Armstrong shines at IndyCar testing
Kiwi rookie Marcus Armstrong has shone at testing in California ahead of his IndyCar debut.
The 22-year-old was the top rookie and fifth fastest overall in the pre-season shakedown at The Thermal Club track on the outskirts of Palm Springs over the weekend.
‘‘He’s good, but we knew that already. He’s doing really good,’’ Mike Hull, managing director for Armstrong’s team at Chip Ganassi Racing, said of Armstrong’s driving.
Moving over to the United States single-seater scene from Formula 2, Armstrong put in 101 laps over two sessions in his Honda on the second day of the testing.
He got the better of his veteran team-mate Scott Dixon who was 10th fastest while fellow Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson topped the charts.
New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin was eighth in his Team Penske Chevrolet.
The 2023 season starts on the streets of St Petersburg in Florida on March 6.
Meanwhile, IndyCars announced that the Indianapolis 500 will have a conventional points allocation in the season championship this year, reversing the double-points rule that had been in place since 2014.
The move comes after a review found the double-points rule ‘‘has proven to overly penalise fulltime championship teams that have performed poorly in the 500’’, according to a statement released by IndyCar.
‘‘For 17 consecutive seasons, the IndyCar series championship has been decided in the final race of the season,’’ IndyCar president Jay Fry said. ‘‘While double points at the Indianapolis 500 has not altered who won the season-long championship, occasionally it has had a negative effect on the final position of the fulltime teams. ‘‘As our entry list grows, this move will provide consistency for teams competing for championship positions while not diminishing the importance of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’.’’