Helio Castroneves has become the first driver to damage his car during the two-day open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, putting his car into the wall in turn 2.
Castroneves was coming out of the pits on cold tires, and lost control while coming up to speed in the slow lane on the apron.
The reigning Indy 500 champion was lucky to not have a larger accident, as Marcus Ericsson was coming around the same turn at full speed. The Swede was able to avoid the spinning car in front of him, and only Castroneves’ car was damaged in the incident.
The Meyer Shank Racing crew opted not to rush a repair job on the car, and the #06 entry will not take part in Thursday’s second day of scheduled action.
Will Power also spun on the apron late in the session, which caused Colton Herta to spin while avoiding contact. Herta ended up touching the wall in the incident, but appeared to suffer nothing more than minor damage.
After the second spin, series officials inspected the track in person and eventually ended the session 30 minutes early on account of the unusual incidents.
Track conditions were barely warm enough to permit running, and rain showers had moved through early in the morning, which likely contributed to the tricky conditions.
Among those that had clean running earlier in the day, it was Scott Dixon who went fastest with an average lap speed of 227.187 MPH
Conor Daly and Callun Ilott were also near the top of the timesheets, and Graham Rahal completed the most laps at speed with 63.
Eight drivers also completed their rookie orientation programs in the early afternoon, with each getting slowly up to full speed and subsequently allowed to join the rest of the field on track at full tilt.
All 32 drivers will have another full day of running on Thursday, when the temperatures are expected to be warmer after some morning showers move through early in the day.
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