The NTT IndyCar Series started its special exhibition weekend on Friday morning, with a two hour test session around the exclusive Thermal Club private race track.
All of the series’ full time entries are at the facility, and plan to use the test runs to try out setups for later in the year and to prepare for the $1 Million Challenge on Sunday.
The session got off to a slow start as many of the drivers opted to wait in the pits for the track to warm up and rubber in before attempting to make their way around the course.
Less than half of the drivers set a flying lap in the first 30 minutes, but nearly everyone had sampled the course by time the one hour mark had passed.
Josef Newgarden was the final driver to take the 3.067-mile course, and ended his day in 20th after completing 13 laps.
Alex Palou was the fastest driver of the first session, completing his lap in 1 minute 39.5149 seconds. The reigning champion put in his fast lap early in the day, on the fourth lap out of 24 he ran.
Christian Lundgaard was the second fastest driver, followed closely by Marcus Armstrong in the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward were the fourth and fifth fastest, each pushing hard during their laps and putting their Arrow McLaren Chevys near the top of the timesheets.
The fastest rookie was Linus Lundqvist in sixth, continuing his impressive form early in his IndyCar career.
As a comparison, the next fastest rookie was Christian Rasmussen down in the 18th position.
There were no incidents to bring a stop to the session, although a few did test the limits and dip a couple tires off into the gravel. Multiple drivers noted the high degradation of the Firestone tires, setting up an interesting battle later in the weekend for the 20 lap race on Sunday.
As with any test session, overall pace is not necessarily the goal. Finding setups and trailing strategies is more important than showing your competition your best lap.
Those times are generally indicative of the balance of the cars and comfort level of the drivers, however, and can give a preview into who will be fighting for the big prize at the end of the weekend.
Drivers will have another three hours of testing time later in the day, and then will have multiple hours of testing on Saturday before qualifying later that evening.
