SPM testing update: Sonoma Raceway

Tuesday Feb. 12th: Simon Pagenaud: “I think we tried to make the car very similar track to track so it’s easy for me to extract the best out of it. That’s what we’ve been working on in our preseason testing so far. We’re happy right now because the feeling of the car at Sonoma was very similar to how it behaved on a street circuit.

To get the best out of your driver, you need to have a consistent car at every event. I think we managed to get there in Sonoma, and the pace was very good. The Honda twin turbo was also strong, and it’s been very interesting testing so far. There’s always something to gain here and there despite testing a lot.

I would like the car to have a little more front grip in slow speed corners right now to help me carry more speed and get better lap times. We’re very close, though, and I think we’ll be ready when St. Petersburg gets here. We’re very focused, and we’re working very hard to complete this task."

Mikhail Aleshin:“I really enjoyed the track. It’s an interesting configuration, with a lot of changes in elevation. It’s difficult to learn each new track if you want to be really strong, but I relish that challenge.

We walked through all of the problems in the test that we needed to cover, so it was a success from that standpoint.

In terms of preparation, everything is where it should be. We’re taking every action seriously at the track, and each thing we do we’ve prepared in advance for. We’re using every opportunity to get something from it. We’re not chasing times just yet. We’re working on different scenarios we identified before we even got to the track, and we worked through them exactly as planned."

Rob Edwards, General Manager – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports: “It was another excellent test for the team and both drivers. Simon experimented with some different setup directions in the morning, some of which worked well and some not so well! He continues to impress with his attention to detail as we develop our package. Mikhail did an excellent job to be on the pace in his first visit to Sonoma. It is a challenging track to learn, and he took it all in stride. Honda is doing an excellent job developing the new twin-turbo engine. We are excited to go racing."