Felipe Nasr continues to push for a possibility to get a seat within the IndyCar Sequence.
The 33-year-old Brazilian has been a reliable luxurious insurance coverage coverage for Workforce Penske, constantly 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 soar into the cockpit throughout opening observe in Detroit, and remained prepared all through the current race weekend at Highway America.
With restoration the point of interest for Newgarden, Workforce Penske opted to lean on Nasr for final week’s multi-team take a look at at Mid-Ohio Sports activities Automobile Course. Taking the wheel of the #2 Chevrolet, Nasr navigated the 13-turn, 2.258-mile pure terrain street 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 take a look at got here alongside after seeing what is going on to be the scenario for Josef, what’s greatest for him,” Nasr informed Motorsport.com. “And as soon as they mentioned he was going to skip the take a look at for restoration issues, you already know, I used to be there; first choice. And I informed them, ‘That is nice,’ as a result of to me, it is all the time unbelievable once I can have extra mileage in that automobile. It is not one thing that I drive day by day. So, it was nice.”
Josef Newgarden, Workforce Penske
Photograph by: Penske Leisure
It marked the primary time since final October Nasr had stepped into an Indy automobile, and he emphasised the challenges of getting reacclimated with the equipment.
“The take a look at, for me, for my part, from my perspective, was very productive,” mentioned Nasr, who additionally made 39 begins in Formulation 1 (2015-16). “And I base it off, these guys had been all out from a contemporary race weekend in Highway America, after which they jumped in a take a look at in Mid-Ohio; I have never pushed the automobile since October.
“Yeah, so the entire modifications and every part 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 take a look at, for my part. So, that was actually good.”
Since becoming a member of Porsche Penske Motorsport in 2023 as the motive force of the #7 Porsche 963 within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, he has turned the sports activities automobile world into his private playground. Nasr has collected eight wins, together with a rare 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 every part there may be to win in sports activities automobiles underneath the Penske banner. Now, the one query left is whether or not “The Captain,” crew proprietor Roger Penske, will give him a everlasting shot at open-wheel glory.
When pressed on what extra he probably has to indicate the crew proprietor to lastly earn a full-time IndyCar seat, Nasr merely smiled.
“Oh, ask him,” Nasr mentioned. “It’s best to ask him.”
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