![\"IR-28](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/10-12-IR28-Tweaking.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe initial tests of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES IR-28 chassis took place in August and September on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and oval, two circuits known for their billiard-table smooth asphalt.<\/p>\n
Now, for the rough stuff.<\/p>\n
Five-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou of Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing turned 43 laps Monday on the outer loop at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, the first test for the car outside of IMS. 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi of Chevrolet-powered ECR will take over testing duties Tuesday at the historic Florida circuit.<\/p>\n
Sebring is a popular testing site for NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams due to its bumpy nature and mix of asphalt and concrete surfaces, which simulate well the temporary street circuits that formed a third of the series schedule in 2026. It\u2019s a punishing, unforgiving track that stresses the durability and strength of components perhaps better than any other testing ground for the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to test it as tough as we can,\u201d Palou said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bumpy course. Before we produce all the new cars, we want to make sure it passes this stress test and that it\u2019s good to go for racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get miles and miles, see what breaks so we can fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palou and Rossi are the only series drivers so far to test the car, which will be introduced at the start of the 2028 season. As in the road course and oval tests at IMS, the two drivers and Dallara and INDYCAR officials will continue to perform a long checklist of basic system and performance checks on the car.<\/p>\n
But Palou noticed Monday his feedback on driver comfort and car braking from the initial tests at IMS was adopted and made significant improvements, especially in driver cooling. The revolutionary aeroscreen was added to the current car in 2020, with ducts fit into the existing carbon fiber body to aid cooling. The new car has more ducts that are more strategically placed from initial design instead of an add-on like the ducting on the current car.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s been so much better, the cooling, since we started a couple months ago,\u201d Palou said. \u201cHuge step, and that\u2019s something we\u2019ve been asking for a long time on our current car.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very big one (duct) right in front of us (on the IR-28) that makes the air go from down to up and makes the airflow so much better. It\u2019s been huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palou completed a historic moment for the IR-28 during testing today when he passed a current car driven by Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, who was testing Firestone Firehawk tires at the circuit along with Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske. It was the first on-track pass for the new car.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t planned,\u201d Palou said. \u201cWe went out, and I saw Kirkwood was doing the tire test. We spoke during lunch that at some point this afternoon we would go together. We wanted to see how this car does in traffic. It was cool. We were playing a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another advantage to Sebring being a regular test spot for NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams is there\u2019s a plethora of data with the current car that can be compared with the IR-28. All systems continue to be go with the new car.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited,\u201d Palou said. \u201cI like the looks of it. It seems safer. It looks like it\u2019s going to be much better racing because we\u2019re going to be able to follow much closer on road, street and ovals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just excited to go racing. I wish it was already \u201927. Having said that, it gives us so much time to work on the car, to make sure it\u2019s good. If there\u2019s something that doesn\u2019t really work on ovals or whatever, we can go test it before we actually race it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The initial tests of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES IR-28 chassis took place in August and September on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-644595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}