McElrea makes top 10 in surprise Sebring IndyCar test

The private team test offered everyone – bar Prema Racing – a chance to get on track before the season-opener in a few weeks time.

Sebring often serves as the scene of pre-season testing, given its bumpy nature bears the closest resemblance to St Petersburg and other street circuits.

Drivers were split into two groups, with morning and afternoon sessions.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s four-time champion Alex Palou continued where he left off, topping Monday morning’s session (local time) on a 52.626s.

Marcus Armstrong came out on top on Monday afternoon for Meyer Shank Racing, clocking a 52.847s.

He backed that up on Tuesday morning with the fastest time across the two days, setting a 52.373s.

Kyle Kirkwood was fastest on Tuesday with a 52.479s in the best of the Andretti Global cars.

Of the four rookies, McElrea was the quickest for Ed Carpenter Racing, ahead of Caio Collett, Dennis Hauger, and Mick Schumacher.

McElrea’s time, a 52.823s, was just under half a second off of Armstrong’s best lap.

Collet was 12th for AJ Foyt Racing, while Hauger was 19th for Dale Coyne Racing, and Schumacher only 22nd for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Having not participated on the first day, McElrea was allowed to run for the duration of day two.

IndyCar testing will resume at Phoenix for an open test on February 18-19 (AEDT).

Results: IndyCar Team Test Day 2, Sebring International Raceway (unofficial)

Results: IndyCar Team Test Day 1, Sebring International Raceway (unofficial)