Rubens Barrichello took to the track for the first time in a KV Racing DW12 IndyCar, as the prospects grew of a fulltime switch to the series for the F1 veteran.
"It's a different car, it's a different beast, but it is a beast," was Rubens Barrichello's first reaction to driving a 2012
IndyCar at Sebring International Raceway on Monday, as the guest of his close friend Tony Kanaan and of Jimmy Vasser's KV Racing Technology team. (See
main story and
video of the session in the F1 section.)
"I've come in as an invitation from my brother, Tony, and I am enjoying this time with him at the track and with a new car," he told reporters ahead of his two-day outing in the new-specification DW12 Dallara, while continuing to remain coy about his longer term plans.
"It's just an invitation for him to help us out as far as his feedback," stressed Kanaan, who had made the invitation after the news broke that Barrichello had lost his seat at Williams F1 to Bruno Senna for 2012. "What goes beyond that, it's up to him."
While
IndyCar may be new to Barrichello, he has more racing experience of several of the DW12's new innovations such as carbon brakes and the steering-wheel mounted clutch than the
IndyCar Series regulars themselves have, and it's his input in setting up such areas of the new car that KV Racing is hoping to benefit from.
"I think we've already seen we'll learn a lot from him on setup and everything else," said an impressed Vasser. "You can see he'll be right there in no time ... I think he enjoyed himself!"
Although no official timings were released for any cars running during the testing session at Sebring, observers reported that Barrichello was soon putting in times in the mid-54s, a little behind Kanaan's fastest morning times and compared with a low 53s benchmark for Scott Dixon during last week's testing on the 1.8-mile, 10-turn short road course in the heart of Florida state.
The question remains just how serious the chance of Barrichello moving to
IndyCar in 2012 could be. Early reports had suggested that Barrichello had ruled out switching to the series and had long ago promised his wife Silvana that he would never run on ovals - not that this had to be an out-and-out deal breaker, as Sebastien Bourdais' road/street course-only season in 2011 demonstrated.
"It is something to talk about," admitted Barrichello, downplaying the importance of the oval question. "But it is not an issue I'd call a 'concern.'"
KV Racing Technology fielded three cars in 2011, with Tony Kanaan certain to continue with the team into 2012. EJ Viso is also likely to remain with the organisation, while Takuma Sato's as-yet unconfirmed move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing leaves at least one seat to be filled.
