Tony Kanaan was reminded early during a Chevrolet manufacturer test session at Sonoma Raceway that he was in the car that earned the Verizon P1 Award on the 2.38-mile, 12-turn road course last August.

"So I knew I better do something," said Kanaan, who has taken behind the wheel of the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car for four-time IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti. “This track is very good for testing because in one day you can get six different scenarios, from weather, track temperatures and wind, so you’re trying to learn as much as you can in all scenarios.”

Kanaan, who won the inaugural IndyCar Series race at Sonoma in 2005, was among the 13 drivers on the technically and physically challenging course in preparation for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 22-24. It will be the 10th IndyCar Series race at Sonoma and the penultimate race in the championship chase.

Two days earlier, on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, Chevrolet conducted a test session. The initial Open Test of the season is March 17-18 at Barber Motorsports Park.

Reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Ryan Briscoe (Chip Ganassi Racing Teams), Charlie Kimball (Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing), Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya, KVSH Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, Ed Carpenter Racing's Mike Conway and newly named KV AFS Racing driver Sebastian Saavedra also were among the Chevy test participants.

“This track requires lots of commitment, and it’s certainly the most technical track on the circuit,” said Power, who has posted three wins in Sonoma (2010, ’11 and ’13). “If you’re good here, you’re going to be fine everywhere.”

A.J. Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports drivers Simon Pagenaud and Mikhail Aleshin were getting in laps with Honda power.