The first session of the NTT IndyCar Series special exhibition weekend took place on Friday morning at the exclusive private Thermal Club circuit. All series teams were present, using the tests to experiment with setups for future races and prepare for the $1 Million Challenge on Sunday.
The session started slowly as many drivers chose to wait in the pits for the track to warm up and the tires to settle before venturing out on the circuit. Only a few drivers posted fast laps in the first 30 minutes, but by the end of an hour, almost everyone had completed a lap.
Josef Newgarden was the last driver to tackle the 3.067-mile course and finished in 20th place after completing 13 laps. Alex Palou set the fastest lap of the session with a time of 1 minute and 39.5149 seconds. The reigning champion achieved this feat early in the day, on his fourth lap out of 24.
Christian Lundgaard was the second fastest driver, closely followed by Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five, showing speed in their Arrow McLaren Chevy cars.
The top rookie, Linus Lundqvist, continued to impress in his early IndyCar career, finishing in sixth place. In comparison, the next fastest rookie, Christian Rasmussen, finished in 18th place.
Although there were no incidents that interrupted the session, some drivers tested the limits and went off track into the gravel trap. Several drivers noted that the Firestone tires degraded quickly, setting the stage for an intriguing battle in the 20-lap race on Sunday.
In a testing session, the focus is not only on overall speed. Finding the right settings and exploring different strategies is more important than setting the fastest lap time for competitors. However, lap times can provide insights into the performance of the cars and the level of comfort of the drivers, giving an idea of who may be competing for the top prize at the end of the weekend.
Later in the day, the drivers will have another three hours of testing, followed by several hours of testing on Saturday before the evening qualifying session.
