Scott McLaughlin has taken a strong liking to ovals in his rookie IndyCar season and he was on fine form yesterday at a test at Gateway.
The New Zealander finished third in the timesheets and racked up the third-highest tally of laps in the 11-car test.
McLaughlin’s best lap was 0.595mph slower than pacesetter Colton Herta of the Andretti Autosport team.
He will race at the Illinois speedway later next month in what is the final oval race of the season.
From the three oval races held so far, McLaughlin claimed a podium at Texas and out-qualified his more experienced Penske teammates at Indianapolis.
He is currently the highest-placed rookie in the driver’s standings, sitting 13th.
Romain Grosjean was also present at yesterday’s test.
The ex-Formula 1 driver initially refused to compete on ovals following his scary crash in last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
However, Grosjean got his first taste of oval racing at Gateway and has confirmed he will race there next month.
The IndyCar championship returns in two weeks with the inaugural Nashville Street race.
| Pos | Name | Best Lap (mph) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colton Herta | 180.990 |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | 180.755 |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 180.395 |
| 4 | Ed Jones | 180.123 |
| 5 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 180.062 |
| 6 | James Hinchcliffe | 179.397 |
| 7 | Rinus VeeKay | 179.042 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | 177.427 |
| 9 | Sebastien Bourdais | 176.758 |
| 10 | Dalton Kellett | 176.046 |
| 11 | Ed Carpenter | 175.672 |
Getting better all the time Scotty you’re going to be the best soon, enjoy it, but sure do miss you back here, next year when they have the gen 3 up and running the giz will just keep on winning, but at least it won’t be bloody Holden’s, good luck to you Scotty take care.