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INDYCAR: Castroneves Tops Auto Club Speedway Test
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves led a small pack of Chevy-powered runners during Tuesday's test on the 2.0-mile Auto Club Speedway oval.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted December 04, 2012  
Helio Castroneves put the No. 3 Team Penske Chevy, wearing the Hitachi colors he'll have for nine rounds in 2013, atop the ACS speed charts on Tuesday. (Photo: Steve Shunck/IndyCar)
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves led a small pack of Chevy-powered runners during Tuesday's test on the 2.0-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, recording a best lap in the 217 mph range.

"It was a good day where we worked on a lot of things," the Brazilian told SPEED.com. "The speeds were very similar to what we did here before (during the 500-mile race in September), and the car was very good. We didn't trim out at all. A lot of it was just about making sure everything was good; maybe the cars will go faster next time, but that wasn't what I think people were focused on the most."

Castroneves' No. 3 also car wore Hitachi colors for the first time during the test. And the 3-time Indy 500 winner isn't done with his driving duties for the week.

"I'm flying to Brazil now," he said, referring to the Brazilian Stock Car round he'll compete at this weekend, along with countrymen Tony Kanaan and Rubens Barrichello, that offers a $1M prize to win.

Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais turned his first laps on an oval since the Indy 500 last May and had a much better experience on the 2.0-mile SoCal speedway.

"We didn't trim out and the car was pretty consistent," he said after clocking the second-fastest lap. "We did a 216.7, it was fairly predictable and I'm pretty happy. I had some bad memories from Indy and wasn't sure what I was going to discover."

Katherine Legge, Bourdais' teammate, went plenty fast at Fontana during the race, which helped the Frenchman who worked off of her baseline setup.

"Katherine was very good here, so that gave me a lot of confidence," he said. "You could run low, you could run high. You could pick different lines. It was all about trying to develop a good car. In that respect, it was good. The car had a good balance and was fast."

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Fontana Test 12.4.12



After sitting out the ovals that came after Indy last season, Bourdais heads into 2012 scheduled to compete in every round of an Indy car championship for the first time since 2007.

Will Power, Castroneves' Team Penske teammate, was third fastest on Tuesday.
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