HVM to skip Barber IndyCar test

The team had added Ryan Hunter-Reay to its line-up for the test and had planned for him and the already-signed EJ Viso to share a car.

But HVM has now decided to prepare a second car and is unable to do this in time for Barber on Sunday and Monday, so will withdraw from the sessions in favour of a private test elsewhere for both Hunter-Reay and Viso. The date and location of the private test has not been revealed yet.

Team boss Keith Wiggins confirmed that the decision not to run at Barber did not have any impact on Hunter-Reay's chances of securing the second HVM seat.

"We look forward to having Ryan test for us, but we want to make sure the timing of that test makes sense for everyone," he said.

HVM is the third team to withdraw from the Barber test. AJ Foyt Racing and Team 3G had already decided to use their test day allocation at private events instead.

Foyt team director Larry Foyt felt his squad had achieved more with driver Vitor Meira in two days of closed testing at MSR Houston last week than they would alongside the full field at Barber.

"We think the (Houston) track is more applicable to the street courses because of its surface and its tighter corners, plus we were able to configure the MSR track to mimic some corners at St Pete and Long Beach," he said.

"Since we didn't have to wait for yellows, track inspections and traffic, we were able to get a lot done in the two days we were there."

The new 3G team and its NASCAR convert driver Stanton Barrett will carry out a road course test in private before the season opener, at a location yet to be finalised.

The withdrawals mean a likely field of 11 teams running 18 cars in total at the Barber test.