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O’Ward tops 14-car IndyCar test at Sebring

Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet driver Patricio O’Ward landed top time in the third day of IndyCar testing this year, heading Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden.

Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet

Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet

O’Ward, who finished fourth in the 2020 championship, his first full season in the NTT IndyCar Series, lapped the 1.7-mile course in 51.790sec.

That put him 0.138sec faster than Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Alexander Rossi, who traveled straight to Sebring Raceway from his victory with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Acura in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

Team Penske-Chevrolet’s two-time champion Josef Newgarden was third fastest a quarter second down but ahead of Colton Herta and Oliver Askew, who was subbing for the unavailable James Hinchcliffe in Andretti’s #29 car.

Felix Rosenqvist, in only his second test with the Arrow McLaren SP team, was sixth, just under half a second from O’Ward.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda’s Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal were seventh and ninth, split by Conor Daly in the Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy whose teammate Rinus VeeKay – 2020 Rookie of the Year – completed the top 10.

As in the previous Sebring test, Rahal turned the most laps of the day – 157 – although all but two cars hit triple digit lap counts.

Team Penske’s Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and rookie Scott McLaughlin ended the day in 11th, 12th and 14th, with Ryan Hunter-Reay slotting the fourth Andretti car into 13th.

While the Arrow McLaren SP team ran the same testing livery it wore this time last year, McLaughlin ran a striking new colorscheme for PPG, which will be primary sponsor at 10 of his 17 races this year, while Power’s car will this season carry matte black with red trimming for the 5G Verizon network, a livery previously only seen at the Indy 500.

RANK NO. DRIVER TEAM ENGINE FASTEST LAP DIFF LAPS
1 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 51.790   124
2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 51.928 -0.138 122
3 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 52.055 -0.265 138
4 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda 52.061 -0.271 116
5 29 Oliver Askew Andretti Autosport Honda 52.240 -0.450 109
6 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 52.258 -0.468 91
7 39 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 52.302 -0.512 139
8 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 52.311 -0.521 123
9 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 52.356 -0.566 157
10 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 52.358 -0.568 99
11 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 52.362 -0.572 145
12 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 52.378 -0.588 120
13 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 52.464 -0.674 106
14 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 52.469 -0.679 130
Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Will Power

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Chevrolet

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Team Penske

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