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IndyCar: Kirkwood Tops the Charts in Friday Afternoon Pre-Season test session

Lucille Dust

Kyle Kirkwood set the fastest time of 1m38.8279s in the afternoon session, even after he sat out half of the session due to going off course an hour and 15 minutes into the session.

His #27 Andretti Autosport Honda did not suffer any body damage, but the sand and rocks did hamper his running.

“It’s a new team for me, new group of guys, kind of jelling with them to see how everyone operates,” Kirkwood said. “I wouldn’t say that we found something here that is going to translate to anywhere, right? This is a very unique track, although it was a lot of fun to drive, and it kind of surprised me in the amount of grip that it actually produced.”

“Honestly, it felt pretty easy to get to the top in this car. It’s not really needed to try and overextend anything.”

Kyle Kirkwood Photo by Lucille Dust/AR1

Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing #78 Chevy, was second, 0.0125s behind after having a smoother session than the morning.

Driving the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, former F2 driver Marcus Armstrong finished a close third, 0.0130s behind and the fastest rookie.

Alex Palou in the #10 Ganassi Honda was 4th, while Will Power rounded out the top-5 with a time of 1m38.9341s in his #12 Penske Chevy.

The top-21 cars were within 1 second of each other.

 

Marcus Armstrong, #11 Chip Ganassi Racing

Rookie Armstrong                      Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment

AR1 talked with the rookie after the finish of the two days running on this track.

“The two-day test was great.  I enjoyed it a lot.  It was cool to experience the new track, environment, car, and people.  And you name it, new.”

“My body feels good.  That is obviously the first test back after a winter.  I feel good.”

“I learned how my team works and how the car behaves.  It was very interesting and it is nice to finally be in action.”

String Ray Robb, #51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR

Sting Ray Robb                    Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment

AR1 spoke with Sting Ray Robb, the rookie driving the no 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR, this afternoon before the day’s final session.

The 21-year-old American talked about his first experience in the IndyCar for two days.  “The track is good.  It is very physical.  My neck is trash.  I feel like I am coming out of retirement now.  This track is hard on the neck, due to the high G load.”

“The second half of the track, where it is all high speed, is crazy.   Most definitely figuring things out as we go.  I am not sure this will apply to future events, but it is interesting.”

“I wish we were at a track that I am more familiar with, that way I could get seat time with a better baseline.  I feel like I am starting at zero on all fronts.  Being a rookie, I feel it would be better to be somewhere where I had been before.”

Lucille Dust reporting from the Thermal Club

Session 4 Results

Pos No Name Time Behind Gap Laps Speed Engine Team
1 27 Kyle Kirkwood 1:38.8279 0.000s 0.000s 10 111.721 Honda Andretti Autosport
2 77 Callum Ilott 1:38.8404 0.0125 0.0125 23 111.707 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
3 11 Marcus Armstrong 1:38.8409 0.0130 0.0005 24 111.707 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
4 10 Alex Palou 1:38.8718 0.0439 0.0309 31 111.672 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
5 12 Will Power 1:38.9341 0.1062 0.0623 23 111.602 Chevy Team Penske
6 60 Simon Pagenaud 1:38.9769 0.1490 0.0428 22 111.553 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
7 26 Colton Herta 1:39.1047 0.2768 0.1278 16 111.409 Honda Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian
8 2 Josef Newgarden 1:39.1739 0.3460 0.0692 19 111.332 Chevy Team Penske
9 9 Scott Dixon 1:39.2377 0.4098 0.0638 35 111.260 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
10 7 Alexander Rossi 1:39.2500 0.4221 0.0123 19 111.246 Chevy Arrow McLaren
11 45 Christian Lundgaard 1:39.2842 0.4563 0.0342 28 111.208 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
12 8 Marcus Ericsson 1:39.3425 0.5146 0.0583 28 111.143 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
13 28 Romain Grosjean 1:39.3547 0.5268 0.0122 34 111.129 Honda Andretti Autosport
14 18 David Malukas 1:39.3668 0.5389 0.0121 33 111.116 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
15 06 Helio Castroneves 1:39.4114 0.5835 0.0446 31 111.066 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
16 3 Scott McLaughlin 1:39.4290 0.6011 0.0176 33 111.046 Chevy Team Penske
17 5 Pato O’Ward 1:39.4310 0.6031 0.0020 26 111.044 Chevy Arrow McLaren
18 29 Devlin DeFrancesco 1:39.6640 0.8361 0.2330 27 110.784 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
19 6 Felix Rosenqvist 1:39.6821 0.8542 0.0181 20 110.764 Chevy Arrow McLaren
20 78 Agustin Canapino 1:39.7039 0.8760 0.0218 25 110.740 Chevy Juncos Holling Racing
21 15 Graham Rahal 1:39.7432 0.9153 0.0393 25 110.696 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
22 30 Jack Harvey 1:39.8567 1.0288 0.1135 25 110.570 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
23 51 Sting Ray Robb 1:39.8983 1.0704 0.0416 27 110.524 Honda Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
24 21 Rinus VeeKay 1:40.0806 1.2527 0.1823 28 110.323 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
25 55 Benjamin Pedersen 1:40.1297 1.3018 0.0491 27 110.269 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 20 Conor Daly 1:40.2270 1.3991 0.0973 27 110.162 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
27 14 Santino Ferrucci 1:40.2833 1.4554 0.0563 26 110.100 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises

 

Combined Results – All Sessions

Rank Car Driver Name Engine Session Time Speed Total Laps
1 8 Ericsson, Marcus Honda Practice 3 01:38.4223 112.182 79
2 45 Lundgaard, Christian Honda Practice 3 01:38.5682 112.016 103
3 27 Kirkwood, Kyle Honda Practice 3 01:38.7885 111.766 66
4 77 Ilott, Callum Chevy Practice 4 01:38.8404 111.707 89
5 11 Armstrong, Marcus (R) Honda Practice 4 01:38.8409 111.707 101
6 12 Power, Will Chevy Practice 3 01:38.8702 111.674 97
7 10 Palou, Alex Honda Practice 4 01:38.8718 111.672 98
8 3 McLaughlin, Scott Chevy Practice 3 01:38.9052 111.634 111
9 6 Rosenqvist, Felix Chevy Practice 3 01:38.9410 111.594 85
10 9 Dixon, Scott Honda Practice 3 01:38.9762 111.554 101
11 60 Pagenaud, Simon Honda Practice 4 01:38.9769 111.553 93
12 2 Newgarden, Josef Chevy Practice 3 01:39.0301 111.493 98
13 7 Rossi, Alexander Chevy Practice 3 01:39.0913 111.425 83
14 28 Grosjean, Romain Honda Practice 3 01:39.0944 111.421 92
15 26 Herta, Colton Honda Practice 4 01:39.1047 111.409 87
16 5 O’Ward, Pato Chevy Practice 3 01:39.1486 111.360 80
17 18 Malukas, David Honda Practice 4 01:39.3668 111.116 122
18 06 Castroneves, Helio Honda Practice 3 01:39.3803 111.100 99
19 29 DeFrancesco, Devlin Honda Practice 3 01:39.5308 110.932 99
20 30 Harvey, Jack Honda Practice 3 01:39.6960 110.749 97
21 78 Canapino, Agustin (R) Chevy Practice 4 01:39.7039 110.740 97
22 15 Rahal, Graham Honda Practice 4 01:39.7432 110.696 95
23 21 VeeKay, Rinus Chevy Practice 3 01:39.8912 110.532 110
24 51 Robb, Sting Ray (R) Honda Practice 4 01:39.8983 110.524 122
25 14 Ferrucci, Santino Chevy Practice 3 01:39.9366 110.482 70
26 20 Daly, Conor Chevy Practice 3 01:40.1192 110.281 94
27 55 Pedersen, Benjamin (R) Chevy Practice 4 01:40.1297 110.269 92
(R) Rookie