Conway impresses in debut Indy test

Mike Conway

Mike Conway caught the attention of his fellow Indy Racing League drivers by finishing in the top 10 at the first official test of the season in Miami this week.

The Sevenoaks driver finished eighth overall in the two-day test at the Homestead Miami Speedway, ahead of front-runner Danica Patrick and 2007 champion Dario Franchitti.

Conway completed 276 laps in his first ever outing on an oval circuit for the Dreyer & Reinbold team, having agreed a deal to move to America in January.

The former British Formula 3 champion finished 14th after day one as he got used to the new car and surroundings. The following day saw him produce a best lap of 25.4299 seconds, averaging 210 mph, which secured eighth spot and made him the quickest rookie.

The 25-year-old was delighted with his debut performance in the series and admitted he is warming to racing on ovals at speeds of more than 200mph.

He said: “The test went really well. We started off slowly as it was my first time on an oval, but we made lots of changes and got quicker and quicker. It’s a learning curve really coming into this sport from my background, but to finish the test with eighth place was a great result.

“It was pretty daunting the first time you turn at over 200mph as you are thinking ‘this is fast.’ I got used to it pretty quickly and it was really enjoyable to drive at those kinds of speeds.

“Towards the end of the test we got to run in traffic so I got to see what it would be like in a race scenario. It was great to be able to get to overtake people using the drafting techniques."

Conway has one more test session at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on March 21-23 before the season begins at St Petersburg on April 5.