Castroneves

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three former Indianapolis 500 winners, including defending champion Helio Castroneves, were among 13 drivers who tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday.

The private session followed the annual Rookie Orientation Program over the weekend. The track opens for full practice May 5.

"It's awesome to be back, with all the memories of last time," said Castroneves, whose Team Penske switched from CART to the Indy Racing League this season.

"The new change that they did with the track, you can feel it. It's much faster and also smoother and for me, I love it," Castroneves said of the improvements to the 2½-mile asphalt surface.

Among others testing were two-time winner Al Unser Jr. and 1999 winner Kenny Brack.

Brack, who drives for CART's Ganassi Racing, turned his first laps at the Speedway in an open-wheel car since he won for A.J. Foyt Racing in 1999.

"I did the IROC race here last year, but it's great to be back in an open-wheel car for sure," Brack said. "It's going to be fun no matter what because this is the home of racing. This is the biggest race in the world. I live 15 minutes down the road here now, so it's easy to get here in the morning."

Unser and Kelley Racing teammate Scott Sharp also tested Monday.

"It's the first time I've run since they shaved the track," Unser said. "It's very, very nice, very smooth. Really I felt pretty good."

Felipe Giaffone, the IRL rookie of the year, tested with Mo Nunn Racing. Teammate Tony Kanaan, a CART regular who was excused from the rookie tests because of his experience in the rival series, also tested for about 40 laps.

"It's amazing the first time here. It's almost a dream come true," Kanaan said. "They gave me a decent car to get out and feel the race track. I wasn't worried about the speed, I wasn't worried about going fast, I was just worried about learning the tough spots of the race track. This place, you have to have a lot of respect. You can't just jump in the car and try to do a 227 or something like that."

Defending IRL series champion Sam Hornish Jr. spun coming out of the second turn early in Monday's testing. The car made light contact with the inside retaining wall and Hornish was not injured.

"The back end got out from under me," Hornish said. "It's a tough track. We're going to come back in May and change some things around."

Among others on the track Monday were Jaques Lazier, Eliseo Salazar, Airton Dare, Gil de Ferran, Jeff Ward and Bruno Junqueira.