Indy Car testing is a high-tech proposition. On board real-time telemetry measures 40 to 45 different performance parameters sending the information back to the pits and a bank of computers. They give us a map of what the car is doing. But computerization doesn't stop there. Indy car simulation software maps every track that comprises the Indy Racing Northern Light Series and teams can then race their computer cars on screen and see the results of changes before actually initiating them.
Theories become reality only when a driver confirms the changes with on-track laps.
Blanch said the input of the driver provides 50 percent of the testing equation. All the data is only as good as what the driver actually feels. Severe steering angle may indicate that the car is understeering. But, when the driver comes in and explains why the car pushed is when we actually know if it was a mechanical or physical result. This is where teams must learn a drivers lexicon.