Chilton gets more comfortable with car following tests

Following his first tests with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Max Chilton is on steady ground heading into the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Chilton, 24, makes the step up to the Verizon IndyCar Series after competing in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires for Carlin in 2015, following two seasons driving in Formula One.

Chilton completed his first test Feb. 10 in the No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the road course at Sonoma Raceway alongside new teammates Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball. The Brit found the experience of driving a Dallara DW-12 different from anything that he has raced before and was astounded by the amount of downforce produced with the Chevy aero kit.

"It's an amazing bit of kit," Chilton said on an INDYCAR media teleconference. "I knew they always had an amazing amount of downforce. They perform well in the corners. They performed better in the corners, better than I expected.

"The test went well," he added. "I got up to speed pretty quickly. In the afternoon, we concentrated on not doing a full race distance but we did fuel stints, you know, 25 laps at a time. It was good to sort of see how the tires wore down throughout the run."

Chilton also had his first taste of driving an Indy car on a superspeedway oval in a rookie test Feb. 13 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. He admitted he still has much to learn.

"In the first run, ovals, I don't think you can ever really feel comfortable on an oval," Chilton said. "I know I got comfortable quite quickly. I'm sure that changes with other cars around you, especially at Fontana with the seams. I'm sure when you have to dip down halfway through a corner with other cars around, it becomes a lot more daunting. It was a good way for me to learn without other cars around and just built up to it as the day went down."

Contact:

mkitchel@indycar.com

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