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PREMA Racing completes first INDYCAR test at Thermal Club

Shwartzman, Ilott wraps up team's debut ahead of 2025

PREMA Racing completes first INDYCAR test at Thermal Club

It was a memorable day for PREMA Racing in Southern California as the team wrapped up its first INDYCAR test at Thermal Club.

Lining up its two Chevrolet-powred Dallara racecars for the first time on track, the team carried out a thorough programme with drivers Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott. Taking advantage of the warm and sunny weather conditions, the team made its first steps with the INDYCAR machinery, which included some early install laps and troubleshooting.

In the afternoon, the team tried several set-up configurations to better understand the car's handling and behaviour. The focus was also on race procedures, including pit-stops, ahead of the March debut in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

While Ilott has previous experience at the 3-mile Thermal Club venue that will be hosting round 2 of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in late March, Shwartzman made his debut at the track and also focused on track familiarization. By the end of the day, the cars completed more than 100 laps.

With the team's official launch and maiden test completed, preparations will now continue ahead of the March 2 opener.

#83 - Robert Shwartzman
"For this test at Thermal Club the focus was to get as quickly as possible up to pace because in INDYCAR, we don't have many test days. We ran into a couple of small hiccups but fixed them. In the afternoon, we did stick to the programme and everything worked out well. We were able to log a good amount of laps and went through a solid testing programme. It's been a while since I have been in such a fun and nice car to drive, and overall, the feeling is really really positive. We worked on getting prepared for the start of the season and the second race here at Thermal. It should be an interesting one."

#90 - Callum Ilott
"We got quite a few things to work through like any first day of testing, and once we got going properly, we had a good starting point. There's a lot of anticipation as it's been a long time coming for this project, so it's amazing to see everything up and running, along with some other competitors to compare. We worked on building a good baseline, adapting and optimizing every little thing, see what's a good idea and what's not. There will be some areas to improve and others where we do well. We just need to keep the pace and everything will go well."

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