Forsythe Championship Racing Turns the Last Laps of 2006

Angleton, Texas -- December 14th, 2006 -- Forsythe Championship Racing concluded its 2006 testing program yesterday after spending two days at the MSR Houston Road Course with Simon Pagenaud, Adam Carroll and Jay Howard behind the wheel of their machines. The Team now returns to its Indianapolis based headquarters where it will eagerly await delivery of its brand new Panoz DP01 and prepare for its attack on the 2007 Champ Car World Series Championship.

Pagenaud, Carroll and Howard had to hold off their excitement an extra day as the test was postponed due to heavy storms in the Texas area. Once they finally got out on the track all three drivers completed a full day of testing logging over 150 trouble-free miles each. For Pagenaud and Howard this test marked the first time they got behind the wheel of one of these turbocharged 750 horsepower Champ Cars. Carroll already had some Champ Car experience as he tested with the RuSport Team and was selected to be a reserve driver for Justin Wilson at the 2006 Champ Car Finale in Mexico City.

Simon Pagenaud

"It was a very successful test, I'm very happy with how it went! I really enjoyed working with the Forsythe Team, the mechanics the engineers, everybody was just great. By the end of the test I was very happy with the car, we just got faster throughout the day and whatever I needed they were able to give me. There's definitely a huge difference between the Atlantic cars and the Champ Cars; the breaking in these cars is just unbelievable, it's amazing how late you get on the brakes and how deep you can go into the corners. There is also huge downforce and the car is heavier so you have to be more aggressive on the turns, but you also have to be very smooth on the throttle, it's just a great car to drive."

Adam Carroll

"We couldn't go out on track the first day because of the weather, so once we finally got out the next day the track was very green at it took a while to come in. After a few laps the track started getting better and we were able to work on the setup, at the end of the day the car felt great and we managed to put some very fast laps in, it was a very enjoyable day. The MSR Houston Road Course is quite technical; it has some very high speed corners where you can really feel the downforce of the Champ Cars and some slower sections where mechanical grip is more important. The Forsythe Team is a great bunch of guys, very easy going, and they do everything properly, you can see why they are a championship winning team."

Jay Howard

"The test was fantastic! I have to thank the Forsythe Team for giving me the opportunity to run their car, it was great working with them, they know what they are talking about for sure. Driving the Champ Car is not as physically demanding as I expected, I was expecting it to be a lot harder in my arms. Because of the downforce you can feel a big difference between the slow and the fast corners, the steering just gets a lot heavier on the fast stuff and that's something that I've never really experienced before with the cars I've driven. I also didn't expect the brakes to be as powerful, it is unbelievable how quickly you can stop the car. The MSR Houston Road Course is quite busy, there's a lot to it. It is very technical and there's a few bumps that make it quite interesting, I would definitely advice people to test there."

Phil LePan, Team Manager

"Overall it was a very good test. All three guys were very impressive; they got up to speed very quickly and were able to help us continue with our test program and everything we've been working on for the last month. We were also able to make some changes on the cars throughout the day that would suit each driver's driving style and help them go faster. Now we'll head back to our shop and get ready to start working on the new car which will be in our hands next week."

-credit: fcr