Open Wheel News and PR Releases

Edited by Len Ashburn / Ron Felix

Teams, Drivers Happy With New Car Test At Indy

Participating teams and the INDYCAR engine group gathered data regarding handling characteristics and performance levels from their Chevrolet- and Honda-powered cars.

One car/driver combination from each team was invited to participate. Driving Chevrolet-powered 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines in their Dallara chassis were Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), Tony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology), Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport), JR Hildebrand (Panther Racing) and Helio Castroneves (Team Penske).

Driving Honda-powered cars were Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing), Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), Mike Conway (A.J. Foyt Racing) and Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing).

The cars were run in the Speedway configuration, with the new rear-wheel guards that are taller, lighter and have a slightly different shape than the sets being used on the road/street circuits and the oval races at Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and The Milwaukee Mile.

The new IZOD IndyCar Series car will make its competitive oval debut Sunday, May 27 at the 96th Indianapolis 500.

New Speedway bodywork gets first on-track test

Specifically, INDYCAR vice president of technology Will Phillips and the INDYCAR engine group will gather data and feedback regarding handling characteristics and performance levels from the nine participants driving Chevrolet- and Honda-powered cars producing about 550-570 horsepower for the oval.

"I'd be disappointed if we didn't get to that 220-222 (mph) range, and that last little bit will come as teams dial the cars in to the track during the week of Indy and 225 is the target," said Phillips, who over the race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, met with officials from the three engine manufacturers regarding the framework of 2013 aero kit regulations.

Indy 500 practice begins May 12. The four-lap average pole-winning speed in 2011 was 227.472 mph by Alex Tagliani.

One car/driver combination from each team was invited. Carpenter (owner/driver for Ed Carpenter Racing), Tony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology), Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport), JR Hildebrand (Panther Racing) and Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) will participate with Chevy's 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine.

Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing), Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), Mike Conway (A.J. Foyt Racing) and Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) will run with Honda engines.

Spectators can watch the event (9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. ET) from the South Terrace grandstand and the Turn 2 viewing mounds near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

"It's the first opportunity for us as a team to get this car out on an oval and it's great that it's Indianapolis with it being the first oval race the most important race," said Carpenter, who's driving the No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka /Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. "It's hard to really go into a test like that with a huge plan because we really don't know what to expect, but I'm happy that the opportunity is there to test with other cars there and start to figure out what this car needs to win the Indy 500."

The cars will be run in Speedway configuration with the new rear-wheel guards that are taller, lighter and have a slightly different shape than the sets being used on the road/street circuits and the oval races at Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile.

The rear-wheel guards are the only mandatory component for the test day. Teams can experiment with a rear-wing mainplane angle of between 0 and -10 degrees, underwing strakes and sidewall extensions (to keep air from becoming turbulent under the car), wickers on the front- and rear-wing mainplanes and the beam wing, and radiator inlet shutters.

The rear-wheel guard/wings work in combination with the other bodywork to create less drag and more downforce. Minimum car weight will be 1,535 pounds (excluding driver and driver equivalency weight).

The Dallara-designed and -produced components were tested by INDYCAR over the winter in both scale model and full size in the wind tunnel in response to lap speeds and handling feedback in testing at the Speedway with the prototype chassis by Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan.

"I have not run on the oval with this car," IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Helio Castroneves said. "I think certainly we're going to work together with other teams so we can see how the car runs in the pack. I'm glad we're able to do this test before the Indianapolis Month of May."

Will Power Holds Off Scott Dixon To Win Grand Prix of Alabama

Dixon, who was 3.3709 seconds behind in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, has the distinction of being the race runner-up all three years (twice to Power and in the inaugural race to Helio Castroneves). He broke a tie with teammate Dario Franchitti with 27 second-place finishes on the all-time list and is one behind Castroneves.

Castroneves, the pole sitter, finished third to maintain the points lead in the young season and continue his resurgence after a disappointing 2011 season. He held off Graham Rahal in the No. 38 Service Chip Ganassi Racing car by 0.2245 of a second.

Simon Pagenaud finished fifth and James Hinchcliffe was sixth after starting on the front row for the first time in his IZOD IndyCar Series career. Mike Conway, who provided A.J. Foyt Racing its best non-oval starting position (fourth) since 2007, finished seventh.

Also on April 1, Sebastian Saavedra outpaced the 15-car field in efficient manner in the 40-lap Grand Prix of Alabama. It was the fourth victory in the series for Saavedra, driving the No. 27 Team AFS car, and first this season.Tri stan Vautier, driving the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car and the race winner at St. Pete, retained the series championship points lead by finishing second. Saavedra is eight points behind heading to the street course race at Long Beach on April 15.

Esteban Guerrieri, who started fourth in the No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, advanced to claim a podium finish.

Pos   Start  Driver           Chassis-Make        Laps  Status

 1.    9  Will Power           Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
 2.    3  Scott Dixon          Dallara-Honda       90   Running
 3.    1  Helio Castroneves    Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
 4.    8  Graham Rahal         Dallara-Honda       90   Running
 5.   10  Simon Pagenaud       Dallara-Honda       90   Running
 6.    2  James Hinchcliffe    Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
 7.    4  Mike Conway          Dallara-Honda       90   Running
 8.   14  Rubens Barrichello   Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
 9.   17  Sebastien Bourdais   Dallara-Lotus       90   Running
10.   18  Dario Franchitti     Dallara-Honda       90   Running
11.   13  Marco Andretti       Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
12.   11  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
13.   26  Oriol Servia         Dallara-Lotus       90   Running
14.   12  Ryan Briscoe         Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
15.    5  JR Hildebrand        Dallara-Chevrolet   90   Running
16.   20  James Jakes          Dallara-Honda       90   Running
17.   15  Josef Newgarden      Dallara-Honda       90   Running
18.    7  EJ Viso              Dallara-Chevrolet   89   Running
19.   19  Justin Wilson        Dallara-Honda       89   Running
20.   21  Simona de Silvestro  Dallara-Lotus       89   Running
21.    6  Tony Kanaan          Dallara-Chevrolet   89   Running
22.   23  Ed Carpenter         Dallara-Chevrolet   88   Running
23.   24  Katherine Legge      Dallara-Lotus       85   Running
24.   16  Takuma Sato          Dallara-Honda       52   Mechanical
25.   22  Charlie Kimball      Dallara-Honda       45   Mechanical
26.   25  Alex Tagliani        Dallara-Lotus        0   Mechanical