"There's a limited amount of time to try and do qualifying simulations [on race weekends]," said Dixon, who was second fastest at Homestead-Miami, "We just wanted consistency. From the race last year, you saw a lot of people go from the front straight to the back within the first 15-20 laps. Both our cars were decent, and that's what we concentrated on."
The test at Sebring will mark the first time that the IndyCar Series has conducted an open test at the facility, traditionally a home to sports and Champ Cars. The bumpy eleven-turn airfield circuit will also witness the debut of the IndyCar Series' new paddle shift system on a road course.
"I look forward to seeing what the paddle shifting will be like at Sebring, where you've got your hair on fire and you're really driving aggressive as opposed to [Homestead-Miami], where you're really not shifting that much," said Rahal Letterman Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay. "At Sebring, you can really dial yourself into the Sebring trap, and we've just got to be sure that we don't do that. We need to go about our changes, stick to our plan and get some feedback on the car and go to St Pete. We know we can a get a good job done on road courses."
Testing line-up:
3-4 March
Ed Carpenter
Vision Racing
AJ Foyt
Vision Racing
Danica Patrick
Andretti Green Racing
Tony Kanaan
Andretti Green Racing
Marco Andretti
Andretti Green Racing
Hideki Mutoh
Andretti Green Racing*
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Rahal Letterman Racing
Jay Howard
Roth Racing*
Marty Roth
Roth Racing
5-6 March
Scott Dixon
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Dan Wheldon
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Helio Castroneves
Team Penske
Ryan Briscoe
Team Penske
Darren Manning
AJ Foyt Enterprises
Vitor Meira
Panther Racing
Buddy Rice
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Milka Duno
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Townsend Bell
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
