The final day of IndyCar preseason testing was completed on Tuesday, with Simon Pagenaud piloting his new Meyer Shank Racing Honda to the top of the unofficial timesheets.
Pagenaud was slightly faster than his team-mate Helio Castroneves around the Sebring short course, making for an impressive showing for the restructured team.
Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay set the third and fourth fastest times respectively, near the top of the list of 14 drivers that took part in the day’s running.
The usual caveat applies with the lap times for the day, that not all participants were attempting to set the outright fastest lap. There was a lot of effort spent fine tuning setups and procedures throughout the day.
There were also a host of new driver-engineer relationships that were put to the test through various simulated situations.
The only drivers that were allowed to run both back-to-back test days were the series’ rookies, of which there are five for this season.
The fastest rookie on Tuesday was Kyle Kirkwood, who piloted the #14 AJ Foyt Racing Honda to the fifth-best time of the day, just quicker than reigning series champion Alex Palou.
The next time any of this year’s participants will be on track will be for the season-opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg, which will be run in just over one week’s time on February 25-27.
