SONOMA, Calif. - An old Scottish proverb reminds us that ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men oft gang aglay’, which basically means that you can plan all you want, but you had better be ready for whatever is waiting around the next corner.
 
On a Chamber-of-Commerce day in Sonoma, California, the Rahal Letterman Racing team saw their plans change, re-change, and then change again, during the opening day of practice for this weekend’s Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) had an encouraging outing in the Team Ethanol machine in just his second day ever at the 2.26-mile Wine Country road course, finishing in the top half of both practice session, stopping the clocks with a best time of 1:17.8524 (106.355 mph) to post the ninth-best time of the day. The American-born driver was ninth in both sessions, overcoming a problematic radio system that rendered him incommunicado with his team for the entire first session.
 
“Overall it was a good day for the Ethanol team in Sonoma,” Hunter-Reay said. “We started out with some electrical problems in the morning that held us back a little but like we have done every weekend since I've been here, we kept digging, kept working on the car and it keeps getting better. The Firestone tires have been super-consistent so far. One of the best laps I ran today came on older tires, so I have no worries about that being an issue at all. I think we're in a good place for tomorrow and I think we are in a prime position to contend for a strong result.”
 
The IndyCar pilots will have an early day tomorrow, with one 30-minute session leading into the battle for the Aamco Transmissions Pole Award. The single-car session will begin at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, with the top-six cars then entering into the Firestone Fast Six, which sets the starting order for Sunday’s race. The morning practice gets underway at 9:30 a.m. (local time).