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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Sweeping Cuts To Test Days And Costs Coming For 2013
In an effort to reduce costs, IndyCar is finalizing a plan for 2013 that would greatly reduce the number of open test days and when it allows its teams to test.
The IZOD IndyCar Series has targeted changes to its open testing policy to trim costs for its teams, and will implement a testing philosophy used in sports car racing. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
IndyCar is finalizing a testing plan for 2013 that would greatly reduce the number of test days, and in turn, save teams a good chunk of change.
With a new car and engine package for its teams to learn, the IZOD IndyCar Series pressed a rather liberal testing plan into service for the 2012 season, but that’s about to change.
Most single-car teams have amassed at least a dozen test days so far this year, and at the upper end, Ganassi Racing outfit is said to have completed something in the range of 75 days across its four-car fleet, leading the series to pull back on the reins for 2013.
In addition to reducing the number of test days permitted for each entry, the series is also set to shift how and when many of those tests are administered, which should help to reduce a lot of budgetary waste.
SPEED.com has learned that something approaching a 50 percent reduction in test days is expected next year, and in a conversation with INDYCAR’s Will Phillips on Wednesday, the series’ VP of Technology said it was an easy decision to make.
“With the car being fundamentally the same, possibly aero kits aside, there’s no big mechanical changes to the car coming for next year, so there’s no need to continue at the current level of testing,” he remarked. “With the second year for a new car, it becomes significantly easier to reduce testing.”
With the series and its owners locked in a stalemate over reducing the price of spare parts for the Dallara DW12, Phillips cited cost reduction as the biggest reason for slashing the number of test days which should, in theory, provide a much greater cost savings per entry over the course of a season than any other initiative in play.
While the number varies from team to team, the most common figure cited for a single day of testing—transporting the car, flying, housing and feeding the crew, and the running and usage costs involved with the chassis and engine—is right at $50,000.
“The [$50,000 per day] cost savings for a standalone test is what we looked at, and granted, with multiple cars, that number comes down, but, potentially, if you reduced from 20 days to 10 days, it’s saving as much as $500,000 for a single-car operation,” he said. “Even if it’s $50,000 [per year] or whatever from reducing parts prices, we will save more money from chasing after the bigger ticket items, of which one of them is testing.”
Some of the bigger teams—those that can afford a massive testing program—have been opposed to the changes, but with IndyCar’s paddock comprised mostly of middle class programs, sweeping changes to testing for 2013 and beyond would help those who need immediate budget relief.
Panther DRR team co-owner Dennis Reinbold operates one of the single-car teams Phillips referred to, and as one of the more tenured and respected members of IndyCar’s middle class, he was happy to weigh in on the topic.
“I completely agree with the change, and let me tell you why,” he said. “This new car surprised us. Its raceability is excellent. Early on, we really thought we’d need to test it a lot but, I think we’ve all, collectively, come up with a lot of solutions. We’ve all had a lot of days on the track. The mystery has gone away from the car, so for me, being in the middle range of budgets, I think we can absolutely do away with as much testing as possible. That saves our budget.”
Along with dialing back the volume of open testing, the series is also changing its philosophy on when to hold many of those tests. Taking a page from the American Le Mans Series, which holds tests at most of its events the day before official practice starts, IndyCar teams should expect to see a similar plan implemented at road courses in 2013.
The example of why that shift is needed came to light when the series recently announced a one-day test at Sonoma this Friday for teams to learn the new track configuration prior to the August 24-26 race weekend.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the series was unable to book Thursday, August 23rd, for the test, which would have allowed teams to consolidate the test and race into a single, four-day outing to northern California.
Faced with having to book two sets of flights, hotel rooms, etc., for a pair of trips to northern California in the span of a week, the need to move to the ALMS’ testing model became obvious.
With a new car and engine package for its teams to learn, the IZOD IndyCar Series pressed a rather liberal testing plan into service for the 2012 season, but that’s about to change.
Most single-car teams have amassed at least a dozen test days so far this year, and at the upper end, Ganassi Racing outfit is said to have completed something in the range of 75 days across its four-car fleet, leading the series to pull back on the reins for 2013.
In addition to reducing the number of test days permitted for each entry, the series is also set to shift how and when many of those tests are administered, which should help to reduce a lot of budgetary waste.
SPEED.com has learned that something approaching a 50 percent reduction in test days is expected next year, and in a conversation with INDYCAR’s Will Phillips on Wednesday, the series’ VP of Technology said it was an easy decision to make.
“With the car being fundamentally the same, possibly aero kits aside, there’s no big mechanical changes to the car coming for next year, so there’s no need to continue at the current level of testing,” he remarked. “With the second year for a new car, it becomes significantly easier to reduce testing.”
With the series and its owners locked in a stalemate over reducing the price of spare parts for the Dallara DW12, Phillips cited cost reduction as the biggest reason for slashing the number of test days which should, in theory, provide a much greater cost savings per entry over the course of a season than any other initiative in play.
While the number varies from team to team, the most common figure cited for a single day of testing—transporting the car, flying, housing and feeding the crew, and the running and usage costs involved with the chassis and engine—is right at $50,000.
“The [$50,000 per day] cost savings for a standalone test is what we looked at, and granted, with multiple cars, that number comes down, but, potentially, if you reduced from 20 days to 10 days, it’s saving as much as $500,000 for a single-car operation,” he said. “Even if it’s $50,000 [per year] or whatever from reducing parts prices, we will save more money from chasing after the bigger ticket items, of which one of them is testing.”
Some of the bigger teams—those that can afford a massive testing program—have been opposed to the changes, but with IndyCar’s paddock comprised mostly of middle class programs, sweeping changes to testing for 2013 and beyond would help those who need immediate budget relief.
Panther DRR team co-owner Dennis Reinbold operates one of the single-car teams Phillips referred to, and as one of the more tenured and respected members of IndyCar’s middle class, he was happy to weigh in on the topic.
“I completely agree with the change, and let me tell you why,” he said. “This new car surprised us. Its raceability is excellent. Early on, we really thought we’d need to test it a lot but, I think we’ve all, collectively, come up with a lot of solutions. We’ve all had a lot of days on the track. The mystery has gone away from the car, so for me, being in the middle range of budgets, I think we can absolutely do away with as much testing as possible. That saves our budget.”
Along with dialing back the volume of open testing, the series is also changing its philosophy on when to hold many of those tests. Taking a page from the American Le Mans Series, which holds tests at most of its events the day before official practice starts, IndyCar teams should expect to see a similar plan implemented at road courses in 2013.
The example of why that shift is needed came to light when the series recently announced a one-day test at Sonoma this Friday for teams to learn the new track configuration prior to the August 24-26 race weekend.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the series was unable to book Thursday, August 23rd, for the test, which would have allowed teams to consolidate the test and race into a single, four-day outing to northern California.
Faced with having to book two sets of flights, hotel rooms, etc., for a pair of trips to northern California in the span of a week, the need to move to the ALMS’ testing model became obvious.
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