A full field of IndyCar drivers wrapped up their preseason testing schedule today, with Josef Newgarden setting the fastest overall time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For the first part of the day, everyone seemed to be working on their car performance in clean air, coming in every few laps to make adjustments to work through their planned setup modifications.
But by the afternoon, drivers were getting a feel for their cars in traffic and the speeds quickly rose due to the strong draft effect at well over 220mph.
It was Newgarden who laid down the fastest lap with a tow, completing the 2.5-mile circuit in 39.679 seconds at an average speed of 226.819mph in his Team Penske Chevy.
He was followed closely by last year’s Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and Juan Pablo Montoya in his #86 Arrow McLaren SP that is styled to honor 50 years since McLaren took a shock pole award in the 1971 Indy 500.
Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five, with each putting in good performances and averaging over 225mph on their fastest laps of the day.
There were over seven hours of track time available to the teams today, a period that was extended to make up for Thursday which was hampered by frequent downpours.
Barring one short break for a quick rain shower that passed through the area, the sun dominated the Indiana sky and there were no accidents to delay the action further.
Simona de Silvestro will be making her Indianapolis 500 return for Paretta Autosport in 2021 and was active in today’s test session. The female-led team put in an impressive showing and ended the day 21st on the timesheets.
Incoming rookie Scott McLaughlin was able to put his #3 classic Pennzoil-liveried Chevy in 18th position on the timesheets in the car affectionately called the ‘yellow submarine.’
McLaughlin also had the honor of being the driver that put in the most laps today, completing almost a full Indy 500 distance with 195 laps on the charts.
A large contingent of drivers, 31 in all, took part in today’s action and completed nearly 4,000 individual laps, or 10,000 collective miles, over the course of the day.
The crews also took some time late in the afternoon to practice pit stops on a busy pit road to make sure every aspect of the entire team was ready to go racing.
Now that the preseason testing sessions are complete, drivers and teams alike only have one week to prepare for the first round of the 17-race season, which takes place at Barber Motorsports Park on April 18.
