Nasr puts Penske on top at Thermal IndyCar test

Felipe Nasr’s return to NTT IndyCar Series testing for Team Penske saw the new Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA GTP champion spend the morning and early afternoon sessions at The Thermal Club near the top of the timing screens.  On the final run on Tuesday, just before the sun fell behind the Coachella Valley hills, the Brazilian took the No. 3 Chevy to the top of the running order.

Nasr’s unofficial lap of 1m40.947s was set in relatively cool temperatures for the region, and with many of the teams and manufacturers focusing on the testing of new development pieces or chassis setup concepts, outright lap times weren’t particularly relevant as most of the cars weren’t in race specification.

Behind Nasr, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Hunter McElrea also shot forward in the final session to take second with a lap of 1m41.071s in the No. 21 Chevy. Former Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant, who was making his IndyCar testing debut, ended the morning in second, led the middle session, and was third in the final outing when the best times were set. Sargeant’s 1m41.139s lap was produced in the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, and came on his 79th of 84 laps, the most of any driver on the day.

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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster was fourth in the No. 45 Honda at 1m41.432s, and after the reigning Indy NXT champion, it was two drivers whose afternoons were limited due to car issues. In fifth with Arrow McLaren, Enzo Fittipaldi turned a best lap of 1m41.833s in the No. 5 Chevy, but problems struck before he was able to complete a new tire run like the others. And in sixth, Dale Coyne Racing’s Toby Sowery was dealt multiple setbacks as morning gremlins and a terminal engine problem in the No. 18 Honda in the afternoon limited him to 27 total laps and an unrepresentative time of 1m42.021s.

For Nasr, working with Josef Newgarden’s Indianapolis 500-winning race engineer Luke Mason, with whom he previously worked while testing for Carlin Racing, was a nice reunion. Ended the day feeling pleased with his pace was a bonus, but Nasr was more satisfied with the help he was able to provide Team Penske with the energy recovery system.

“It was a was a very productive day,” Nasr told RACER. “This is one of the special things we get to do, driving for Roger, transitioning between the series, and it's a great opportunity for us to learn both ways. Obviously, running the hybrid Porsche 963, there's a lot that I felt that could be translated to the IndyCar in terms of the regen phasing and how that combines with the braking zones and stuff like this.”

Thanks to his experience in racing hybrid Formula 1 cars for Sauber, and with Porsche and Penske in the hybrid Porsche 963 GTP, Nasr was the perfect choice to test the new hybrid IndyCar and provide feedback to his team as the ERS units enter their second season of use in 2025.

“That was the goal of bringing me here, was getting all the knowledge and experience that I have with the hybrid cars that I've driven in the past," he said. "Just to help Penske and the engine manufacturer and the team in general to get a good feel on everything.

“And working with someone like Luke, great guy, super professional and of course, and ending the day P1, it's always nice. But the most important thing was helping the team to get all this information together and help them develop their hybrid package even further.”