Conquest Racing duo Enrique Bernoldi and Franck Perera have enjoyed a day of running at Homestead-Miami Speedway ahead of the opening rounds of the new IndyCar Series season.
The opening day of the two-day test was the first chance for both drivers to get used to competing on oval circuits ahead of this weekends season opening, with Perera posting a quickest time of 25.7620secs during the first day of running.
“It looks like I started racing just now,” the Champ Car Atlantic graduate said. “It's a completely new feeling in the car. It looks so easy when you watch on TV but it's not. On a road course you always try to brake later, to have maximum speed in the corners. Here it's always the same (left turns) but everything and anything can happen!”
Bernoldi meanwhile was slightly quicker with the former
F1 man setting a best time of 25.6870secs and he admitted it was a different experience to anything he had done in the past.
“It was interesting!” he said. “This was something entirely new to me but I enjoyed it. We didn't try to go fast at first, we were just trying to get used to an oval. Once my comfort level increased, we were able to work on the set-up a little bit.
“Overall I think for the first time on an oval it went well, we progressed during the whole session and it was a very positive day for us.”
Team owner Eric Bachelart said he was pleased with the outcome of the test and said the focus now was on trying to find more speed from the two cars ahead of the first race of the season.
“It was like starting from scratch today,” he said. “We really wanted to get the drivers acclimated to an oval track. It's not just to have them go out there and turn laps. We spent time talking about things like their position in the car, the placement of their headrest, discussing the driving techniques for an oval and what kind of sensations to look for on the track.
![Enrique Bernoldi - Conquest Racing Dallara-Honda [pic credit: IRL/Payne]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/418430.jpg)
