Conquest Racing and HVM Racing will not participate in the IndyCar Series Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park March 22-23. Both teams anticipate using some of their allocation of private test days to test before the season-opening race April 5 at St. Petersburg, Fla.
Jaime Camara drove for Conquest Racing at the February Open Test on the oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway although the team has yet to confirm its driver lineup for 2009.
“We’re in the process of finalizing our program and with that being our main focus we elected to skip the Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park and do a private test at a later date,” Conquest Racing owner Eric Bachelart said. “We’re looking at doing a test prior to the start of the season, probably at a place like Sebring, which will better help us with our preparation for the upcoming street course races in St. Petersburg and Long Beach.”
E.J. Viso participated in the Open Test at Homestead-Miami for HVM Racing. HVM has been working with Ryan Hunter-Reay to test a second car at the private test. Hunter-Reay was fitted for a seat this week at the HVM shop, where the team will be preparing another car for him. The team has not finalized an agreement with the 2007 Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year but continues to explore opportunities with him for the 2009 season.
“We look forward to having Ryan test for us, but we want to make sure the timing of that test makes sense for everyone,” HVM Racing owner Keith Wiggins said.
Each IndyCar Series entrant that participates in the season-long IndyCar TEAM program (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) is allowed 800 miles or six days of testing, whichever comes first, and 18 sets of Firestone Firehawk tires. Entrants with a second car may conduct 1,200 miles of testing with 26 sets of tires, while entrants with additional cars gain 200 miles and four sets of tires per car. Teams are not permitted to test at any track within seven days of a race.
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