Fernando Alonso carried out a road circuit test of an Andretti Autosport IndyCar at Barber Motorsports Park on Wednesday.
Ahead of the Spaniard’s impending departure from F1, and his strongly rumoured switch to the IndyCar series, Alonso headed to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on Wednesday to take the wheel of the Andretti car on a road course – his first time driving an IndyCar on a circuit other than Indianapolis.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “It was a good day, a fun day. I love to test new cars and to test the Indy car on a road course is something special. I’ve been lucky enough to test it in wet conditions, in intermediate conditions and in dry conditions, so overall I had a good feeling on every type of track. The weather was good for us today – a little bit of wind in the afternoon but overall a positive day.”
Alonso took part in a one off appearance at the 2017 Indy 500, and became one of the stars of the show in that event. Qualifying in P5, he led briefly but was sidelined by an engine failure in the closing stages.
With almost all of Alonso’s racing experience being at road circuits, he said he couldn’t make up his mind yet on whether he prefers them to oval racing: “Probably my instinct will tell me road course because it’s what I’ve been used to doing all my life, but the Indy 500 was an amazing experience, so 50/50. I think I love the way the car feels on a road course, but I love the way you compete on ovals, timing the tows, traffic and all the overtaking maneuvers I think are a little bit easy on the ovals, so in terms of track action, I loved the Indy 500.”
Alonso is yet to announce a full drive in another single seater category, but is still fully committed to the current World Endurance Championship Superseason which concludes in June 2019.
