With freezing temperatures and plenty of snow expected overnight, teams and drivers of the Verizon IndyCar Series were finally able to take to the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday. The new-look IndyCars were able to get about 5 1/2 hours of testing in, as the temperatures finally cooperated in the afternoon.
There were plenty of drivers on hand for today’s test, with essentially every team participating. Alexander Rossi had the fastest lap of the day, at 1:09.08 seconds. Chevrolet was not far behind, with Team Penske’s Will Power, Josef Newgarden, and Simon Pagenaud all in the top five. Jordan King was third fastest overall, as the Rookie continues to impress for Ed Carpenter Racing. Robert Wickens was scheduled to test, but couldn’t because of a muscle injury.
Pagenaud is a two-time winner of this race, and turned the most laps (105) of today. He seemed happy with what they found today. “Today was a great day, the weather cooperated and we did a lot of laps. It’s a big change to the last few years, the car behaved very differently and I was having to adjust my driving style. But I think we made big progress.”
With temperatures in the 30’s for most of the morning, the test session didn’t begin until just after Noon ET. Because of that, the series added an extra hour, running until 6 PM. Unfortunately the forecast for next week’s oval tests didn’t look promising. Because of that, those testing days have been postponed. The new dates are listed below.
- Monday, April 30 – Open Test (10 AM – 5 PM)
- Tuesday, May 1 – Rookie Orientation/Refresher Test (10 AM – 1 PM / 2 PM – 5 PM)
- Wednesday, May 2 – Chevrolet and Honda Manufacturer Test (9 AM – 5 PM)
The first two test days will be live streamed on IndyCar’s YouTube channel, and fans can watch testing for free all three days from the Turn 2 viewing mounds, Museum parking lot, and South Terrace Grandstands. The IndyCar Grand Prix is scheduled for May 12, and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 is set for May 27.
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