Looking ahead to 2005 with Chip Ganassi Racing
source:
irl.racing-live.com
After the initial day of testing on the road course
at Homestead- Miami Speedway in January, the three Target Chip Ganassi Racing
drivers huddled with a software engineer for 90 minutes to study each other's
driving style.
Ryan Briscoe, the newcomer to the group, was in the spotlight. Aside from some
ribbing and feigns of pain, teammates Scott Dixon and Darren Manning gave the
former Formula One test driver their seal of approval -- and maybe took away
some information, too.
Data gathered at such sessions - and on the tracks - is invaluable in the
ultra-competitive IndyCar Series. It's one of the reasons the team expanded to
three cars for the 17-race 2005 season.
"So we have one additional driver that we can study," team managing partner Mike
Hull said. "We can take his aspect of driving a particular corner completely
apart against the other two guys. We hope that it helps accelerate the growth of
all three drivers. In turn, it helps accelerate the growth of the team."
Team owner Chip Ganassi, who has experienced a lion's share of success in
motorsports, already has seen positives. Briscoe was fast out of the gate on the
road-course portion of the test, and held his own during two days of oval
testing in Florida and Phoenix International Raceway. It allowed Dixon, the 2003
IndyCar Series champion, and Manning to test a number of different setups.