Will Power made the ideal start to preparations for his first run in the Indianapolis 500 after leading the way during the first day of rookie orientation for the big race.
Power was the quickest of the 13 cars present for the first day of the rookie orientation as he posted a quickest lap of 40.7804secs at the wheel of the #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia Dallara.
He turned the most laps of any of the drivers present, clocking up 94 laps over the course of the day to pass all four phases required under IndyCar rules to allow a driver to compete in the big race.
"We were first out and last in, so it was a good day," he said. "Initially when I went out I thought, 'How the hell do you go flat here?' But we crept up to it. We had a pretty safe and stable car there at the end, it was pretty solid.
"I was happy to get flat all the way around because that takes you to the next level and now we start trimming out. We did plenty of mileage because we're a bit wary of what the weather's going to be like later in the week, so I'm very happy for the Aussie Vineyards team.
"Now the challenge is to start heading toward 225 mph, you do that by trimming the car out, that's when the driving really comes in and you've got to be smart with the set-up. You don't want the car to bite you and end up in the wall, it's going to cost you a lot of time.”
"The KV Racing Technology team wanted to get in as many laps as possible today, which is what we achieved. To be quick today means we are gradually getting there and I was able to go flat the whole way.
"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is something I have never driven on and I found it unique because it was so fast. It's not really like an oval because of its four corners and flat banking, but almost a mixture between a banked oval and a road course. It was something more than I had expected - daunting, and as far as ovals go, its more technical and therefore you can't make a mistake."
![Will Power - Team Australia/KV Technologies [Pic credit: IRL/Snoddy]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/436002.jpg)
