After making his series debut last season at the Indy 500, British driver Jack Harvey is back for more in 2018. The 2012 British F3 champion will run six events with Schmidt Peterson Motorsport and is looking forward to get off on the right foot.
His program begins with the opening round of the championship in the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The Briton has been busy over the last few days of the winter break putting his SPM machine through the paces in preparation for the season.
"It’s a pretty quick turn-around so there’s not much time really!", said Harvey. "I flew back to Indy yesterday and then Monday I fly to Sebring for another day of testing and then it’s straight on to St. Pete. It’s basically just enough time for me to do my washing and get some training in!"
The rest of his schedule consists of outings at Long Beach, the Indy 500, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Sonoma. Though limited in time and resources, Harvey feels confident in his crew's potential.
"Considering these were our first two days of testing for the season, we couldn’t have asked for a better start. It was also awesome to see the whole team working so well together. We are a brand new team, but there’s been immediate chemistry between everyone which is so important."
Naturally, the British driver has also felt the effects of IndyCar's new low-downforce aerokit.
"You still have the speed and the car is still performing at one of the highest levels in racing," explained Harvey. "But now the car feels lighter and you are moving around more. Less downforce also means that the cars are exposed more mechanically, so everyone will be working hard on this."
While he's clearly excited to hit the ground running this season, Harvey is also cautious when setting the bar for his performance in 2018.
"Our goal for all the races this season is to qualify in the top 15 and race through to the top ten. We have only done two days of testing so far so it’s impossible to know where we are compared to other teams as we haven’t seen everyone’s true pace, but if we can achieve top 15 to top 10 in St. Pete, we will be happy."
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