Marcus Armstrong, Ganassi, IndyCar testing, The Thermal Club, 2023

Pictures: New drivers, liveries and track as IndyCar testing begins at The Thermal Club

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IndyCar’s pre-season testing began at The Thermal Club in California yesterday, with Andretti’s Colton Herta leading a 27-strong field featuring four new drivers.

The series is holding a combined pre-season test for the full field for the first time at the venue. Thermal Club’s compact layout fits 19 turns into 4.936 kilometres.

Most drivers set their quickest times in the second of two sessions and there was little to separate those at the top. Herta’s 1’39.3721 put him just four-thousandths of a second ahead of RLL’s Christian Lundgaard, with 2021 champion Alex Palou also within three-hundredths of the top time for Ganassi.

Romain Grosjean, entering his second season as a full-time IndyCar driver with Ganassi, set the fourth quickest time. Penske’s reigning champion Will Power completed the top five.

Among the newcomers to the series, Marcus Armstrong was quickest in 10th place. The former Formula 2 driver will contest the road and street course races for Ganassi this year.

Argentinian rookie Agustin Canapino, who will drive a new second car for Juncos Hollinger alongside Callum Ilott, was 21st. Coyne’s Sting Ray Robb and Foyt’s Benjamin Pedersen ended the day at the bottom of the times.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “Pictures: New drivers, liveries and track as IndyCar testing begins at The Thermal Club”

  1. I won’t get too attached to any of the driver/livery combos because if the sponsor rotation on most cars through the season.

    I love Veekay’s new gold and white livery, very classy.

    Iminticued by this Thermal Springs venue. Feom the circuit map it seems very tight and twisty, so I wonder what the average speed for the lap is in an Indycar, and how that compares to places like Mid Ohio and Barber.

    1. No idea on speed or comparisons. We’ll see soon enough. I’m just forever thankful Langhorne is no more.
      @unicron2002 .

  2. Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
    3rd February 2023, 11:34

    I love that the liveries in IndyCar always seem more distinctive than Formula One which can be a bit conservative and ‘safe’. I also like that they can change from race to race and be different within teams. I think these helps them to experiment a bit, be more daring, even if it doesn’t quite work. It just adds to richness of the sport.

  3. I love Scott McLaughlin’s classic Pennzoil yellow livery! It’s gonna look epic!

  4. Sting Ray Rob..! What a name.

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