The 2023 season for the NTT IndyCar Series is approaching at ever faster paces, and in the Italian afternoon and night the 27 cars that will take part in the full-time championship were able to play their first day of testing at the Thermal Club Track, a circuit near Palm Springs, California. Let's see how the day went and who was the fastest.
First session: Herta in command in front of Kirkwood
The initial session, which lasted two and a half hours, was interrupted twice for red flags, caused by a spin and shutdown of both the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet di Felix rosenqvist, which of the #06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of the four-time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves.
The session saw only one driver dip below 1:40, that is Colton herta. The bishop of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda he took the championship lead ahead of his teammate. The new driver in Andretti, Kyle Kirkwood, has taken the place of Alexander Rossi on #27 Andretti Autosport Honda, proving to have settled in Andretti. To conclude the top 3, the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda di simon pagenaud, with the Frenchman just two tenths off the pace.
Among the rookies, we note the excellent eighth place of Marcus Armstrong on board #11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Armstrong beat his teammate and six-time series champion by two-tenths Scott Dixon. Agustin Canapino, 4 times Turismo Carretera champion making his debut in the top American open-wheel series, finished in twenty-second position with his #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. In this case, Canapino found himself about a second behind his teammate Callum ilott. The two newly promoted from Indy Lights (from this year Indy NXT), Sting Ray Robb (#51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) to Benjamin Pedersen (#55 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet), finished respectively in twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh position.
In the top ten positions, seven drivers are powered by Honda, while only three are Chevrolet. After 2022 where it was Chevy who won the championship, it seems that Honda has once again found something to beat its rival.
Second session
In the American afternoon, other drivers went below the 1:40 barrier, but no one was able to beat Herta's time, who confirmed himself as leader of the day. Immediately behind him another Honda, the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing di Christian lundgaard, just 0.0046 seconds away. It's not a mistake, IndyCar also measures times in ten thousandths. Rounding out the top 3, the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of the 2021 sample, alex palou. The Spaniard closed the session two cents behind Herta.
There were five red flags in the second session, caused by Armstrong, Canapino, Lundgaard, Robb e Felix rosenqvist. All but Armstrong lost their car in a stalled engine spin. Only the New Zealander caused a red light for stopping towards the pit lane entrance at the end of the session.
Kirkwood, who shone in the morning, did not set any time due to a problem with the clutch that forced him to miss the entire afternoon session. The 2022 champion, Will Power, brought his own #12 Team Penske Chevrolet in fifth place, confirming himself as the best Chevy of the day.
See you tomorrow for the second and final day of testing!
