Get unlimited access You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Robert Wickens completed his “tricky” rookie orientation programme for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 in team-mate James Hinchcliffe’s Indycar after a failure caused a “scramble” to catch up. As a full-time rookie, Wickens was required to complete three phases of short runs at

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s Robert Wickens and the returning Danica Patrick endured eventful programmes in preparation for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, as all drivers completed their rookie and refresher requirements. Wickens had to compete against the clock in order to pass the rookie orientation programme after he sailed through the first phase, requiring 10 laps at

Josef Newgarden believes IndyCar’s windscreen needs “small improvements” after he completed a short test with it at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday. Following Scott Dixon’s successful maiden test of the windscreen at Phoenix, Penske’s reigning champion Newgarden ran the windscreen in its second-ever outing following the end of Monday’s Indy test. The windscreen has had

AJ Foyt Racing’s Tony Kanaan set the pace as IndyCar’s preparations for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 began with the first on-track running in the open test. The 2004 Indy 500 winner was just 13th in the morning’s hour-long session but climbed to the top of the times early in the afternoon. He was deposed by

IndyCar and Formula 1 have learned from each other in the development of the windscreen and the halo, according to IndyCar’s director of engineering and safety Jeff Horton. F1 began using the halo cockpit protection device in 2018, while IndyCar is set to complete its second on-track test of the windscreen at Indianapolis with Penske’s

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon says he and the team are “struggling” to break the slump of a “rough” start to the 2018 IndyCar season. Dixon has won just three races since his 2015 IndyCar title but was in contention to win the championship last year in the season finale at Fontana. The four-time champion

IndyCar has had almost 1,000 on-track passes after four races of the 2018 season in a 110% increase on last year, according to figures released by the series. One of the new car package’s primary goals was to improve racing by moving downforce under the Dallara IR-12 chassis, and reducing the number of aerodynamic appendages

The IndyCar series will test the windscreen cockpit protection system for a second time later this month after the planned test session on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Penske’s Josef Newgarden will take over driving duties from Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon on April 30 in what the reigning champion described as an “evolution” of

The striking looks and early success of IndyCar’s new car has been a talking point of the 2018 season, and this week’s Motorsport Show explores how the design was developed. IndyCar abandoned expensive, downforce-laden manufacturer aerokits after three years of costly development when Honda attempted to catch up to the leading Chevrolet designs. Not only

Dale Coyne Racing and Sebastien Bourdais have become known for their strategic IndyCar gambles, but their latest attempt at Barber fell short against victorious Penske driver Josef Newgarden. Extreme conditions in Alabama forced the race to be postponed to Monday, with Penske’s Will Power notably critical of IndyCar’s failed attempt to restart the race on

Josef Newgarden says he could not believe how long his IndyCar rivals stayed out on dry tyres in the rain in a “really risky” attempt to beat him at Barber. Newgarden dominated the dry running at Barber, building a lead of more than 25 seconds before his first of two planned stops. Dale Coyne Racing’s

Penske’s Josef Newgarden won a tense delayed Barber IndyCar race after returning rain opened the door for Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais to gamble on slicks on a wet track. Newgarden picked up where he left off on Sunday, initially cantering into a lead that grew to over 25 seconds before he made his first

Penske’s Will Power says he could not believe IndyCar restarted the race at Barber Motorsports Park under the “very dangerous” extreme weather conditions. After a 37-minute delay under a red flag following a full-course caution for Charlie Kimball going off, race leader Josef Newgarden almost spun on the run to Turn 1 as he ran

IndyCar’s race at Barber has been pushed back to Monday, after running just 22 laps, almost half under yellow flag conditions due to heavy rain and wind. Josef Newgarden will lead the field to the green flag when the race resumes. The Penske driver was fortunate to remain in the lead, having nearly lost control

Reigning IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden defeated Penske team-mate Will Power for pole position in Sunday’s Barber race, as championship leader Alexander Rossi could only take eighth. Newgarden and Power had consistently been the quickest drivers across the three practice sessions at Barber and continued their battle into the fast six. Having waited until the final

Penske controlled practice for IndyCar’s first road course race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, with Josef Newgarden fastest of all in a chaotic day of running. Newgarden’s benchmark time came in the final minutes of the second session after the returning Rene Binder crashed his Juncos Racing-run car into the tyre wall at

Will Power says he wants IndyCar to revert to its previous push-to-pass system. Penske’s Power finished second to points leader Alexander Rossi at Long Beach last weekend after failing to make an impression on the Andretti driver in a nine-lap sprint to the flag after a caution, even with substantially more push-to-pass available. IndyCar’s push-to-pass

Honda says it is using support from other series it competes in to help run its 19 entries at the Indianapolis 500, admitting its capacity was originally for 18 cars. IndyCar’s new universal aerokit has helped reignite interest in Indy 500 programmes and the entry list for next month’s race is currently at 35 cars,

Carlin says the first top 10 finish in IndyCar it scored at Long Beach was the level the team should have been at since the beginning of 2018. Trevor Carlin’s team graduated to IndyCar ahead of the current season after late deals fell into place, but 19th and 20th place finishes on its debut led

Alexander Rossi’s Long Beach victory, the third of his IndyCar career, has firmly established him as the early 2018 title favourite. Three years after his Formula 1 chance with Marussia came to an end, paving the way to a remarkable 2016 Indianapolis 500 win, Rossi has found a new level of consistency and pace to

Ryan Hunter-Reay says he had a “complete nightmare” at Long Beach after the Andretti IndyCar driver was caught up in three separate incidents and then crashed late on. Hunter-Reay was forced into a front wing change when he clipped the rear of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon after starting seventh, although he was able to

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal has explained his crash with Simon Pagenaud at the start of IndyCar’s Long Beach race and has accepted blame for it. Their collision came approaching the first corner, when Rahal hit the rear of Pagenaud’s car on the long run into the tight Turn 1 left-hander as they

Sebastien Bourdais says IndyCar race control’s decisions forced him to race “idiots” at the rear of the field at Long Beach, ruining his weekend. The Dale Coyne Racing driver started ninth but had briefly moved into the lead by lap 56 of 85 before his team-mate Zachary Claman de Melo crashed at Turn 8 and

IndyCar’s 2018 champion will have to beat Andretti’s Alexander Rossi to win the title because he is now the field’s “standout” driver, says Will Power. Rossi took his first win of the 2018 season by dominating on the streets of Long Beach on Sunday after Power was unable to get close enough to challenge in

Alexander Rossi dominated from pole position at Long Beach to take his first IndyCar victory of the season and the championship lead. The Andretti Autosport driver survived a quartet of caution periods, the last of which set up a nine-lap showdown with Penske driver Will Power. Power had twice the amount of push-to-pass available than

Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi continued his strong start to 2018, taking pole position for the third race of the IndyCar season at Long Beach by over three-tenths. Practice pacesetter Rossi claimed his second-ever pole in the series with a 1m06.5528s on his one and only run in the final qualifying session, putting a Honda-powered car

James Davison has become the 35th driver to be announced for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, having signed a deal in partnership with AJ Foyt Racing. Davison subbed in for the injured Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at last year’s Indy 500, with that drive gaining the attention of Jonathan Byrd Racing. Byrd has now backed

IndyCar rookie Robert Wickens believes his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team has carried him through the early races of the 2018 season. Wickens, who has moved from the DTM to IndyCar, impressed on his series debut at St Petersburg and came within a lap of winning the race until contact with Alexander Rossi. He then led

JR Hildebrand has been announced as the second Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entry for the 2018 Indianapolis 500. Hildebrand has been without an IndyCar seat since he was dropped by Ed Carpenter Racing at the end of 2017. He now returns to the team he began his IndyCar career with, when he contested two races

Reigning IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden expects Andretti’s Alexander Rossi and surprise standout Robert Wickens to feature in the 2018 title fight. Newgarden took his first victory of the year at Phoenix following a “risky” late pass on Wickens, and now leads the drivers’ standings by seven points over Rossi after two races. Rossi recovered from