Mother Nature smiled down on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, providing ideal weather for both days of the Indianapolis 500 Open Test. Warm temperatures allowed teams and drivers to get a feel for how the hybrid units would react on the famed 2.5-mile oval.

Wednesday got off to a bit of a slow start, with technical issues delaying the action. When the green flag waved, things got busy. When the checkered flag came out at 7 PM, it was six-time series champion Scott Dixon who sat at the top of the speed chart. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver turned the fastest lap at 225.182 mph in the final hour of testing.

“It’s testing – just trying to get through the test list, lots of changes,” Dixon said. “We didn’t do the October test, so first time with the hybrid here, which definitely adds some elements to it and makes it pretty interesting. I think it is going to determine a lot race-wise, maybe even for the shootout at the end. I think it could determine that. So, trying to clarify a lot of those situations to make sure that you’re covered muscle memory-wise and memory-wise. It comes down to that. So even in qualifying, I think it be a few different strategies of how to get that right.”

Dixon took the top spot from two-time reigning race champion Josef Newgarden, who ended up second at 225.125 in the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time series champion Newgarden is trying to become the first driver to win the world’s most prestigious auto race three years in a row Sunday, May 25.

“Today was really solid just to start out,” Newgarden said. “The big thing is you come here with a new car or an existing car that you’re taking apart and completely rebuilding it. For most everybody here, putting a car on the track for the first time and hoping it just goes relatively quick … When the car is fast, everything else can be fixed. It’s the car’s speed that fixes everything. For us, it’s been a really good start. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be all smooth sailing, but I hope we can come out of this and be prepared for the Month of May.”

Nine of the cars inside the top-ten were all Honda-powered. Honda drivers also took the top three spots on the no-tow list. Felix Rosenqvist was the top no-tow driver at 220.835 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing entry, followed by reigning series champion Alex Palou in the No. 10 Ganassi Honda.

Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, and Robert Shwartzman completed the Rookie Orientation Program on Wednesday. Marco Andretti, Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Larson, and Takuma Sato completed the veteran refresher test. There was just one caution period during more than six hours of testing. Graham Rahal brushed the wall in Turn 3 twice with 15 minutes remaining, but was able to get the car safely back to pit lane.

Thursday was a bit of a different story for Larson and Sato, who both crashed hard.

Larson got high exiting Turn 1 when he was preparing to make his first run of the morning. The rear end of his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet slid up and into the wall, and the right side of his car was crushed. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was not injured, but his testing was finished.

Sato had a much harder impact when he spun just minutes after the track was cleaned up. The two-time Indy 500 winner was second fastest in the morning “boost” session prior to his incident. His No. 75 RLL Racing Honda was destroyed after smacking the Turn 1 wall at 94 G of impact.

“I lost it. I simply lost it,” Sato said. “It’s hard. My body is fine. It’s just the car. I lost the car. That’s heartbreaking.”

Scott McLaughlin, who earned pole position in the race last year, was fastest in the morning session. His lap at 232.686 mph was the fastest trip around the 2.5-mile oval in both days of testing. “We had a really good day, a good couple of days,” McLaughlin said. “I felt like we got through a lot from a hybrid perspective. Then I felt like the morning qualifying session was a bit of a crapshoot. There were a couple yellows. When the track got better, it was a bit dirty from some of the shunts, as well. Then everyone was trying to cram a lot into 40 minutes. But overall, a really solid balance to kick off the Month of May.”

Palou was the fastest driver in the afternoon session, giving Ganassi a good feeling heading into the Month of May. “You need to keep on always chasing it and trying to make it better,” Palou said. “Trying to make it more comfortable when running in traffic, trying to make it faster when you’re alone. That’s the car that gives me a chance to win, for sure.”

Over two days of testing, the 34 drivers combined to turn 5,804 total laps.

Up next for the NTT IndyCar Series is a trip to Barber Motorsports Park. That race on May 4 is the final event before the series shifts back to IMS for the rest of the month.