Wheldon begins testing for race debut

Young English driver Dan Wheldon began testing his new PacWest Racing Lola on Monday at Sebring in Florida in preparation for his first Dayton Indy Lights race -- at Monterrey in Mexico on Sunday 11th March.

Wheldon, last year's Toyota Atlantic Rookie of the Year, took to the 1.6 mile Sebring road course and was pleased with his progress, posting a fastest time of 58.1 seconds.

The PacWest Indy Lights team was due to test again yesterday (Tuesday) at Sebring before heading to Texas for a two-day test on 20th and 22nd February.

The Dayton Indy Lights Championship is the final rung on the 'CART ladder' before reaching the CART FedEx Champ Car series -- Wheldon's target for 2002.

After Monday's test session, 22-year old Dan Wheldon commented: "It was really good to be back in the car. We were pretty slow on the straights, but were not here for optimum lap times, we were here to test. We have another day (Tuesday) and we will work through what we need to do and have something good for Mexico. It's great working with Ziggy (Harcus) and this team -- I'm really looking forward to the upcoming season."

-CSS Stellar Management Ltd.