Drivers push during “Prix View” Practice 3 at PIR
The Verizon IndyCar Series second annual “Prix View” day at Phoenix International Raceway had thrills and spills for fans. The Prix View was the first chance IndyCar Series fans got to see their favorite teams and drivers live. The drivers put on a show for those who came.
Andretti Autosport driver and reigning Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Alexander Rossi had a scary moment early on in the day session, hitting the SAFER barrier hard at Turn 2. Rossi lost control on his second full lap and spun in the single-car incident. He was not injured.
“I’m not completely sure what happened because the car felt fine – it just got loose and snapped, said Rossi, speaking with IndyCar reporters.
“The car was good going into Turn 1, I went down to the bottom and the back end came out. The test has been productive overall, so this is a pretty big setback.
“The car has been great this weekend and I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made ahead of this incident. This was my first real contact with the wall – better here than in qualifying or the race – and it won’t stop me from pushing hard.”
Ed Carpenter Racing’s JR Hildebrand provided the thrills and staked his claim to being back full-time in IndyCar aboard the No. 21 Chevy of Ed Carpenter Racing. Hildebrand set a time of 00m19.0401s with a top speed of 193.234mph, unofficially the fastest ever at Phoenix Raceway.
However Hildebrand was undeterred about his fast lap, focusing instead on getting a feel for the car and track now that he is back full-time, after filling in for Josef Newgarden last year at Iowa due to injury.
“I like short-oval stuff, they’re really challenging in their own way.
“It was fortunate from my perspective to be able to run the car a little bit at Iowa last year. It gave me a little more basic knowledge of what the aero kit’s like and what you’re looking for with the current tire,” said Hildebrand.
Other surprises during the day session included Schmidt Peterson Motorsports drivers, Mikhail Aleshin and James Hinchcliffe cracking the top-10 leaderboard for the first time. Aleshin managed P6 and Hinchcliffe rounded out the top-10 in P10. The SPM pair were one of the few Honda-powered cars in the top-10. The only other Honda-powered pair to make the top-10 during the Saturday day session were Tony Kanaan in P7 and Sebastien Bourdais in P9. Chevy-power and aero dominated the top-5.
Twitter: The results from today’s first open test at @PhoenixRaceway. The second test will begin at 8 ET tonight & streamed… https://t.co/BPAHPIY0sp (@IndyCar)
Prix View and the Phoenix Raceway open test conclude with a night session starting at 8pm Eastern Time.