Hornish Makes Penske Debut; Castroneves, Dixon Also Turn Laps
By Eric Powell
indy500.com
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Two-time IRL IndyCarTM Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. made his on-track debut in the legendary red-and-white colors of Marlboro Team Penske on Oct. 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, joining two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and newly crowned IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon champion in Firestone tire testing.
Hornish turned his first laps for the legendary team that has won the last three Indianapolis 500s, with Castroneves in 2001-02 and Gil de Ferran in 2003, and holds the record for the most Indianapolis 500 victories with 13.
2001 and 2002 series champion Hornish drove the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, while Castroneves was in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone. Dixon drove both the No. 9 and 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone cars at various times. Speeds and total laps completed for each driver were not released. All drivers were preparing for the 2004 Indianapolis 500 on May 30.
The transition to Penske from Panther Racing, for which Hornish drove for three seasons for 2001-03, went smoothly, Hornish said. Hornish replaced de Ferran, who retired after the season-ending Chevy 500 on Oct. 12.
"Some of the things they had done last year were a little different than what we had run, just basically based on driver preference," Hornish said. "We're just getting to know each other right now, and the car felt great.
"Pretty much everything's different. It's new, kind of refreshing. You get to learn something else, see how something else works a little bit different than what we've had. Sometimes you get in a comfort zone, and you don't know when things are different, and it's kind of neat to get outside that and learn new things."
Although Hornish admitted to a certain degree of anxiety about his first day of testing with the most successful team in Indy-style racing history, he said the focus of the first day was simply to get to better acquainted with the team.
"I just want them to feel like they've made the right decision," Hornish said. "There is a certain amount that I feel that I do have to prove myself, but the big thing is to not overdo it, either. You don't want to go out there and try to show them you're a hero and knock the wall down."
Castroneves and Hornish enjoyed an intense on-track rivalry while driving in the IndyCar Series for Penske and Panther, respectively, the last two years. The rivalry will not diminish in any way when the 2004 season starts Feb. 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, both drivers said.
"I don't see it being any different," Hornish said. "I wanted to beat him bad before, and I guess this makes me want to beat him even more because you're put in the same equipment, so basically whoever wins is the better driver that day."
While Castroneves is equally confident that he can beat Hornish in 2004, he also sees the benefits their rivalry will bring to the team.
"We're both competitors," Castroneves said. "I think it's going to be awesome for the entire Team Penske. It's going to bring a lot to us, good information I'm sure he has. And again, now he's my teammate. Not because he's my teammate do I need to lighten up. It didn't happen with Gil, either, even though we were best buddies.
"So it's going to be a good battle, hopefully the two of us all the time, and I'm looking forward to 2004. I'm going to tease him a little bit, once in a while. Not now, because it's his first day at school."
Despite the exhausting intensity of the 2003 IndyCar Series championship chase, which saw five drivers eligible for the crown at the season finale at Texas, Dixon and Target Chip Ganassi Racing allowed themselves very little time to celebrate the championship.
The team put in a full day of testing at IMS with Dixon, and Dixon's new teammate, Tony Renna, will replace Dixon in the car for testing Oct. 22. Dixon will head to Orlando, Fla., for festivities surrounding the Indy Racing League Championship Celebration on Oct. 25 at EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resorts, where he will receive a $1-million bonus as series champion.
Renna has a total of seven IndyCar Series starts, all for Kelley Racing. His best finish was fourth at Michigan in 2002, and he qualified an impressive eighth and finished seventh at the 2003 Indianapolis 500.
Dixon said the focus for 2004 remains unchanged from this time a year ago.
"It starts again," he said. "This is the start of our testing campaign for the championship next year, and I think the '500' definitely stands out. It's not so much that we accomplished the championship. We want to do that every year." ***
2004 tickets: Tickets are available for the 2004 Indianapolis 500. For information, log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, or call the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.
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