ABC Supply Team Tests at MSR Houston


WALLER, Texas March 12, 2009—Vitor Meira tested the No. 14 ABC Supply Indy car at MSR Houston Tuesday and Wednesday with everyone leaving satisfied with the results.


“Our test went very well; the car is definitely better than when we unloaded,” said Meira, who had flown in from Brazil this past weekend after doing some tire testing in an F3000 car there last week. “What we found was a very good gain. We won’t really know how much better the car is until we are all together in St. Pete.”


A.J. Foyt and chief engineer Adam Schaechter were also very pleased with how the test went at the 2.3 mile road course in Angleton, south of Houston.


“I’m really happy with what we learned,” said Foyt. “We got a lot done on Tuesday because there was a good chance of rain on Wednesday afternoon. As it turned out, it didn’t rain so we got in two full days of testing.”


Schaechter was a bit more exuberant in his comments, saying, “It went fantastic. I’m confident that we left the test with a much better car than with what we came there. We learned things that worked and were able to try some things that were clearly better but you just don’t have time to do that on a race weekend. I’m really, really pleased.”


Although there are some downsides to testing alone vs. an open test because the track doesn’t get “rubbered in” as it does with 20 cars running on it, and there aren’t competitors’ speeds against which to compare themselves, the team felt the positives outweighed the negatives.


“At first I was a little concerned,” said Meira “but after the past two days, I’m glad that we tested by ourselves. We could take the time we needed, analyze the changes and not worry about traffic or downtime due to accident. We didn’t have to stick to someone else’s schedule. It turned out to be the right move for us and I’m happy with what we’ve gained.”


Meira headed home to Miami Thursday evening while Schaechter and several other team members headed to the wind tunnel for some further testing.


The IndyCar Series season opens with the Honda Grand Prix in St. Petersburg the weekend of April 4-5. The live race coverage starts at 2 p.m. ET on the VERSUS channel.