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INDYCAR: Pre-Season Testing Starts This Week
IndyCar's uncomfortably long off-season will come to an end on Tuesday when engines are run in anger for the first time this year.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted February 11, 2013  
IndyCar teams break cover this week as they begin preparing for the season opener at St. Petersburg, Mar. 22-24. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
IndyCar's uncomfortably long off-season will come to an end on Tuesday when engines are run in anger at a Firestone tire test at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca., sparking a busy month of activities as teams prepare for the season opener at St. Petersburg in just under six weeks.

The one-day test at the 2.0-mile track for Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Team Penske's Helio Castroneves is followed by the first major test of 2013 on Feb. 19-20 at Sebring International Raceway's short course.

The majority of the grid--as many as 17 drivers--is scheduled to turn laps on the popular 1.7-mile, 11-turn layout, including AJ Allmendinger, who will join Team Penske for his first laps in an open-wheel car since 2006.

Allmendinger will share the tent with Penske regulars Castroneves and Will Power, who will sample the latest Chevy engines in road course trim along with a number of Bowtie stablemates.

Andretti Autosport has three members of its four-car team in Sebring, with 2012 series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe set the share the track with fellow Chevy runners KV Racing (Tony Kanaan and Simona de Silvestro) and Panther DRR (Oriol Servia).

Honda will be represented at Sebring by Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and recent Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Charlie Kimball, along with Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson, Barracuda Racing's Alex Tagliani and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden.

Three Honda-powered teams will also make their 2013 debuts with new drivers. A.J. Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato will turn laps, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will log more miles with rookie Tristan Vautier, and Rahal Letterman Racing will continue getting up to speed with Graham Rahal.

I've also learned of one driver, whose 2013 plans will be revealed later this week, being added to the roster at Sebring.

Testing moves from east to west one week later as seven drivers are scheduled to test at Sonoma Raceway.

KV Racing, Panther DRR and Schmidt will make the cross-country trek, with Kanaan, de Silvestro and Servia continuing their pre-season testing programs while Simon Pagenaud will take over the testing duties from Vautier.

Three Chevy teams will also make their first appearance of 2013 at the revised 2.3-mile, 12-turn road course, with Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, Ed Carpenter Racing's Ed Carpenter and Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand completing the six team/seven driver test on Feb. 27th.

IndyCar's Spring Training will follow on Mar. 11-13 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, shortly before opening practice at St. Petersburg begins on March 22nd.

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. Now in his 27th year in the sport, Pruett was an open-wheel mechanic, engineer and manager before joining SPEED. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.
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