Felipe Drugovich was left astonished after a maiden IndyCar testing debut at Barber Motorsports Park with Chip Ganassi Racing last Monday.
The Brazilian, who also serves as the reserve driver for Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team, received his first taste of Indy car machinery at the 17-turn natural terrain road course that features roughly 80 feet of elevation change throughout its 2.3 miles. He ended up logging 129 laps, with an unofficial best time of 1m07.631s.
Overall, there were plenty of unexpected but pleasant experiences for the 2022 Formula 2 champion.
“The driving style is very different,” Drugovich told Motorsport.com. “I was surprised by the speed, but at the same time it was very different from what I thought it would be. I imagined it would be very similar to an F2 car and even the driving style is not that different, but the feeling the car gives you is extremely different from anything I have ever driven. The car has a different geometry, the tires they use are really good, with a softer sidewall and you feel the car moving under you a lot more.
“I think it was a very good experience for me. In terms of times, I did well, I drove well, I showed what I could do. Even though it is a test with a rookie driver in the series, they use it to test the car itself, because even there the tests are very limited, so we tested a lot of things for the team in terms of setup and they really liked the feedback, so I am very happy with the results.”
While Chip Ganassi Racing’s newly-crowned three-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou delivered the fastest qualifying lap at 1m05.5862s — which happened during the opening round back in April at the circuit based in Birmingham, Alabama — it was prior to the updated hybrid unit. Although the hybrid unit helps boost an Indy car to over 800 horsepower, it also adds well over 100lbs of weight.
Palou was part of a March test with the hybrid at Barber, where he hit laps just under 1m08s.
“We had a reference,” said Drugovich, who piloted CGR’s No. 11 Honda-powered entry. “For those who don't know, the Barber round this year was held before they had upgraded the car, which is the hybrid part, so this hybrid in the car added almost 80 kilos and that made it almost 1 second slower. So, you can't compare the race times, but they had done a test before that, in the pre-season, with the hybrid already on that track and the reference they had I was being faster. It's difficult to compare this because of the track conditions and everything else, especially because they were just starting out with the hybrid and, logically, they have improved since then.
“Since the morning I've already been very close to the ideal time, using the first set of tires. In the end, I started faster, so I showed the team that I'm ready. It's my first contact with the car and I'm not 100% [adapted] to single-seaters again, so I'm sure that the longer I stay in this car or any other single-seater, I'll continue to improve and get back to my peak.”
Drugovich was also quick to note how the test has furthered interest to compete in North America’s premier open-wheel championship, and maybe by as early as 2025.
“Looking ahead to next year, I think IndyCar is one of the opportunities,” Drugovich said.
“We're studying it. They changed the regulations, so each team will have a maximum of three cars. This test was planned since last year. It didn't happen before because of scheduling clashes. But it happened this year. It was a really cool opportunity for me to get involved in the American world of motorsports. I had already done something with Cadillac and Action Express (at the 24 Hours of Le Mans), but now I actually tested an IndyCar, which was really good.”
