Sebring played host to the first on-track action for IndyCar in 2016 last week as Honda hosted its manufacturer day at the Florida venue.
As per the new testing regulations brought into force at the end of the 2015 season, teams are limited to eight test and/or full-size wind tunnel days, with extras being attainable by splitting running with an Indy Lights driver or fielding a team in the support series.
On Wednesday, Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Carlos Munoz enjoyed some track time at Sebring alongside Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal as the new Honda aero kit was put through its paces.
Previously developed by Wirth Research, the Honda aero kits are now understood to share development resources with the Japanese manufacturer’s F1 operation.
“It was good to get back in the car at Sebring on Wednesday,” Rahal told indycar.com. “I thought it was a very positive day, a day with a lot of learning. When we get the new aero kit, just as we did last year, there’s so much to be found and understood and a lot of development to go. Really, today was that sort of day for us.
“There definitely is a lot of work to be done. There were four cars in total there, the three Andretti cars and ours. The way we look at it, it was a pretty tyre-limited day. You’re trying mainly to learn just as much as you can on different parts and pieces and try to figure out what we need when we come back to test at Sebring in about a month’s time.”