The first day of testing for the 2023 Indianapolis 500 took place yesterday. All bar one of the 34 drivers who will compete for a place on a 33-strong grid were in action.
Among those joining the regular drivers in the field were past winners Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Katherine Legge, the only woman participating this year, is making her first attempt to qualify for the race in a decade, with RLL.
RC Enerson, who made a single unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the race two years ago, will return for another crack at the race, but his sole entry for the Abel Motorsports team was not present at testing yesterday.
I wonder what those black stripes that go along the whole length of the car on sides of Rosenquist’s car are. They don’t seem like aerodynamic devices.
asd
21st April 2023, 11:22
I wonder what those black stripes that go along the whole length of the car on sides of Rosenquist’s car are. They don’t seem like aerodynamic devices.
SteveR (@stever)
21st April 2023, 14:46
Looks like a paint stripe to break up large areas of white and orange…..
asd
21st April 2023, 15:47
No no. I’m talking about the black rails attached to the nose, sidepods and real wheel covers.
Radoye
21st April 2023, 16:07
They are aerodynamic strakes new for this year, to help keep the cars from taking off when spinning / sliding sideways.
See here: https://racer.com/2023/04/20/indy-500-aero-changes-debut-at-open-test/
Don
22nd April 2023, 17:11
All the cars have them. Some are painted so they are less noticeable. Prevents flight if they get sideways at 230 mph.
GeeMac (@geemac)
24th April 2023, 6:23
Yeah, it is an aero part for improved safety. Check the explanation in this video from Alex Rossi’s engineer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5u3qinkn4
Unicron (@unicron2002)
21st April 2023, 16:30
I’m loving Newgarden’s look.
It looks like Paro will be all but totally camouflaged with the track surface!
Faulty
21st April 2023, 19:14
O’ward will be running a Papaya Orange livery, the black one is Rossi’s.
Don
22nd April 2023, 17:09
Yeah, Newgarden’s car is very cool! Kanaan’s looks good too.