Sobre los tests que hicieron algunos equipos en Sebring esta semana, aquí hay algunos detalles al respecto:
INDYCAR: Teams Complete Two-Day Sebring Test
SPEED.com checks in with some of the drivers who took part in the first major IndyCar test at Sebring with the Dallara DW12.
Marshall Pruett | Posted January 18, 2012
Ryan Briscoe had fun trying to keep Chevrolet's twin-turbo power under control coming off of Sebring's slow corners. (Paul Webb/LAT)
Sebring’s 1.8-mile, 10-turn short course hosted a strong selection of IZOD IndyCar Series entrants on Monday and Tuesday, with Chevrolet teams (Team Penske with Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, Andretti Autosport with Marco Andretti, Panther Racing with JR Hildebrand, KV Racing with Tony Kanaan and EJ Viso), Honda teams (Ganassi Racing with Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal, Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Simon Pagenaud) and the Lotus factory team with Simona de Silvestro all turning laps.
For many, it was the first opportunity to sample the Dallara DW12 chassis in road course trim, while for others the two-day test served as an opportunity to shakedown their new cars after months of being limited to manufacturer-based testing. Most teams also kept the running light on Monday, while better weather and more rubber on the track made for a busier day on Tuesday.
KV Racing's EJ Viso got to try the team's Dallara DW12 for the first time. (Paul Webb/LAT)
Between the Chevrolet and Honda camps, lap times fell in the 53-second range, with the Ganassi team reported to be near a best of 53.0 and the Penske team closer to a 53.5. Lotus continued to test the new Engine Developments Limited-built engine, but was not focused on posting fast lap times.
Directly comparing lap times at Sebring has always been a challenge due to the changing levels of grip, but most drivers reckoned the Dallara DW12, which has only just begun its chassis development in the hands of IndyCar teams, to be about one second behind the Dallara IR07 at this stage in similar conditions.
“The car is fun as hell to drive,” Ganassi’s Graham Rahal told SPEED.com. “It’s pretty wicked—it clearly has a lot of potential on road courses and has plenty of grip. For sure, the car will be quicker at Sebring. It’s a tough, bumpy place. The car has a lot of room to improve, and the track conditions weren’t ideal. Everyone is in the first stages of figuring the car out, so it’s not like we all know the cars and what makes them tick. That’s gonna take some time.”
Rahal quickly became a big fan of the car’s stopping and road holding capabilities.
Marco Andretti didn't run as much as he'd hoped to, but was pleased with the progress his Andretti Autosport team made. (Paul Webb/LAT)
“The initial thing that stood out to me was how good the brakes are,” he said of the system supplied by Brembo. “They have a serious amount of grip--by far the best braking system I’ve had on an Indy car. It took a few laps to get used to, but it was just a lot of fun once I got up to speed. In the mid-speed corners and up, the car also has a ton of downforce. That’s something you also feel right away.
"We’re close to the quickest I’ve ever gone in the old car already, and we haven’t done much running, so that says a lot about how much is left to come, I think.”
Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe logged about more than 100 laps at Sebring, and once some new-car issues were sorted, started pushing the pace.
“We ran very little on the first day,” he said. “We had some teething problems in my car—nothing major, mostly electronics stuff we’re getting used to. Some of that’s expected at this stage. It was a slow test to start off, but picked up after that. We had a good time running with our own car, and I had a productive day working with my new engineer.”
After working with Briscoe through the 2011 season, his engineer, Eric Cowdin, left to join Kanaan at KV Racing. Team Penske promoted Jonathan Diuguid in his place for 2012.
“Jonathan is good young engineer—very practical. We’ll miss Eric, but I know Jonathan will fill his shoes really well. I already really enjoy working with him; we hit it off right away. We worked together for the last five years, but not in this role, and he’s really impressed me already. We want to make this a winning relationship.”
Like Rahal, Briscoe enjoyed what he found with Team Penske’s DW12 in road course trim, and looks forward to developing the car’s setup.
“It looks like the Honda guys were a little bit faster than us, but we got to get into some changes for the first time—[suspension] geometries, springs and bars, and other setup stuff—and overall, it was a lot of fun,” he said. “It wasn’t always easy to handle the power, either. The turbo's pretty strong. You’d heard a lot negative comments about that, but when the boost comes in on the slow corners, you’re feeding in opposite lock and trying to hold onto the thing. It can catch you out if you aren’t paying attention. It’s challenging, and it’s going to get faster and faster as we keep testing. Overall, I’d say we’re on the right track.”
The Lotus engine used by Simona de Silvestro will made a quick turnaround for Alex Tagliani to use next week at Homestead. (Paul Webb/LAT)
Marco Andretti also got a chance to put Andretti Autosport’s new car through the paces.
"The DW12 Chevy is fun to drive,” he said. “I don't think we got quite as much testing time as some other teams, but we had a productive two days. We were able to check off a lot of boxes and got a lot of answers both good and bad."
After pouring his seat at the team's shop in Indianapolis last week, EJ Viso sampled KV's DW12 for the first time at Sebring, and echoed the comments made by others drivers about being in the early stages of learning what the 2012 car needs to perform.
"There's a bit margin to be improved with the car for the teams, and the drivers also need more seat time, too," he said. "It's a different animal. The turbo makes a big difference when you're driving--the timing, and a lot of that will come down to the engineers and turbo engineers to get the RPMs right to [match] the power delivery for the different tracks we'll be at. I think it's the same for everybody."
HVM Racing boss Keith Wiggins came away quite pleased with what took place under the Lotus tent, citing almost 900 trouble-free miles of running from Friday through Tuesday as the most notable aspect of their outing.
“What is there to be said,” he chuckled. “The engine ran flawlessly the whole time and it was everything you’d hope would happen for a first test. We’re not up to full power and full boost, as you can understand. The engine went back to Lotus right after the test, they’ll inspect it and then we’ll get it back to test at Homestead with [Alex] Tagliani next week.”
Fuente speedtv.com
