Felipe Nasr Leads Penske's Hybrid Development at Thermal IndyCar Test
Felipe Nasr led Team Penske to the top spot during IndyCar testing at The Thermal Club, setting an unofficial best lap of 1m40.947s in the No. 3 Chevrolet during the final session.
Race car being loaded onto trailer
The testing session highlights:
- Ed Carpenter Racing's Hunter McElrea finished second with 1m41.071s
- F1 veteran Logan Sargeant took third in his IndyCar debut with Meyer Shank Racing, logging 84 laps
- Louis Foster placed fourth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- Enzo Fittipaldi and Toby Sowery faced mechanical issues, finishing fifth and sixth respectively
Nasr, the current Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA GTP champion, worked alongside Josef Newgarden's Indy 500-winning engineer Luke Mason. Their focus was primarily on testing the energy recovery system (ERS), leveraging Nasr's extensive hybrid racing experience from Formula 1 and Porsche 963 GTP.
"This is one of the special things we get to do, driving for Roger, transitioning between the series," Nasr explained. His hybrid racing expertise made him an ideal choice for testing and developing the ERS units as they enter their second season in 2025.
The test session prioritized development pieces and chassis setup concepts, with most cars running non-race specifications, making the lap times largely indicative rather than definitive performance markers.
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