When Alex Palou tests the car Thursday, the high is supposed to be around 80 degrees. But with a 50% chance of rain Thursday, there’s a chance Palou won’t get to take the car around the oval until Friday afternoon.
“I think that conditions were warmer than expected,” Rossi said. “So that obviously plays a pretty big role around here in terms of overall performance that you’re going to get out of the car. I think that if it’s cooler tomorrow – if they get running in – or Friday, that those numbers will change a little bit.”
IndyCar wants the IR28 to break records at each type of track it goes to, including IMS – where Arie Luyendyk's one-lap record of 237.498 mph and four-lap qualifying record of 236.986 mph have stood since 1996. As adjustments are made to the chassis and it does legitimate qualifying simulations – which Rossi didn’t do – it’ll be interesting to see if it challenges those speeds.
Due to a brief shower of rain over IMS shortly after 4 p.m., Rossi’s test was paused and eventually ended before it was supposed to at 5 p.m. He said that because of the rain, Dallara and IndyCar did only around 85% of what they wanted during the test.
“It does everything that an Indy car should do around here,” Rossi said. “We got through some basic mechanical and aero(dynamic) changes to kind of understand the offsets that they’re going to present to us in a couple of years. And there was no surprises. I mean, it was really pretty standard.
“I wouldn't say there was anything drastically different from this car to the current car that we have. … I think it’s important to remember that the current generation Speedway car that we have around here is pretty dialed, and it’s pretty good. So there’s not going to be some revolutionary thing that we come with here, in my mind.”
Rossi has 11 Indianapolis 500 starts, including the one he won as a rookie in 2016. His first oval test in the IR28 seemed to give him a similar feeling as the car he’s driven for his whole IndyCar career.
@z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar's motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: