As a rookie in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Jack Hawksworth knows that he has to learn a lot on the fly.
The 23-year-old Englishman will get his newest lessons during testing April 16-17 at Texas Motor Speedway. Nineteen car/driver combinations are expected to participate in the test, which will help set the aerodynamic options available to teams during the Firestone 600 in June.
Hawksworth, whose superspeedway experience consists of races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Auto Club Speedway in Indy Lights, will be learning the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval’s layout in his first oval experience in an Indy car.
“I am looking forward to the test at Texas to see what one of these things is like on an oval,” he said. “I’ve never been to Texas before, so it will be interesting to see the layout. It looks unique for an oval, especially the ones I’ve been on.”
Fellow rookies Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin will also get their first laps at Texas Motor Speedway in the test, and they'll be joined by experienced teammates to compare notes. Hawksworth will go it alone, relying on the experience of team co-owner Bryan Herta.
“There’s a really good bunch of guys on the team,” he said. “Bryan has a bunch of experience as a driver, and he’s available to give me advice about all kinds of circuits. The engineers and everybody are really helpful in getting me up to speed and help me as much as they can. The other part is just me getting on with it myself.
“To be honest, it is a little bit of an unknown for me. I’ve watched a bit of video and seen where the line is. Once I get out there, just build up to it and get a feel for what the car does. Hopefully I can get down to it pretty quick.”