Written by Archie O’Reilly
All 10 full-time NTT IndyCar Series teams took to the Homestead-Miami roval for testing this week - many of which were back on track for the first time since the 2023 season-ending race at Laguna Seca in September.
There has been some hybrid testing across the off-season, albeit there is yet to be a full-field test amid supply issues that have seen the hybrid system’s introduction pushed back beyond the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Only Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, Arrow McLaren and Andretti Global have been involved in any hybrid testing thus far.
This week, each team brought one car to Florida to gain some running of the 2024-spec Dallara DW12, which has been made lighter in anticipation for the now-delayed introduction of the hybrid.
There has been confirmation of every team’s 2024 lineups bar one - that being Dale Coyne Racing. That meant inevitable anticipation as to who would arrive at the test for one of IndyCar's smaller outfits, with speculation likely to ensue that these drivers may be auditioning for one of the two vacant seats.
Jack Harvey took to the track on Monday and Tuesday - his first outing since losing his seat at Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) before the final three races last season. The Briton managed only a single top-10 finish across two disappointing years at RLL, which was a stark contrast to 16 across 40 races in the three years prior with Meyer Shank Racing.
Wednesday saw Nolan Siegel take to the Homestead track with Coyne. The 19-year-old American finished third-place in his rookie Indy NXT season last year and is already confirmed to be returning in 2024. So, as opposed to Harvey possibly being an option for the team this year, Siegel is most likely gaining seat time ahead of a possible future step up.
Harvey rounded out the opening day of the test ninth out of 10 runners, finishing the second of the days 10th out of 11 drivers, with Juncos Hollinger Racing splitting their drivers’ duties. On Wednesday, Siegel trumped Harvey's best time and finished an impressive sixth-place from the 10 drivers running.
Testing times always have to be taken with a pinch of salt given teams operate all sorts of different programmes to test a whole host of different things. It is also worth taking into account the fact that Homestead is not a track visited on the IndyCar calendar.
But, for what it is worth, the opening day was topped by Felix Rosenqvist, now of Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). Andretti newbie Marcus Ericsson was second, followed by former teammate Alex Palou. Rosenqvist’s McLaren replacement, David Malukas, was fourth, ahead of Agustin Canapino, Rinus VeeKay, Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden, Harvey and AJ Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb.
The following day saw Colton Herta leading the way ahead of Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward. MSR rookie Tom Blomqvist was right on the pace in fourth, followed by Canapino, Will Power and Romain Grosjean. Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Christian Rasmussen was eighth, ahead of the returning Pietro Fittipaldi, then Harvey and Robb.
A strong three days for Andretti was rounded off by Kyle Kirkwood topping the times on Wednesday, leading rookie Blomqvist - driving for Andretti's allies MSR - in an impressive second. Another rookie, Linus Lundqvist, was third, ahead of VeeKay, Christian Lundgaard, Siegel, Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, Grosjean and Santino Ferrucci.
This track time will have been valuable for the teams given the limited testing time in advance of the season opening weekend on the streets of St. Pete, commencing on 8th March.