Indy Test at Barber

[DanicaRules]

Indy Racing League stars Sam Hornish Jr., Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves are among 12 to 15 drivers scheduled to take part in an IRL testing session at Barber Motorsports Park on Oct. 12, track and IRL officials said Monday.

The IndyCar Series, which ended its 2007 season last month, will use the test as an opportunity for IRL technical officials to evaluate potential road course modifications to cars for 2008, IRL officials said Monday.

The test will also offer an opportunity for drivers and IRL officials to evaluate the 2.38-mile, 16-turn road course as a potential site for an IndyCar Series event in 2009, Zoom Motorsports President Gene Hallman said Monday evening.

The track currently hosts the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the AMA Superbike Championship as well as several other smaller motorsports events. It will be the first time cars from the IndyCar Series will take to the track.

"It will be the first step for exploring a possible event in 2009," Hallman said. "It's early but we want to know what it would take to accommodate the IRL. It is the premier open-wheel series in the U.S. and it draws tremendous crowds.

"It would take a complete revaluation of our operational plan."

The IndyCar Series currently has a 17-event schedule broadcast both on ABC and ESPN. IRL races are conducted on both ovals and road courses.

"It's always exciting when we can bring our sport to a new market through offseason testing especially one like Birmingham, which has a rich and storied history in motorsports," said Brian Barnhart, president of the competition and operations for the IRL. "The test at Barber Motorsports Park will allow our teams to conduct a postseason open test earlier than in recent years while giving our drivers valuable seat time. The series plans to use this test as a way to research and evaluate potential road course applications to our cars for next season including enhanced steering and paddle-shifters."

The testing session will be open to the public with tickets being $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event. The tickets will also include admission to the National Autosport Association sports car races and the Barber Historics at the Park vintage car show being held that weekend.

If I lived in Alabama, I would definitely be there.:)

[saltysurprise]

More road courses = Me watching more:thumbsup:.

A venue a little closer to myself wouldn't hurt either. *wink wink;)

Ooops, there's already a smiley for that:lol::drunk:

[DanicaRules]

Yes, they need more venues. I was so hoping for 20 races next year, I would of settled for 18 but dropping to 16 wasnt good.
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Testing is currently underway. There are 7 drivers there testing..
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Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, and Dan Wheldon.

Tony Kanaan is the fastest of them all. Danica is in 5th position. Obviously something is wrong with Dan Wheldon's car. He only has taken 3 laps where everyone else is over 30+. Not sure yet what happened there.:confused:
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Testing is still going on. So far, the positions havent changed. Weldon is finally getting more laps in.
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Well, Dan Wheldon stepped it up and passed Danica on the testing.:(

He bumped her down to 6th now.:(

[EIR Loe.307]

I just merged these posts so it would look a bit cleaner. No worries.

[Driverdb]

No new kids on the track?

[DanicaRules]

New components pass muster at Barber Motorsports Park test
By Dave Lewandowski
indycar.com


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The ubiquitous crowd began to gather along the pit road fencing to catch a photo/video clip of Helio Castroneves and audibly provide their support for his "Dancing with the Stars" exploits.

Of course, he didn't disappoint the spectators during a noontime break in IndyCar Series testing at Barber Motorsports Park, providing a preview of the Viennese Waltz he and dance partner Julianne Hough will perform on the Oct. 15 show. And Castroneves really received cheers when he uttered over the track's PA system, "it's definitely a racetrack where we need to be."

His comment was supported by among others Frank Delencourt, who drove up from Anniston, Ala., to watch seven IndyCar Series drivers test car compatibility on the 2.38-mile, 16-turn course and components that will be on cars in the five road/street races in 2008. A track spokesperson said more than 2,000 tickets were distributed for the test,

"It would be great to have an IndyCar (Series) race here at Barber," Delencourt said. "I think the people from across Alabama and nearby states would support it, and you'd be surprised how many open-wheel fans are around the South. Not all the racing happens at Talladega."

Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan topped the speed chart with a quick lap of 1 minute, 9.7430 seconds (118.722 mph). Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing's car, was utilizing the paddle shift system that will be implemented during road/street races, beginning with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in April. The variable ratio steering rack was on Castroneves' No. 3 Team Penske car.

"I think it makes the car easier to drive; it's not as difficult physically," said Dixon, the 2007 IndyCar Series championship runner-up. "You're more relaxed in the car; you don't have other things to think about. All you have is knowing how many gears you have to go down and pushing the little lever.
"In the race, you won't have people making as many mistakes (as using the sequential shift gearbox off the driver's right thigh). People who were losing speed because they weren't as good with their technique and downshifting will improve their lap times quite a bit. It will make it a lot easier for them.

"I prefer the sequential box that we had, but for safety and technology it's definitely the way to go. I think there's still room for improvement by smoothing out the shifts."
IndyCar Series and Honda Performance Development officials will address issues brought up by Dixon, but the system is "99 percent there," according to IndyCar Series senior technical director Les Mactaggart.

"The pneumatics and electronics are the final version," he said. "The interface is a MegaLine system and they are currently used on the Audi sports car, the Peugeot Le Mans car and the Porsche ALMS car. We think it's the best system there is from a customer point of view. It's already been developed."
The variable ratio steering rack, which an untrained eye couldn't pick out from an oval track rack, was used in 2007 competition by Darren Manning at Belle Isle and Danica Patrick at Mid-Ohio. Essentially, it will provide an easier steering load during the physically demanding street/road course events.
"There is one team that has had it for a number of races," Mactaggart said. It's never been illegal to run a variable ratio rack because it's a mechanical rack. It's basically their invention; they brought it to the series."

Castroneves gave it high marks.
"It seems to be a little better on the high speed turns," he said.

Dan Wheldon gave the facility high marks overall.

"They said the track officials wanted our opinions in what we would do to change the track to race here," he said. "Honestly, I don't think they need to change a thing. They said it's too narrow, but it isn't any more narrow than any where else we race. It's a beautiful facility. I'm impressed. If it's up to drivers if we race here or not, then I'm all for racing here. Let's do it."

Kanaan recorded 68 laps, while Castroneves was second-quick (1:10.2065; 117.938 mph) on 61 laps. Dixon (1:10.2387), Wheldon (1:10.3156), Vitor Meira (1:10.4116), Marco Andretti (1:10.6797) and Patrick (1:10.8889) also posted more than 40 laps each.

"It's not a point of being the quickest," Kanaan said. "With such limited testing, we're trying to accomplish things we don't have a chance to do during the year. It's an extra test day. We made some big changes like probably every team did, because this is the only chance to do it.

"It was an exciting day, nice to be back in the car. Last week ago I was in Iowa as well, but it's always exciting to be back on a road course like this. Nice place. I think there is some room for improvement, but I had fun."

[DanicaRules]

Here are a few pictures taken at Barber Motorsports for the testing done there yesterday. Sorry for the pictures being so small. I tried to post them in the original saved format but they didnt work when you clicked on them, so I resaved them as jpeg but they shrunk down for some reason....:confused:

Check out that spider sculpture. How cool is that !:thumbsup:

[DanicaRules]

Here is an article talking about some of the events at Barber this past Friday. Kanaan was definitely the king of the track that day.

LEEDS, Ala. - Seven IndyCar Series drivers tested Friday at Barber Motorsports Park, the first time for the series on the 16-turn, 2.3-mile road circuit.

Tony Kanaan, one of three Andretti Green Racing drivers at the session, turned in the fastest lap of the day, 1:09.7430, 118.722 mph.

Kanaan was joined by Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick from Andretti Green Racing, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon from Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira were on hand for the session.

The session was also first opportunity to test IndyCar Series cars with paddle shifters and variable assist steering. Dixon was testing the paddle shifter, with Castroneves expected to try out the new steering system in the afternoon session.

"It's made it a little bit easier to drive, but I'd rather stay back with the old stick," Dixon said."But it's definitely the direction the IndyCar Series needs to move. It's still got a bit of work to do with it, but it felt pretty good."

Kanaan was the first driver to get into the 1:10 bracket with a lap of 1:10.894. Castroneves bettered back shortly before 11 a.m. with a lap of 1:10.2065.

Kanaan then regained the top spot with a lap of 1:09.7430 to lead the morning session. That lap stood as the best of the day.
"This is a fun race track and a beautiful facility," Kanaan said. "Track-wise, it's fast. I had a good day. We always believe we can go faster, and we did not use our last set of tires. For sure, I think we could have gone faster. But our lap time is there. I wasn't really concentrating on the lap time today, I was concentrating on the changes we made on our cars."

Castroneves also was pleased with the session, with the second-best lap of 117.938 mph..

"This place is incredible," Castroneves said. "The high speed that they have, the different layout. It's fun and it's fast. I'm having the time of my life. No question, this is an incredible facility. We have to have a race here. This is a track we need to be at. Hopefully, we can come back here and it will be for real."

Dixon was third fastest, 117.938 mph, followed by Meira, 117.594 mph; Wheldon, 117.564 mph; Andretti, 117.145 mph; and Patrick, 116.802. The seven drivers were separated by only 1.1450 seconds.

"We don't race here yet, so there's no point in worrying about the lap times," Patrick said, after showing gradual improvement throughout the morning and was third fastest at one point. "We were testing things out and seeing what works and what doesn't, so we can apply it to the places we race at."

"This is a tough test track for a driver," Marco Andretti said. "It's very tough to be consistent here, very tough for car placement. It was an interesting day, and it was a beneficial day for Andretti Green."
The only incident of the day was when Dan Wheldon had a suspension failure entering Turn 5, where he went straight and impacted the tire barrier on his first hot lap of the morning. The team had the No. 10 car repaired to return to the session following the lunch break.

"It was just unfortunate," Wheldon said. "I think we had a little problem with the left front suspension. These things happen at the racetrack, but from the few laps I’ve done this place is a great venue. I’m looking forward to getting back out there."

Wheldon bruised his thumb in the incident when he kept his hands on the steering wheel.

"Rookie mistake," Wheldon said. "The Armco is pretty hard, I was trying to steer it away from there as best as I could."

The lone incident of the afternoon occured when Danica Patrick broke a wishbone and coasted to a stop without making contact.

A large spectator turnout took advantage of the sunny skies and moderate temperatures to enjoy the session.

"I've never seen so many people at a test day," Kanaan said. "It's great. Hopefully, we'll get excited and come back for more testing, or -- God knows -- one day we can race there."