The Indy 500 open test is this week, weather permitting, and it will tell us quite a bit. In fact, it has told us quite a bit in the past. This year the test is more important than ever. Gone is the race at Texas Motor Speedway. That race gave teams a little bit of an idea about what to expect going into the month May.
It’s hard to think of a time when Indycar didn’t race on at least one oval prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500. I can only think of 1985 when local flooding caused the cancellation of the Phoenix 200. They didn’t have an “open test” back then, but there was plenty of preseason testing that occurred in March and April.
The cars are much lighter than they have been in the past, by some 25 pounds. Fans are hoping the lighter weight of the cars produces record laps in qualifying, especially with the raise in boost. It will be curious to see how it will affect the racing. The last few years if you haven’t started in the front of the pack, it was hard to make up places. The car just hasn’t raced good on the large oval.
There have been a few times in the past few years that the open test let us know how things would play out in the month of May. Not necessarily at the front of the pack, but more about who was struggling to find speed. We all know that the front will be sprinkled with Penske, Ganassi, Arrow-McLaren and Andretti. Ed Carpenter Racing always seems to show out for the 500 as well.
The indications for struggle? You only must look at the bottom of the time sheet. If we go back to 2019, we had a notion as to would have problems come May. Temps are always cooler in April so yes; you must factor in that track times will be higher come May. It is imperative that teams find speed in April. Which team had the greatest struggle in 2019? The Arrow McLaren entry of two-time Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard could only muster 218 mph.
The top speed that year belonged to Takuma Sato. The then one-time Indy 500 winner ended up third in that year’s race and won his second 500 the next year. Alonso was bumped by a race team & driver that wasn’t even at the open test session. Juncos Racing and driver Kyle Kaiser. It was a stark contrast from when Alonso had no problem finding speed in testing, led the race, and was in contention for the win before his engine let go late in the race.
Indycar fans only look at the timing sheets from last year’s open test. It gave us a sneak preview of the month of May. Rahal Lannigan Letterman Racing struggled all month long. It ended with Graham Rahal failing to make the race. Teammates Christian Lungaard, Jack Harvey and Katherin Legge all struggled to find speed as well. They were able to find enough speed to make the race though. Rahal, on the other hand, didn’t- Beaten out by his teammates and RC Enerson. Enerson and Abel Motorsports weren’t at the open test in April either.
The test told us early that the RLL Team was struggling for speed. They ranked 23rd, 26th, 28th, and 33rd out of 34 cars. The test also told us of the struggles of the Juncos Hollinger Racing Team as well. Callum Ilott spent most of the test session in the pits and had a very hard time getting comfortable. He was able to only run 31 laps that day which was the least of all the drivers. Those struggles continued in the month of May. It wasn’t until Ilott was put into another car that he was able to not only find speed, but to also feel comfortable.
What teams will show speed early and which teams will struggle? It will be curious to see how drivers respond to a lighter car come the test session on April 10th and 11th. Now the only unpredictable thing we need to deal with is out of our hands. That being Mother Nature.
Leave a Reply