David Malukas, who will make his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race start this weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway in California with Meyer Shank Racing after being released by Arrow McLaren in April following his cycling accident, says that the hybrid oval test at the Milwaukee Mile last week went very well.
Speaking to Paddock Eye on Monday during a media conference call ahead of the race this weekend, he said:
Overall I thought it went very well. We didn’t have any issues from the hybrid testing. I tested with the hybrid at McLaren in the early pre-season stuff. Obviously it was more in the early stages. Kind of a big gap for me coming back into it now from what I was expecting before.
Now it seems they’ve cleared up a lot of those issues. It seems to be very well and strong. I think it added a lot of characteristic for an oval especially.
When it comes to the race this weekend in Monterey and how he can help the team move forward, Malukas said:
DAVID MALUKAS: It’s going to be a win-win from both sides of the team. From my side I am obviously getting back in the car, to be able to see where the car is at. From the team side, another characteristic.
I seen obviously Felix’s data at McLaren. We do have pretty good matching with the way we enter corners with heavy braking, focusing on exits. I think we’re going to mesh very well, work on kind of creating a very good setup together working at the practice sessions moving up to the race.