Kirkwood and Sowery quickest in Indy Lights’ pre-season test

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood topped the 10-strong entry of Indy Lights’ one-day pre-season test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The first of the day’s two sessions gave space for 90 minutes of running on the roval, and it was Toby Sowery who pipped Belardi Auto Racing team-mate Rasmus Lindh and Kirkwood to first place. Less than 0.04 seconds covered the trio, with Sowery opting to run less laps than anyone despite going fastest.

HMD Motorsports’ Santiago Urrutia and David Malukas were a full 0.4s behind on the top three, and only got slightly closer to the pace in the 180-minute afternoon session.

Kirkwood lowered the pace by 0.6s, with Sowery in an improved second place after a flying lap at the end of his day’s running. He ended up a tenth off Kirkwood, with Lindh a further tenth behind after concentrating on long run pace.

Malukas completed significantly less laps than anyone else, but he also picked up speed the longer he was on track and was 0.3183s behind in fourth. His team-mate Urrutia did improve on his best lap from the earlier session, but ended up being outpaced by Andretti’s Robert Megennis.

The remaining two Andretti cars were seventh and eighth fastest in the hands of Tristan Charpentier and Danial Frost. One-time Super Formula starter Charpentier was in a test-only entry, but may well join the team for the St. Petersburg season opener.

Test results