INDYCAR: Tough Start To Fontana Test For Hunter-Reay, Dixon

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Tough Start To Fontana Test For Hunter-Reay, Dixon

Championship contender Ryan Hunter-Reay spun and made contact with the Turn 2 wall at Fontana on Wednesday, while Scott Dixon lost an engine.

Marshall Pruett | Posted September 12, 2012

With a championship in his grasp, a crash was the last thing Ryan Hunter-Reay needed, but his car is repairable and could make it out to run before the end of the extended test day. (Photo: Ned Dawson/Karbon Magazine)

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay spun and made contact with the Turn 2 wall at approximately 2.pm. PT during IndyCar's test at Auto Club Speedway on Wednesday, damaging his Chevy engine and the left side suspension on his Dallara DW12.

RHR's DHL/Sun Drop car bears the blue marks of the Auto Club Speedway wall on the left rear wheel pod. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

"The car was pretty loose on the first run and we went for a second run on it," said Hunter-Reay, who was uninjured, barring a bump on his knee.

"We probably got a little greedy with it as light as we were running on downforce. Just came around. Qualifying trim. It happens. It's part of it.The good news is the car is not that bad."

Hunter-Reay spent a considerable amount of time heading backwards before coming to a halt, causing the internals of his Ilmor-built twin-turbo V6 Chevy IndyCar engine to counter-rotate.

Along with receiving new suspension, his No. 28 DHL/Sun Drop car, which was due for a fresh powerplant, will undergo an engine change.

Testing is scheduled to run until 8 p.m. PT, which might afford Hunter-Reay's crew enough time to complete their repairs before the day's activities conclude.

"It's not that big of a setback," said RHR. "We still have two team cars still pounding around and we'll get back out there today. I'm hoping [to get out and run with them]."

Scott Dixon got in seven laps of running before engine problems intervened. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who was mathematically eliminated from the championship at Baltimore, also saw his test day halted prematurely.

The Kiwi suffered an engine failure seven laps into his first run, but managed to set the sixth-fastest speed--a 213.3 mph lap in 90-degree weather--before things went silent.

Like Andretti Autosport, the Ganassi team planned to get Dixon back on track.

[UPDATE: Dixon's No. 9 Target car rolled out to pit lane at 4 p.m. to resume testing.]

At the time of RHR's accident, Ganassi's Dario Franchitti held the fastest lap at 214.3 mph, followed by Team Penske's Will Power with a 214.1.

Hunter-Reay was third, recording a 214.0 mph lap around the 2.0-mile oval.

Round 15, the MAVTV 500, starts Saturday night at 5:45 p.m. PT.

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.