AJ Allmendinger will get his long-awaited Team Penske IndyCar test next Tuesday at Sebring alongside team regulars Will Power (LEFT) and Helio Castroneves, as part of a multi-team test at the Florida road course over three days.
Penske Racing president Tim Cindric has said that Allmendinger, who has been cleared to compete by IndyCar after having successfully completed NASCAR's "Road to Recovery" program, could compete in a third Penske IndyCar this year, but Allmendinger is taking that one step at a time.
“It's about getting comfortable and hopefully doing a good job and making something of it from there,” said Allmendinger. “I'm looking for the best opportunity.”
New Dragon Racing driver Sebastian Saavedra and Sebastian Bourdais will run at Sebring on Monday, while recently signings Tristan Vautier (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) and E.J. Viso (Andretti Autosport) will also get their initial seat time with their new teams on Wednesday, as will the three other Andretti Autosport drivers – Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe. The majority of the action will take place on Tuesday, however, including:
Team Penske – Helio Castroneves, Will Power and AJ Allmendinger
KV Racing Technology – Tony Kanaan and Simona de Silvestro
Panther Dreyer & Reinbold Racing – Oriol Servia
Target Chip Ganassi Racing – Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti
Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing – Charlie Kimball
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Graham Rahal
Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian – Alex Tagliani
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing – Josef Newgarden
A.J. Foyt Racing – Takuma Sato
Dale Coyne Racing – Justin Wilson
“It's really exciting and going to Sebring will feel like the start of the season because we'll have a lot of testing in the next four weeks,” said Simona de Silvestro, who will also take part in a multi-team test Feb. 27 at Sonoma Raceway. “It's good to get back into the rhythm and start working.
“The team has been working hard to line up all the changes we want to try. I think we'll be pretty busy.”
Source: IndyCar.com