Will Power is out to consolidate his position as the top rookie in the IndyCar Series as he and Team Australia head back to unusually familiar ground in Milwaukee for the ABC Supply Co AJ Foyt 225.
Although ovals weren't a regular feature on the Champ Car calendar, the Milwaukee Mile was nonetheless raced on as recently as 2006, with Power managing one of his best qualifying performances of that season in fifth, even if he did finish outside the top ten.
Indeed, Power is keen to utilise the novelty of having experience of a circuit on a calendar brimming with unknown quantities, predicting that he will not be quite as far behind the IndyCar regulars as normal.
“I've definitely been looking forward to Milwaukee for lots of reasons,” he said “It's the only oval on the schedule that I've been to before and I ran reasonably well there in the Champ Car.
“My aim is that the Aussie Vineyards car will be a bit more competitive at Milwaukee than the other ovals.
“Because Milwaukee is quite a flat oval, you run a lot of downforce and the set-up almost resembles a road course package. So our team will not be quite as far behind the top teams with all their oval experience as would usually be the case.”
Team boss Craig Gore is also confident that the fillip Power has received recently with a run of promising results will see him challenging higher up the grid than usual.
“It's an advantage that Will has been to Milwaukee before and he performed well on that occasion in the Team Australia Champ Car. Will is coming to grips with oval racing quite nicely and the month of May has given him new confidence. I'm confident that he will continue to improve in Milwaukee.”
