Ericsson tops IndyCar Thermal Club test

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson posted the quickest lap in his No. 28 Honda on Tuesday to top the six-car private IndyCar Series test at The Thermal Club.

Ericsson’s unofficial best of 1m40.136s edged Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Honda (+0.080s), and it was PREMA Racing’s Robert Shwartzman who thoroughly impressed on the team’s debut outing by going to P1 on two occasions with the No. 83 Chevy before settling for third (+0.175s).

“Last time we were out here in Thermal, we felt like it wasn’t maybe our strongest track or weekend,” Ericsson told RACER. “So it’s good to come back here and work through some stuff. We had a good program trying different things on the three different cars, and I think we learned a bunch that should help us when we come back here in March.”

PREMA’s Callum Ilott in the No. 90 Chevy (+0.247s), who spent most of the morning sitting idle, was fourth and Andretti’s Colton Herta in the No. 26 Honda (+0.269s), whose running was curtailed due to a an issue, was fifth. Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel was sixth with the No. 51 Honda (+1.451s).

“We had a lot to work for in the morning, which was kind of expected, and you never know what you’re going to get with a new car to shake down,” Ilott said. “But we obviously got some stuff (to deal with) and it took a little bit longer to diagnose, but honestly, we did a good job. Got one lap in just before lunch break and we played a bit of catch up towards the end.”

Abel was the busiest driver with 69 laps turned, ahead of Ericsson (60), Shwartzman (54), Herta (53), Kirkwood (52), and Ilott (50), and will have another chance to learn the car when most of the teams head to Sebring in February.

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of progress to be made on a lot of different things,” Abel said. “It was my first day as an IndyCar driver, officially, doing pit stops, hitting the marks, in laps, out laps, all that. I think there was a lot more to our day today to accomplish than just making the car go fast for one lap. We got a lot done.

“We built a pretty good base of communication and it’s something I’m pretty happy with. We’re just moving forward and working as well as we can with the limited time that we’re going to have before we show up at the first race.”

Former Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus VeeKay was spotted at the Thermal test and remains high on the list of drivers who could join Coyne in the No. 18 Honda, which serves as the last open seat in the series.