Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward says that the car is in the window after he was the pace-setter on Friday in Long Beach. Speaking following the action he said:
“The car is in the window, and we’ve been making small tweaks here and there. “Some things worked, some things didn’t work.”
“This was a really solid start to the weekend for the team. It’s similar to last year where we had strong pace. I say that knowing it is an NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekend, though, where you need to execute in every single session and maximize every opportunity that you have. You need to really find which direction you need to go because there is so much track evolution. We’ll continue to work toward a strong qualifying tomorrow.”
Alexander Rossi in the No.7 VELO Chevrolet was seventh and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“It’s good to be back in Long Beach. The car is in the window; I just think we need to fine-tune a couple things to find a little bit of speed. But overall, that was a really good start, and I’m just happy to be back here. I can’t wait to get back out tomorrow and see what we can do in qualifying.”
Theo Pourchaire made his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut on Friday and completed 35 laps as he fills in for David Malukas. The 2023 F2 champion commented saying:
“The car felt really good, and I enjoyed my first taste of INDYCAR racing. Every lap was a learning process for me. The track is tough physically and very bumpy, but the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is very powerful, and I enjoyed driving it a lot. I learned a lot throughout my first session. I had a lot of traffic when I was driving on the Firestone Alternate tires, so I couldn’t finish a lap, but I think we could’ve been around the top-10 if we did complete a lap. That is really promising for my first time driving in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. I’m very happy with the Arrow McLaren team, as the car was great and Pato was P1, which is encouraging for the rest of the weekend. If you know the car is capable of being P1, then it gives you confidence.”