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Panther, Ganassi set to test next Monday

Since the recent departure of Hideki Mutoh, Panther Racing has been missing a shoe for both their Indy Pro Series car and their second IndyCar. But it appears that the two-time series champions are ready to go out and find a couple of lead foots.

Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway will be the backdrop for a test next Monday as IndyCar veteran P.J. Chesson and the relatively green Leilani Munter take to the legendary road course in the team’s Pro Series machine.

Both are still trying to get into a rhythm turning left and right; Chesson only has one IndyCar road race under his belt and Munter’s only open-wheel experience comes from two Pro Series events at Kentucky and Chicago last year.

The press release goes on to confirm that Tomas Enge has been talking with Panther about the possibility of being a driver coach for either Chesson or Munter (or both) should they join Panther. Enge drove the team’s second car in 2005 and has been racing sports cars since being let go before the ‘06 campaign.

But team owner John Barnes was quick to reiterate that both pilots have yet to be signed:

“We’ve got a ways to go and have some decisions to make before you’re going to see an announcement on any of our programs.”

Strangely enough, the release also includes the fact that Munter has been sent down to Sebring by Panther to do a Skip Barber training course before Monday’s test. Based on this info, I’m tempted to say that she’s already a lock for the IPS seat. But since nothing has been announced yet, I’ll hold my tongue for now.

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The two Panther prospects won’t be the only ones testing this coming Monday in Florida. Indy Pro Series champion and Target Chip Ganassi Racing recruit Alex Lloyd will make his TCGR debut alongside teammate and 2005 series champ Dan Wheldon.

Right now, he’s expected to drive a select number of IndyCar Series races for Ganassi, in addition to adventures with the team owner’s Grand American sports car squad — the first being at next year’s 24 Hours of Daytona with teammates Salvador Duran and 2003 IndyCar king Scott Dixon. But as he told IndyCar.com’s Arni Sribhen, his schedule is not set in stone just yet:

“We’re still working hard on finding funding and trying to figure out how the year is going to work. Next week is all about getting some miles and preparing myself for my first race, whenever that may be.

“The more miles I have the better.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.