Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi will head to Sebring International Raceway on Monday and Tuesday of next week in preparation for the start of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in two weeks with the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.
The team conducted hybrid testing earlier this week, with Callum Ilott working alongside Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward. Arrow McLaren has yet to announce who will substitute for the injured David Malukas, who will be out of action for at least the season-opening event. Speaking about the upcoming test, Pato O’Ward, who will drive the No.5 and the No.6 Chevrolet during the test, commented saying:
“I’m looking forward to getting the season started, and this is the last chance we have to kind of get back in the groove – drivers, engineers, mechanics. Getting the team flowing again is the most important thing. We get to test out a few more of the bits and pieces we’ve developed over the offseason to see what works and what doesn’t. Then we’ll try to arrive to St. Pete with the best package possible and roll off strong. I haven’t been to Sebring in a bit, but I’m excited to go back.”
Alexander Rossi, in the No.7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, is beginning his second season with the team and speaking about the upcoming test, Rossi commented:
“While we have had lots of days testing the hybrid, we’ve had very little time to understand the package that we will be starting the year with. We have one day as a group to really understand its differences from last year and what we need to do to extract performance out of the car going into St. Pete. It’s going to be exciting.”
Arrow McLaren Team Principal Gavin Eard said:
“We’ve had an extremely busy offseason, filled with a lot of great testing and some internal shuffling that should set us up for success this year. Now, the Open Test gives us one last chance to prepare before the season kicks off in just under two weeks. This will be a unique testing setup for us with Pato going twice in the No. 5 and No. 6 cars, but we’re hopeful to still get a lot of valuable data from these two days. We’re looking forward to a couple of great days on track at Sebring to go into St. Pete with some positive momentum.”