news: Newgarden tops Indy 500 test with 229mph lap, McLaughlin fifth

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden has gone fastest with a 229mph lap on the second and final day of the Indianapolis 500 Open Test.

The series leader edged Takuma Sato to top spot on the timesheet, while Scott McLaughlin ended up fifth-quickest in the #3 Penske Chevrolet.

Newgarden’s fastest lap saw him set an average speed of 229.519mph (369.375km/h) in the #2 Chevrolet, while Sato went as quick as a 229.427mph (369.227km/h) in his Honda-powered Dale Coyne Racing w/ RWR entry.

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Hondas also ended up third- and fourth-quickest, with Tony Kanaan setting a 228.767mph (368.165km/h) and Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon a 228.689mph (368.039km/h).

McLaughlin’s best lap saw him circulate at the Brickyard at an average of 228.397mph (367.569km/h).

However, after being the most rapid on a non-towed lap on Day 1 of the test, he was once again among the best on that metric.

The New Zealander went as fast as 221.221mph (356.021km/h) without a tow, which left him behind only Rinus VeeKay’s 221.314mph (356.170km/h) in one of the three Ed Carpenter Racing entries.

In fact, the six quickest such laps were all set in cars with Chevrolet engines in the back of them.

Rounding out the overall top 10 were Marco Andretti, Alex Palou, Jimmie Johnson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Marcus Ericsson, with Penske’s Will Power 14th on a 227.204mph (365.649km/h).

Helio Castroneves was a scratching after his crash on Day 1, and while Day 2 of the test did not run uninterrupted, it was far less dramatic that that which preceded it.

Action started late again due to precipitation, and Romain Grosjean came close to drawing yellows when he twice got very close to the wall, but the only stoppages were for track inspections.

The IndyCar season continues with the Grand Prix of Alabama on April 29-May 1 (local time), with that race to be streamed live and ad-free on Stan Sport.

Results: Open Test Combined times

Pos	Num	Driver	C/E/T	Session	Fastest lap	Speed (mph)
1	2	Josef Newgarden	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.2125	229.519
2	51	Takuma Sato	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.2282	229.427
3	1	Tony Kanaan	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.3413	228.767
4	9	Scott Dixon	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.3548	228.689
5	3	Scott McLaughlin	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.4051	228.397
6	98	Marco Andretti	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.4417	228.185
7	10	Alex Palou	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.4636	228.058
8	48	Jimmie Johnson	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.4910	227.900
9	7	Felix Rosenqvist	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.5062	227.812
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.5110	227.785
11	60	Simon Pagenaud	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.5474	227.575
12	23	Santino Ferrucci	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.5623	227.489
13	24	Sage Karam	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.5734	227.425
14	12	Will Power	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.6120	227.204
15	21	Rinus VeeKay	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.6137	227.194
16	28	Romain Grosjean	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.6445	227.018
17	20	Conor Daly	D/C/F	Test Session 2	0:39.6502	226.985
18	77	Callum Ilott	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.7183	226.596
19	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.7762	226.266
20	45	Jack Harvey	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.7836	226.224
21	5	Pato O’Ward	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.7880	226.199
22	18	David Malukas	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.8030	226.114
23	27	Alexander Rossi	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.8145	226.048
24	15	Graham Rahal	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:39.8504	225.845
25	11	JR Hildebrand	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.8866	225.640
26	14	Kyle Kirkwood	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:39.8974	225.579
27	06	Helio Castroneves	D/H/F	Test Session 2	0:39.9723	225.156
28	4	Dalton Kellett	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:40.0159	224.911
29	26	Colton Herta	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:40.0381	224.786
30	30	Christian Lundgaard	D/H/F	Test Session 3	0:40.1454	224.185
31	33	Ed Carpenter	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:40.1497	224.161
32	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	D/C/F	Test Session 3	0:40.1822	223.980