PREMA Racing’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut season continued with qualifying for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, with Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman both showing positive pace.
Ilott and Shwartzman began the weekend with two Free Practice sessions, getting up to speed around the 2.647-kilometre course on the streets of Detroit.
The PREMA Racing drivers were in separate groups for the first qualifying segment. Ilott took to the track in the first group and looked strong in the first half of the session, sitting inside the top six.
Track conditions continued to ramp up towards the end of the session, and even though he was able to improve his lap time, Ilott concluded his group in ninth.
Meanwhile in his group, Shwartzman continued to improve his lap time on the softer green-sidewalled Firestone tires. However, in an incredibly competitive group and after hitting traffic, he was only able to finish in 11th position.
The team will now make their final preparations overnight, starting Sunday with warm up ahead of the 100-lap race at 12:52 Eastern time (CET -6).
“We struggled a bit with the pace today compared to the guys at the top. I had some traffic during my qualifying run, so it was not the easiest or the smoothest lap. Overall, we did what we could, and we will have a look tonight to see what we can do to improve the car. Starting from 22nd tomorrow I will have some strong guys around me, but we will do our best in the race. It’s quite long, so we will need to play it smart in terms of strategy.”
“It was very close in my group today. I think we had the speed to get into the Fast 12, we just didn’t optimise everything, and I made a mistake on my final lap so couldn’t quite put it all together. It’s not ideal as we have had good pace this weekend, but we will still be starting 17th which is not the worst place to be with a good race car.”