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CART: Tony Rena tests Champ Car for PacWest Racing Group

14 January 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Text Provided by CART

Tony Renna, who will drive for the PacWest Racing Group in the 2000 Dayton Indy Lights Championship, tested PacWest's 2000 Mercedes Reynard Champ Car package for the second time Tuesday, completing 175 incident-free miles on the 1.66-mile road course at Sebring International Raceway.

"We ran all day without any problems, and I think that the team is entering the 2000 season with a great powerplant," said Renna, who had both of PacWest's Mercedes-powered Reynards on track during the one-day session.

"Mercedes has made great strides in driveability without sacrificing anything in terms of horsepower." Said John Anderson, PacWest's Vice President of Racing Operations, "We configured the two cars differently in order to compare notes, and we had a very fruitful day. The crew did a nice job preparing one car while Tony had the other car on track and we were circulating all day with virtually no down time. Tony is performing very well as our test driver, and I know the opportunity will arise for him to get some more miles in the 2000 Reynard."

Also testing at Sebring was Della Penna Motorsports driver Richie Hearn, who completed 350 miles during a two-day workout Monday and Tuesday.

"We had a good run on both days," Hearn said afterward. "We learned quite a bit about the car. This was my first real opportunity to work with [new engineer] Diane [Holl] and I was extremely impressed. She's very bright and easy to work with. The method that Diane approaches her job with is efficient and effective, so we really get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time."

Team owner John Della Penna commented, "The Toyota engine ran strong and showed continued development. Overall, I'm very happy with the results. This time is the fastest we've ever run at Sebring and is competitive with the times other teams have posted here during testing."

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