IndyCar: Fernando Alonso to test at Barber Motorsports Park

By Asher Fair | Sep 1, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 26: Fernando Alonso of Spain, driver of the #29 Chandon Honda prepares to drive during Carb day for the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 26, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is set to test an IndyCar at Barber Motorsports Park in a private session next week.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso recently announced that the 2018 Formula 1 season will be his final season in Formula 1, as he is set to retire after his 17th season in the sport comes to a close at the end of November.

There has been a lot of speculation for several months that the 37-year-old Spaniard may make the switch to IndyCar in the 2019 season seeing as how he competed in his first career IndyCar race, the Indianapolis 500, last year and had a very successful experience in doing so.

Alonso qualified in fifth place for last year’s Indy 500 and had a great chance to win it before his engine failed with just 21 laps remaining of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana. He led 27 laps and was officially scored in 24th.

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Plus, Alonso, who has two Monaco Grand Prix victories to his name, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in his career this past June, meaning he needs only an Indy 500 victory to become just the second driver ever to win all three races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport as least once in his career.

When Alonso announced that he will be retiring from Formula 1 after the 2018 season ends, the speculation regarding his future heated up, especially in the IndyCar world.

Several rumors involve Alonso driving for McLaren, the team for which he currently drives in Formula 1, in IndyCar since the Woking-based team are also looking to join the sport next year. Many of these rumors involve McLaren partnering with Andretti Autosport, the team they partnered with to field an entry for Alonso in last year’s Indy 500, and Harding Racing, one of the newest teams in the sport.

That speculation is set to continue with all signs pointing to Alonso driving in IndyCar next season. The latest sign pointing in that direction is the fact that he is set to test the 2018 IndyCar, which features the new UAK18 aero kit, for the first time in a private test next week.

McLaren and Andretti Autosport have confirmed that Alonso is set to test an IndyCar and that this test will be closed to the media and the public. No more details about the test were released, although it is expected that it will take place at Barber Motorsports Park on Wednesday, September 5. He is set to drive the car driven by Carlos Munoz in this year’s Indy 500.

Barber Motorsports Park is a 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama. It has hosted one IndyCar race each season since the 2010 season. Alonso attended the race at the track there last year shortly after it was announced that he would compete in the 2017 Indy 500.

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Where will Fernando Alonso end up driving in 2019? Will he be a full-time IndyCar driver next season? If so, with which team will he sign?