Genoa team raises a few eyebrows in first day of testing

While there are no trophies for winning practice, track records do make a bit of a statement. In the first day of testing at the newly re-opened and re-paved Palm Beach International Raceway (formerly known as Moroso Motorsports Park), driver Richard Philippe and the rest of the Genoa team headed the field of rookie and veteran drivers from Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Panther, and Guthrie-Meyer.

In the morning, with a chicane in place on the back straight, Richard’s fast time was a full second quicker than the next fastest. In the afternoon, with the chicane removed, Richard established the outright track record at 1:07.304. Unofficially, Charlie Kimball (SSM) and Martin Plowman (Panther) were the only other drivers able to break into the 1:07’s.

Unable to attend the 2nd road course test day due to a prior commitment, Richard acknowledged that the track record may be challenged on Tuesday, as the new track gets more rubber and as the other drivers have another day to close up the gap. While Charlie Kimball will be testing with Genoa on Tuesday, Richard plans to rejoin the team for Thursday’s test on the oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Mark Olson states: “I was really proud of Richard and the whole team today. It is always a pleasure to work with professionals. We had a definite plan for the day. Richard went out and hit all his marks, working his way through the plan. His feedback was very precise and they (Richard, Tom, and Leon) quickly dialed the car in. It was a real workman like effort by everyone. Now we’ve got a big target on our back for tomorrow, but I’m sure Charlie will be up to the task."