The IndyCar Series may not be inextricably linked with
Daytona International Speedway - yet - but the venue's modified road course is already proving to be a hit with its drivers.
Panther Racing's Vitor Meira was among those to sample the ten-turn 2.73-mile road course - which incorporates part of the tri-oval superspeedway and its infield section - when the IRL tested the latest spec engines and 100 per cent ethanol fuel there late in 2006. Now, ahead of the first officially-sanctioned open test there, the Brazilian reveals his way around.
"Braking into turn one is the hardest [braking] you have on the whole track - you go from 187mph to maybe 100mph for what is a second gear corner," Meira said, "You then go through the little Esses, which is like a straight for us, before the second hardest braking going into turn three which, for me, is first gear, although there are some people who might be in second.
"Then you go through four, which is flat, before really heavy braking into five. The Daytona prototypes go straight here, but we turn left in second gear. You accelerate a little bit, still in second gear, before the backstretch, which is second gear - and very slippery.
"You get to the chicane in fifth gear and have to downshift to third. The chicane is really cool and fast, and the curves allow you to use a lot of the track so you stay in third or fourth gear for three or four seconds before hammering it again heading onto turns three and four of the oval, where it has more bumps and undulations than I thought. However, we have so much grip in the downforce that it's not a big problem.
"From there on, it's sixth gear onto the start-finish straight and down to turn one again."
![Sunset at the 2006 Rolex 24 at Daytona [pic credit: Richard Prince/GM Racing]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/191901.jpg)
