple of places that I need to do a little better job and be a little cleaner, but we’re getting there.” (About having a full day of testing on Tuesday): “I think it will be really good. We’re going to try to get in some long runs tomorrow and hopefully running in some traffic. I think that is going to be one of the key things (heading into St. Petersburg).” (About the conditions): “When it’s this cold, it’s so fast. The car is working pretty good and we did a lot of work over the winter, the car is good, so I’m pretty happy.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda): “The Open Test at Barber is like going back for the first day of school. We’ve got a brand new bright blue livery on the No. 77 car, and I really love how it stands out from all of the other cars on track. The SPM crew has done a great job preparing the car because we’re already very fast. Honda’s engine seems to be very powerful and we were right at the top of the time sheet for the whole day at Barber. This car gives me plenty of confidence going into the fast corners, and I think it’s honestly the best we’ve ever been on tracks like this. We still have some work to do with testing several things tomorrow. The weather didn’t help us today keeping us off of the track with cold rain, but we were fast. I’m really looking forward to the start of the season at St. Pete in two weeks – it can’t come fast enough.” (About Barber): “”Barber is a really fast track. There are a lot of up and down corners as well as blind corners, and we’re very fast in fifth gear here. It’s a very important compromise between where you want to place your car on the race line and how late you want to brake or be on the power. This track is extremely technical but I’m getting to the point where I’m understanding the track much more than previous years and the car is suiting me more.”

MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): “Today felt like a proper test with a full field of cars here at Barber. I’m used to that from testing in Europe, so we got a lot of great practice in today. Obviously I will learn more about my fellow drivers here in (the Verizon) IndyCar (Series) as I go throughout the season, but I’ve been watching a lot of video of previous races to help prepare myself. Each driver is different and you need to learn how they think and drive. I think Barber is a great track. It has a European style with ups and downs and long and fast corners. We made some positive changes on the car and worked very hard. We had a technical issue at the end of the day and I had to stop running. We’ll be back tomorrow though for a full day with a lot of new things to try.”

MIKE CONWAY (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “We started out pretty well today and the car felt good. I think we were top four. We tried a variety of things later in the afternoon and didn’t improve. The other guys found some things and were quicker. We were able to work through some of the list of things we had planned. We just need to work in a few more areas with the car. It is scheduled to be warmer on Tuesday so I feel that will help the car too. The low 50s is very cold for these tires. Actually, it felt good to get back in the Fuzzy’s car. I have been testing the sports car in recent weeks. It doesn’t take long to get acclimated to these cars again, just a few laps. I’m looking forward to another day of testing on Tuesday.”