Jack Hawksworth continued AJ Foyt Enterprises tricky day around the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway by qualifying a lowly seventeenth on Friday.
The British driver admitted he has been struggling for pace so far this weekend ahead of the first oval race of the Verizon IndyCar Series season, and is looking for improvements overnight so he can have a better race under the lights on Saturday evening.
“It was a tricky qualifying run,” said Hawksworth. “The car was a little bit loose. It’s been a difficult day so far because we had some issues in practice and we didn’t run very much.
“So we have to get our heads together and understand what happened in qualifying. We have to keep focused and keep digging and put on a good show for the ABC folks tomorrow night.”
Hawksworth at least was able to qualify, with team-mate Takuma Sato restricted to being just a spectator following his turn one practice crash, with the team failing to repair his #14 car in time for the session. Japanese racer Sato is set to start from the back of the grid with a new engine and new chassis but has only completed five practice laps so far this weekend.
