IndyCar – The 2017 testing program

The main testing sessions organized in 2017 will be structured around four open tests conducted at Phoenix International Raceway (February 10-11), Barber Motorsports Park (March 21), Gateway Motorsports Park (September 2) and Sonoma Raceway (September 14).

The Gateway Motorsports Park is the big news of the 2017 calendar and will be a discovery for most of the drivers on the grid next year. The test day at Sonoma Raceway in California will also be closer to the final round of the championship, scheduled for September 17.

In 2016, eight days of testing were authorized without counting the Promoter Tests in IndyCar Series, and the additional days granted in particular for rookies.

In addition to these open days, the teams will benefit from three “off-season” driving days (between October 3, 2016 and April 6, 2017). However, only one day of testing in the so-called “in-season” window, spread between April 11 and September 17, will be authorized.

Any rookie will be able to count on up to four additional days and a team will be able to develop a driver entered in Indy Lights for one day, or will benefit from an extra day if it competes in the Indy Lights championship under the same name as in IndyCar. A new team starting in the championship will be able to count on four days of running.

Each engine manufacturer, Chevrolet and Honda, will get two days of running in the so-called off-season period.

On the tire side, testing will take place at the request of the manufacturer Firestone and each session may last two days, outside or during the season, with a maximum of two teams on track. During a session during the season, all teams will be able to conduct team tests with a car.