Calderon is happy to have extra practice time to work on car setup. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
For IndyCar’s Friday practice session at Road America, drivers will have 75 minutes to come to grips with the 4.05 mile course rather than the usual 45.
The extra time was granted by series officials after a few Friday sessions have been interrupted by incidents in recent weeks, which drastically lowered the available practice time available.
There is less time allocated to practice sessions this season, with a slimmed-down schedule becoming the norm after racing returned following the pause due to Covid-19.
The reduced track time is particularly hard on the series’ six rookie drivers, who spend much of the time learning the track itself rather than working on setup.
“Very helpful,” said Tatiana Calderon when asked by Motorsport week if the extra time is beneficial. “Like with the red flags we had last weekend, for example, we did eight laps maybe total.
“If you’re not comfortable with the setup at some places, you don’t have any time to correct anything. Now at least we have enough time to, firstly, run the [softer red tires].
“And then have the time to do more setup changes. For me, it was about running and learning the track, couldn’t really do any of that.
“I’m really happy that we get 75 minutes here. That way we can change stuff on the car, and have a feel for it. It will be very beneficial.”
Calderon has not raced at Road America since 2010 when she drove in the Star Mazda series, and will need to re-learn much of the track.
Other drivers echoed the sentiment of the 29-year-old rookie, and are looking forward to getting some extra time on track before qualifying.
In addition, teams have been given an extra set of the softer red tires, which then have to be given back to the series at the conclusion of the first practice.
This will help to eliminate the recent trend of teams not being able to run the soft tire until qualifying, which could give unexpected results.
The longer practice from Road America gets underway at 4:25 PM Eastern Time, with a standard 45-minute practice preceding qualifying on Saturday morning.
Keyword: Lengthy IndyCar practice session ‘very helpful’ for drivers