Felipe Nasr continues to push for a chance to get a seat within the IndyCar Sequence.
The 33-year-old Brazilian has been a reliable luxurious insurance coverage coverage for Staff Penske, persistently on lively standby as Josef Newgarden has been nursing a lingering foot harm sustained throughout his dramatic crash on the Indianapolis 500 in Might. Nasr was on the pit wall and able to leap into the cockpit throughout opening apply in Detroit, and remained prepared all through the current race weekend at Street America.
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With restoration the point of interest for Newgarden, Staff Penske opted to lean on Nasr for final week’s multi-team check at Mid-Ohio Sports activities Automobile Course. Taking the wheel of the #2 Chevrolet, Nasr navigated the 13-turn, 2.258-mile pure terrain highway course and was on tempo alongside teammates David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin. He ended up eleventh out of 16 drivers, however completed a microscopic 0.0554 seconds behind Malukas and simply over a tenth of a second again from McLaughlin.
“That check got here alongside after seeing what is going on to be the scenario for Josef, what’s greatest for him,” Nasr instructed Motorsport.com. “And as soon as they mentioned he was going to skip the check for restoration issues, you recognize, I used to be there; first possibility. And I instructed them, ‘That is nice,’ as a result of to me, it is all the time implausible after I can have extra mileage in that automotive. It is not one thing that I drive daily. So, it was nice.”
Josef Newgarden, Staff Penske
Josef Newgarden, Staff Penske
It marked the primary time since final October Nasr had stepped into an Indy automotive, and he emphasised the challenges of getting reacclimated with the equipment.
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“The check, for me, for my part, from my perspective, was very productive,” mentioned Nasr, who additionally made 39 begins in System 1 (2015-16). “And I base it off, these guys have been all out from a contemporary race weekend in Street America, after which they jumped in a check in Mid-Ohio; I have never pushed the automotive since October.
“Yeah, so all the modifications and the whole lot that I needed to get used to once more. To me, to have the ability to have matched my Penske teammates, I feel that tells me it was a really productive check, for my part. So, that was actually good.”
Since becoming a member of Porsche Penske Motorsport in 2023 as the driving force of the #7 Porsche 963 within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, he has turned the sports activities automotive world into his private playground. Nasr has collected eight wins, together with a unprecedented run of the final three consecutive victories on the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona, two triumphs on the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and the general IMSA championship crown in 2024.
Nasr has received just about the whole lot there may be to win in sports activities automobiles beneath the Penske banner. Now, the one query left is whether or not “The Captain,” workforce proprietor Roger Penske, will give him a everlasting shot at open-wheel glory.
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When pressed on what extra he presumably has to indicate the workforce proprietor to lastly earn a full-time IndyCar seat, Nasr merely smiled.
“Oh, ask him,” Nasr mentioned. “You must ask him.”
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