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Scott Dixon leads Chevrolet sweep of IndyCar pre-season test

Scott Dixon topped the first day of IndyCar's official pre-season test at Barber, out-pacing Simon Pagenaud with his final lap of the day

Ganassi's Dixon led a Chevrolet engine and aero kit lockout of the top five places, with Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay the top Honda runner, nearly four tenths of a second back.

"I think both cars are very different," said Dixon. "I don't care what it looks like as long as it's fast.

"It's been a significant change in driveability or how to attack the car with all the downforce.

"We're working with the balance issues, just trying to feel out some of the changes with the aero kit and the loads changing significantly with the corner speeds."

Pagenaud set the pace in the morning session for Penske, which had all four of its cars in the top five at the end of the day, with Will Power ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves.

2012 champion Hunter-Reay described the Honda aero kit, which was outpaced in testing at NOLA Motorsports Park last weekend as well, as "a work in progress".

"This is what testing and development is about," he added. "It's almost like you're starting with a new car.

"You feel when you're in the car that every lap is critical because you're one step closer to the season beginning."

IndyCar is also using this test to trial a new LED display that will show a car's race position, to make events easier to follow for fans at trackside.

The test continues on Tuesday, before the teams switch to private testing at Sebring and NOLA.

The test also marked confirmation of two more driver signings for 2015, with Carlos Huertas signing for a second season with Dale Coyne, and former Auto GP racer Franceso Dracone returning to IndyCar for the first time since 2010 in a four-race deal alongside him.

Morning times:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.7456s -
2 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.0401s 0.2945s
3 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.2214s 0.4758s
4 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.2600s 0.5144s
5 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.3383s 0.5927s
6 Stefano Coletti KV Racing Technology Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.4816s 0.7360s
7 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.6508s 0.9052s
8 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 1m08.6550s 0.9094s
9 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m08.6637s 0.9181s
10 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m08.6761s 0.9305s
11 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.6774s 0.9318s
12 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.7068s 0.9612s
13 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.7630s 1.0174s
14 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1m08.9856s 1.2400s
15 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m09.0165s 1.2709s
16 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m09.1466s 1.4010s
17 Luca Filippi CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m09.6855s 1.9399s
18 Carlos Huertas Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m10.0365s 2.2909s
19 Gabby Chaves Bryan Herta Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m10.3056s 2.5600s
20 Sage Karam Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m10.7555s 3.0099s
21 Francesco Dracone Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m13.2615s 5.5159s

Afternoon times:

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.4805s -
2 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.5329s 0.0524s
3 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.5495s 0.0690s
4 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.6266s 0.1461s
5 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.7703s 0.2898s
6 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m07.8494s 0.3689s
7 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.8647s 0.3842s
8 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m07.8982s 0.4177s
9 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.9079s 0.4274s
10 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 1m07.9317s 0.4512s
11 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m07.9540s 0.4735s
12 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m07.9634s 0.4829s
13 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.1515s 0.6710s
14 Stefano Coletti KV Racing Technology Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.1848s 0.7043s
15 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 1m08.1940s 0.7135s
16 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m08.2657s 0.7852s
17 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1m08.3626s 0.8821s
18 Luca Filippi CFH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 1m08.3947s 0.9142s
19 Carlos Huertas Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m08.4797s 0.9992s
20 Jack Hawksworth AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 1m08.7414s 1.2609s
21 Gabby Chaves Bryan Herta Autosport Dallara/Honda 1m09.0013s 1.5208s
22 Francesco Dracone Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1m11.9996s 4.5191s


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