IndyCars finish tire test at Phoenix

Marco Andretti

Photos courtesy of Phoenix Raceway

Following the exciting running of the Verizon IndyCar Series Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix in April, the return to the desert has become an important stop on the INDYCAR schedule.

In preparation for the first oval race of the 2017 season, scheduled for April 29 in Phoenix, five Verizon IndyCar Series drivers and teams, including two Indianapolis 500 winners, participated in a one-day Firestone tire and aero testing session at Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 18. The drivers are making their first appearance on the track since the return of the series last spring.

MARCO ANDRETTI – Driver of the No. 27 Honda for Andretti Autosport

On the breakdown of a test:

"A tire test is one where we run through option sets of tires and depending on the feedback from the previous race, Firestone will come out with a more durable or more gripped tire and different options of staggers…there's just a bunch of different sets and what they do is they throw a control set, which is our race set, they throw that in the middle after every three runs just to close a loop on all the testing. You keep going back to the baseline and then it reminds you what the baseline felt like, then you can have it to better compare to the option tire and we just get feedback on that and just try to get the best durability versus grip."

On what he's hoping to get out of the testing session:

"We're running through a lot of test items as a team and I think we are ready. We got a lot done because we rattled through the Firestone test plan, so we were able to get a bunch, like three or four, of our own test items in with a lot of positive towards next year. A lot of what we're trying, it keeps replicating at different places so every time we put that on and it's good somewhere else too, it's just really making me feel good about next year. I'm just hoping that we're just a step up in competitiveness next year."

Helio Castroneves – Driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for Team Penske

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]On why he's in Phoenix and what they do at a testing session:

"Today we're testing parts of the car that, when we come to race weekends, sometimes takes a little longer and we don't have enough time to do that. So when we have a whole day, that's when we do it because there's a lot happening during a test inside the race car. We're just doing stuff that sometimes you don't have enough time to do over race weekend."

On how important these testing sessions are for drivers:

"Testing sessions are always important for any driver because the car changes a little bit, the engineers come up with something during the off-season and they want to make sure that whatever they work on in the shop, when they put it in the race car, it works the same way. So that is extremely important so that you have a good performance during the season."

Ryan Hunter-Reay – Driver of the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport

On what are you looking forward to about coming back in 2017:

"Our first year back at PIR was great. INDYCAR was made for this place. I think we're going to put on a better show when we come back because we're looking at how the race went, the rhythm of it, the amount of passing and we're going to improve on that this year."

On what you are hoping to get out of this test today:

"Today we're running through a bunch of aero stuff for INDYCAR right now to try and improve on everything; and for the future and to try and make the racing better. And also with an eye towards 2018 (when INDYCAR adopts a universal aero kit for all cars). We're trying quite a bit of stuff here – doing big sweeps on the aero side of it, big experiments."

Ed Carpenter

ED CARPENTER – Owner and driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing

On what he's hoping to get out of the test in Phoenix:

"Last year when we tested here, we weren't going near as fast as we ended up going in the race and that kind of ended up throwing some curveballs to Firestone for the tires. So now that we are running more representative speeds and loads in the cars, we are just refining that tire and make it safer for us and better racing. You saw a couple of people having tire issues in the race last year and that's something that doesn't happen with Firestone and we want to keep it that way."

On what he's looking forward to about racing here in 2017:

"I love being here. I love the weather, I love this racetrack, I think that it had been a while since we had been here so I think we are all excited to come back. The series is working hard to see what tweaks we can make to make the show better. We are here today with Firestone here working on that. I mean, for me, I made a mistake and crashed out here last year and, you know, I felt like we had a top-three car so I'm just real excited to come back and hopefully right a wrong."

CARLOS MUNOZ – Driver of the No. 26 Honda for Andretti Autosport

On his impression of the return of INDYCAR to Phoenix Raceway:

"For me it was fantastic, right? It was the first time that I ever raced here, it was last year… INDYCAR was coming here for a long time and it's great to be back at the track. They say, everyone says it has changed a lot since the last time INDYCAR was here. It's always nice to come here to Phoenix. I came here (to test) back in Indy Lights. So it's always nice to have new tracks and to engage with new fans."

On whether he agrees with other drivers that say Phoenix is unique because turns one and two are so different than three and four:

"Yeah, this is something that all the drivers like, the harder it is, the more we like it. It's kind of like Pocono – you can say that one part is completely different than the other part. So you have to play with it. It's always challenging. Personally I always like challenging tracks, if it was easy than everyone can do it. But if it's difficult, not everyone can do it."

CARA ADAMS – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Americas Motorsports and Manager, Race Tire Development for Firestone Racing

On what types of things she's looking for at today's test:

"We're looking at driver feedback and lap time differences over last year, and we're looking very closely at the tires. We have a couple of different left-side compounds that we're testing, so we're looking at the appearance of the tire and we have several constructions that we're trying as well. We're trying to learn as much as we can and apply that to what we're going to build for the 2017 Phoenix race."

On how important these testing sessions are:

"We get a lot of great feedback during the race weekend, but during a typical race weekend, we wouldn't have time to look at changes for next year. We would have to do our best with indoor testing and all of our analyses, so if we wanted to come back and make a change, it's something that you need to be at the actual racetrack and testing in a very scientific test order so you need to make sure you have control tires and then you need to make sure you test the changes in an appropriate manner."

IndyCar's VP of competition engineering Bill Pappas told motorsport,com Tuesday's test at Phoenix and last week's test at Gateway have created the data they will assess to enhance competition at PIR, Iowa and Gateway in 2017.

Pappas told Motorsport.com: "It's not about making substantial changes; just trying to address some of the small problems we incurred, and trying to enhance what we had this year.

"When we were looking back at the Phoenix race – and even preseason testing – there were several different theories about what could be done to enhance the competition. So whether it was aero, turbo boost, tires, we needed to try them all out. So we piggy-backed on a Firestone test.

"We stuck to 2016 aero and power regulations at first, exactly how we raced in the spring, so there was no confusion there. Then we had three cars helping us look at power alterations and also some aero testing, and Firestone tested different tire compounds. Everything was assessed independently."

On the subject of power, Pappas confirmed that as Helio Castroneves explained after the test, the series is looking at reducing standard turbo-boost on short ovals from 1.4-bar [as run at Iowa and Phoenix this season] to 1.3-bar – as run on the Indianapolis, Texas and Pocono speedways – but with 1.4-bar as push-to-pass boost.

The series has not used push to pass boost for ovals since the pre-2012 normally-aspirated V8 era, which two veteran drivers recalled as not making much difference apart from hurting fuel mileage.

Asked if having a more substantial push-to-pass surge of turbo boost had proven effective in testing, Pappas responded: "We need to look at the data and talk to the drivers about whether they thought it was effective. We're basing this on feedback from various teams and drivers, and it may be part of an overall package of changes."