By Andrew Cutler
March 22 2009

Nine drivers from the Firestone Indy Lights ranks took advantage of the Saturday test session at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds AL to prepare for the upcomming season. The AFS Racing/Andretti Green racing duo of Sebastian Saavedra and J.R. Hildebrand topped the time & speed charts, with Vision Racing's James Davidson joining the duo in breaking the 109 mph lap average mark.

"We did an awesome job as a team," Saavedra, a rookie from Columbia, said. "We divided what we wanted to test with J.R. (Hildebrand's) team and we did a good job finding out the areas we need to improve on for the future. It's just a shame we couldn't finish the test and show what we learned the whole day at the end (mechanical problems forced him to miss the closing minutes of the session). Still, I'm happy with everything we learned because it's only my fourth test in this car. Being able to get up to speed this quickly is good, but I also have a lot to learn."

Yesterday also brought the announcement that RLR/Andersen racing had signed up-and-comming open-wheel ace Jonathon Summerton to drive for them next month in the season-opening doubleheader at St. Petersburg FL. From there, they hope to secure enough funding to keep him on for the balance of the year.

The 20-year-old native of Florida has spent time in Formula BMW, Formula 3 Euro Series, Atlantic Championship Series and A1GP, where he became the series' first American winner: His name is on many pundits' short list of possible US Grand Prix Engineering driver candidates.

"We have had Jonathan on our radar for the last few years, as he has not only shown talent behind the wheel, but also the desire to continue improving and learning," said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. "We believe Jonathan has the talent to continue progressing toward the top of the sport, and we are  pleased to have him as part of RLR/Andersen Racing."