2022 AT&T Champ Car World Series pre-season testing

The **2022 AT&T Champ Car World Series pre-season testing** period was time series of practice sessions preparing competitors for the upcoming Indycar World Championship season. The pre-season testing period spanned two separate weekends, with the road course test held at the 5.3 mile Pensacola International Speedway road course, while the superspeedway test was held at the 2.0 mile Auto Club Speedway.

All full time entries were required to be present for the tests, while part time entries were optional. For the road course test, all 24 full time entries were present, in addition to four partial season entries. For Fontana, 39 cars were ultimately present for the oval test.

## Background

### Chassis Alterations

Andromeda Automotive Initiative (AAI) began supplying teams with an upgraded chassis, the CC-02. The revised chassis featured a more complex underside, with improved wind veins contributing to better ground effects, but the most notable addition was the inclusion of a 50-pound windscreen, which was created following the tragic events of the 2020 Indianapolis 500. The windscreen, which uses a round titanium ring at the top of the screen for added support, went through two testing phases in 2021 before being approved for use.

### Engine Development Freeze

The full time engine suppliers of the Champ Car World Series; Alpine-Renault, Chevrolet, and Honda, were prohibited from introducing upgrades to their powertrains for the 2022 season. The manufacturers, who will be joined by Toyota in 2023, will be permitted to provide new, upgraded engine units in 2023.

### Test Scheduling

Pre-season testing was initially scheduled to begin in late January, at the esteemed Sebring International Raceway. Due to scheduling of other tests, from series across the United States, Horizon Corporation elected to move the road course test to Pensacola International Speedway, which would utilize the venue's 5.3 mile "roval" layout. Teams had privately used the venue in 2021 as a testing location in preparation for Denver Motorsports Park, and the venue hosted a race for the series in 2019.

## Road Course Test | Pensacola

The first pre-season test weekend occurred from the 11th to 13th of February, in Pensacola, Florida. Each day was composed of a 6 hour open session, where drivers were permitted to join the track and return to pit lane as they needed.

Firestone supplied the teams with the new 2022 primary (black-walled) tire compound. Firestone improved both the primary, and the red-walled alternate compound tires due to the increased demand of the CC-02 chassis.

### Driver Opinions

**Esther Hoffson**, Dragon Motorsports #28 - "Pretty thrilled to have this much pace right out of the gate. Things went pretty well, and the team just feels like it's more alive than it has in the past. Feeling good so far!"

**Camyron Jackson**, Dragon Motorsports #19 - "While I've got a bit of work to do and figure out, I'm pretty pumped to see my teammates up there. Its been months yet it somehow has barely sunk in where I am now."

**Siri Lundqvist**, Cherokee GP #96 - "We've closed the gap to (Team) Impulse, which is great. Honda look stronger than last year, but upgrades are coming, so it's just great getting back in the car and being competitive."

**Hazel Lacasse**, Panasonic Team Impulse #1 - "Felt good to be back in the car. Spent a lot of the test just running tire life simulations, and full fuel testing...times don't look great, but I'm not putting much stock in them yet."

**Zoe Sharp**, Obsidian Racing Team #87 - "Being back in a Champ Car, it's kinda surreal. Having to relearn a lot and catch up on how this series evolved over 11 years, it's really cool being able to learn from others instead of lead."

**Nera Takurasi**, Frostfire Racing #57 - "The car felt so much better than I was expecting it to. It felt more agile than I remember these cars being, and it came to me very quickly. It opened my eyes, for sure. Happy with what we saw."

## Superspeedway Test | Fontana

The final pre-season test of the 2022 off-season took place at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The 2.0 mile high speed oval has played host to the Indycar World Championship finale every season since its inception in 2000, and hosted the Indycar National Championship finale from 1998 to 1999, and again in 2023 with the revival of the Microsoft IndyCar Series.

The primary (black-walled) tire compound, as provided at the Pensacola test, was also provided at the Fontana test.