Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato topped the opening IndyCar preseason test at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Takuma Sato, who drives the #30 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after coming to the team this offseason following one season driving for Andretti Autosport, topped the speed chart in the opening IndyCar test session at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Sato, 41, topped the speed chart with a fastest lap time around the 1.022-mile tri-oval of 19.6726 seconds (187.022 miles per hour).
ISM Raceway is set to host the first oval race and the second overall race of the 2018 season on Saturday, April 7th. The season opener is set to take place on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 11th.
This test marked the first time during which the IndyCars with the new universal aero kit took to the track in the same session, and they are set to do so three more times between today and tomorrow.
More from IndyCar
- IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
- IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
- IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
- Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
- IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024
Simon Pagenaud, who drives the #22 Chevrolet for Team Penske, was the fastest driver of a Chevrolet-powered car in 2nd place. Two more Chevrolet drivers finished in 3rd and 4th place in the session, thus giving Chevrolet drivers three of the top four spots on the chart.
In 4th place was the session’s top rookie, Matheus Leist. Leist, who drives for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, topped yesterday’s rookie test session as well.
After 4th place, however, Honda drivers were dominant. They took all 11 spots from 5th to 15th place on the speed chart. Chevrolet drivers took seven of the bottom eight spots on the speed chart. The lone Honda driver who finished between 16th and 23rd place was Dale Coyne Racing’s rookie Pietro Fittipaldi, who finished in 18th.
Here are the full test results.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 2 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 5 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 6 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 7 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda |
| 8 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 9 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 10 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 11 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 12 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 13 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 14 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 15 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 16 | Kyle Kaiser | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Pietro Fittipaldi | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 19 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time
The next session is set to take place from 8:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET today, with two more tests set to take place tomorrow from 3:00 pm ET to 6:00 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET. Will Takuma Sato top the speed charts again at any point this weekend?