Testing season ratchets up out West

Preparations for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season kicked up a notch this week with three manufacturer tests in the West.

On Feb. 8, reigning manufacturers champion Chevrolet conducted a test at Phoenix International Raceway with six drivers participating. Two days later, Chevrolet ran six drivers through the paces at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway while three Honda drivers were testing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

For some, the trip to PIR in Avondale, Ariz., was a welcome return. Indy cars christened the popular 1-mile oval in 1964, but haven't raced there since 2005. The Phoenix Grand Prix is set to take place under the lights on April 2.

"I grew up coming to this racetrack on spring break. It just feels good to be back," said Ed Carpenter, co-owner/driver of Ed Carpenter Racing. "A lot's changed around here in the area, but at the same time, I remember a lot of the things, too, so I'm excited to be back."

Carpenter tested at PIR along with teammate Josef Newgarden and Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Castroneves, a winner at the track in 2002, couldn't contain his joy about returning.

"Let me tell you, we are going around at the moment 20 seconds on the splits and, wow, it's fast!" the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner said. "And we're just testing. I guarantee you when we start really putting the right things together, this is really going to be an amazing place.

"The new change (to the track configuration) probably helped a little bit to go even faster, because in the past Turn 1 used to be a little bit sharper and now the outside is open. So it's kind of cool and, man, this is great."

All Verizon IndyCar Series teams will participate in a two-day open test at PIR on Feb. 26-27. The second day will be open to the public and include a driver autograph session.

The Sonoma test on Feb. 10 featured Castroneves and Pagenaud as well as the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams quartet of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Charlie Kimball and the newly signed Max Chilton, who took his first-ever laps in an Indy car. It marked Dixon's first return to the track since he won the 2015 finale to clinch his fourth series championship.

"Any time we can get on the track is valuable," said Dixon. "We get such limited days, so we have a long list of stuff to go through whether it's the new 2016 brakes, some new aero pieces, some mapping for the engine and a lot of unanswered questions we have as a team. We could probably spend about a week out here and still have a list of stuff to go through. It's great to be back in Sonoma."

The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma will bring down the curtain on the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season Sept. 18.

Testing on Auto Club Speedway's 2-mile oval for Honda were Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' James Hinchcliffe and Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay and Carlos Munoz.

Hinchcliffe, eager to return to competition after missing most of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season recovering from injuries sustained in a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, was uncharacteristically tight-lipped over the Honda test.

"Honestly, I can't say much because of what we were doing," Hinchcliffe said. "Definitely a productive day, it was nice to get back out on a big oval and start prepping for Indy. Obviously that's everyone's focus right now and I think we learned a lot."

Contact:

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