Carlin completes first IndyCar test with Homestead shakedown

Max Chilton and Charlie Kimball ran for five hours ahead of a full day of testing on Tuesday, and team owner Trevor Carlin said it was a moving experience.

"I was excited to be honest; it was really quite emotional to see it heading down the pitlane for the first time," Carlin told Autosport.

"And it came back under its own power, which is good!

"The guys have done an incredible job with it, like we've been running these cars for years.

"There's lots of things to be learning, but it's all just happened in a normal fashion so really I'm very pleased."

Carlin covered around 90 laps with its first Dallara-Chevrolet on Monday.

The second of the new-for-2018 universal aerokits arrived at the team's base last Saturday, so both cars will be in action for IndyCar's open test at Phoenix next month, and will also complete more days at Sebring before the St Petersburg season-opener.

"It's been a bit hectic, obviously. We've got one crew at the shop building the second car and one crew here," Carlin explained.

"But actually we've not had a lot of interest in our Indy Lights team so far, so now that the Lights cars are prepped and ready to go, we've been able to throw more manpower at the IndyCars."

Carlin still hopes to run a two-car Indy Lights team, and ruled out adding a third IndyCar entry for the Indianapolis 500.

"I've had two serious enquiries already, but honestly, it's not the right thing for us to do this year," he said.

"I'm just happy to be doing what we're doing and being in that race.

"That's a big enough step without trying to crucify ourselves by running three."

'Lots to catch up on'

Chilton is confident Carlin will be able to overcome the tight timescale between its first test and its IndyCar debut on the second weekend of March.

"We've got very little time, not many track days to get things sorted out in time for St Pete, but if any team is going to make the best of it, it's Carlin," Chilton told Autosport.

"We've got lots to catch up on, as we're millions of miles behind some of the teams that have been testing this 2018 car already, so we've got to work efficiently to catch up.

"There were no hiccups at all, apart from a faulty radio, and I think that's outstanding for a car that hadn't run before.

"We only did half a day, but didn't have a single issue, which is a great start.

"But then I didn't expect any less, because Carlin always perfects everything they possibly can so I wasn't anticipating any issues."