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IndyCar: 2018 Barber Motorsports Park open test session results

By Asher Fair

BIRMINGHAM, AL - APRIL 7: Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the #1 Andretti Autosport DHL Chevrolet leads a pack of cars during the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on April 7, 2013 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, AL - APRIL 7: Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the #1 Andretti Autosport DHL Chevrolet leads a pack of cars during the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on April 7, 2013 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
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The Barber Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park took place today for the drivers of the Verizon IndyCar Series. Here are the results from the test.

A total of 24 IndyCar drivers, including each of the 20 full-time drivers, took to the 17-turn, 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course in Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday, March 20th for the annual Barber Open Test.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden topped the speed chart in the test session with a top lap time of 67.9793 seconds (121.802 miles per hour) around the course in his #1 Chevrolet. He led a top 3 Team Penske sweep on the speed chart.

Will Power finished 2nd fastest in the test session in his #12 Chevrolet, while Helio Castroneves finished in 3rd in his #3 Chevrolet. Team Penske’s other driver, Simon Pagenaud, finished 9th fastest in the session in his #22 Chevrolet.

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Castroneves is no longer a full-time IndyCar driver for the first time since the 1997 season, but he is set to drive for Team Penske in both the IndyCar Grand Prix and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 12th and Sunday, May 27th, respectively.

The fastest Honda driver in the test session was Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, who won the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida last Sunday in his #18 Honda. He finished 4th fastest in the test session right ahead of his rookie teammate Zachary Claman DeMelo in 5th in his #19 Honda.

Following the top 3 sweep by Team Penske drivers, eight of the next nine drivers on the speed chart were Honda drivers, with the only Chevrolet driver in that group being Team Penske’s Pagenaud. The highest finishing non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver in the session was Matheus Leist, who finished 13th fastest in his #4 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

Here are the full results from the 2018 Barber Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park.

RankDriverCar, Team, Engine
1Josef Newgarden#1, Team Penske, Chevrolet
2Will Power#12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
3Helio Castroneves#3, Team Penske, Chevrolet
4Sebastien Bourdais#18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
5Zachary Claman DeMelo#19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
6Takuma Sato#30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
7Ryan Hunter-Reay#28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
8Scott Dixon#9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
9Simon Pagenaud#22, Team Penske, Chevrolet
10Zach Veach#26, Andretti Autosport, Honda
11Graham Rahal#15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
12Alexander Rossi#27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
13Matheus Leist#4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
14Max Chilton#59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet
15Ed Jones#10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
16Tony Kanaan#14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
17Marco Andretti#98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda
18James Hinchcliffe#5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
19Robert Wickens#6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
20Charlie Kimball#23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet
21Jordan King#20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
22Spencer Pigot#21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
23Gabby Chaves#88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet
24Rene Binder#32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet

Next: Top 10 most unbreakable records across Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar

IndyCar is set to visit Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, April 22nd for the fourth race of the 2018 season. The next race is scheduled to take place at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona on Saturday, April 7th, and the race after that is scheduled to take place on the streets of Long Beach, California on Sunday, April 15th.=