Gil de Ferran brings his FedEx Champ car crown to the Indy Racing League this season along with a commitment to add an IRL title to his résumé.

He got off to a good start finishing second at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

	Gil de Ferran has relied on testing to familiarize himself with his IRL car.

"I tried to finish as well as I could," said de Ferran. "Roger called a good strategy (keeping his two cars out; anticipating another caution before their tanks ran dry) locking us in for second place.

"Make no mistake. Our focus is on trying to conquer this championship. You have to put all your focus into that."

The switch from CART to the ovals-only IRL has put pressure on the Brazilian to hone his oval skills.

"I always enjoyed racing ovals. The fun factor of ovals is always going to be there for me."

This year's IRL schedule includes six tracks that are new to de Ferran -- Pikes Peak, Richmond, Kansas, Nashville, Kentucky and Chicagoland. With so many new tracks, de Ferran says that puts pressure on him to excel at places where he has a familiarity.

"It's important that we collect as many points as we can over those races where we have a higher chance of doing well."

That makes this weekend's Phoenix stop an important one. The desert mile was where Roger Penske shook down his Indy 500 IRL effort last season. After starting an encouraging fifth, de Ferran was collected in a mid-race accident, but he did lead the race for several laps.

Before officially entering the Indy Racing League in January, de Ferran and his teammate Helio Castroneves embarked on an exhaustive test routine. Because they were not official entrants, they were not subjected to the tight IRL testing rules.

"The car is not a simple car to drive or set up," de Ferran pointed out. "When the equipment is so close it is very difficult to try and get an advantage. The whole quest to pushing the car and engine to a higher plateau all the time is very difficult."

In typical Penske fashion, de Ferran and Castroneves have been given a package that leaves few surprises.

"We look at every nut and bolt from the tip of the nose to the rear wing," said de Ferran. "In the same way, I am always looking at my driving to see how I can go faster. I don't care if its skateboards or driving a sophisticated racing car. it's always about taking it to the next step."

As far as ovals versus road courses, de Ferran doesn't hid his affection for right turns.

"I never made it a secret that I'm going to miss road racing. That's how I first fell in love with the sport. That's my background and I'll miss it. That's a fact of life."

But, de Ferran is also a realist and admits that while road racing is a lure to him, the pressure to get his Marlboro team up to speed precludes any extra curricular road racing -- at least for the present time.

"At Phoenix we have gone through as much preparation as we can to understand the requirements -- as far as equipment is concerned at each IRL race track," explained de Ferran about the differences between Champ cars and IRL machines. "Some times the answers are not always what you think. To be very, very consistent over the course of the championship is going to be a big factor for us as a team.

"We should be as prepared as anyone. I will be disappointed if we aren't competitive, but I guess we will just have to wait for the weekend."