Indy Lights testing, part 2

Stefan returned to testing on Thursday 22 October with top Indy Lights team Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Last month he drove on the Mid-Ohio road course, but this time the venue was Kentucky Speedway, a 1.5-mile tri-oval track (its shape is a cross between a triangle and an oval).

This was to be Stefan's first ever experience of a full oval - the closest he had come before was racing on a section of the oval at Rockingham last year in Formula 3. Unfortunately, there were technical problems with the car he was due to use, so he had to wait until late afternoon when he could take over the car being tested by fellow Briton Pippa Mann.

Taking to the track at 4.30pm, he soon got up to speed and was feeling comfortable circulating at 190mph. After a few laps he was driving flat out and was able to concentrate on running the right lines.

At the end of his short stint and despite only running on old tyres, he was setting times on a par not just with Pippa Mann, but with the two drivers testing for AFS Racing, Charlie Kimball and Martin Plowman. Unlike Stefan, all three of them competed in the full Indy Lights programme in 2009, including seven oval races.

Stefan's verdict at the end of the day: "I loved running the oval, going round in circles, it was really fun! It was my first time ever on an oval, but I feel I can build on this and be competitive. I only had about 40 minutes, but I was quicker than Plowman and two-tenths off the others, so I can be pretty happy with that. Again, I have to thank Sam Schmidt for the opportunity."

Unofficial times:
1. Charlie Kimball: 27.75sec
2. Pippa Mann: 27.76
3. Stefan Wilson: 27.95
4. Martin Plowman: 27.99
For comparison, the fastest lap in the 2009 Indy Lights race was 27.7277.