Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards admitted he was relieved that Fernando Alonso’s first test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of his Indianapolis 500 debut this month went to plan, especially as it was broadcasted live.
Edwards said the Spaniard did a good job around the legendary 2.5-mile oval on Wednesday, with Alonso completing 110 laps and his Rookie Orientation Program, meaning he is free to compete in the Indy 500 at the end of the month.
It was Alonso’s first taste of running on an oval, and Edwards felt positive with the results of the day, with the Spaniard achieving a fastest lap of 222.548mph.
“I would say [I’m] relieved the first live test we’ve ever been a part of went OK,” said Edwards to Racer. “It’s the first test I’ve ever done where we had a production planning meeting beforehand! It was good, right? Why would we not expect him to do a good job, given his credentials?
“Given the amount of time he spent preparing, he’s just super thorough about every aspect of it and has taken a lot of time and effort to educate himself about what to expect. I think it went every bit as well as we hoped it would, and fortunately the weather held off for us and we were able to tick all of the boxes on the test list.”
Edwards was pleased Alonso was able to experience a number of things he would not have been able to until Carb Day at Indianapolis, and he was impressed with what the Spaniard did throughout his first day in an IndyCar.
“As everyone was able to see, we did yellow running, he was able to practice exiting off of Turn 4 which is something as a rookie he wouldn’t have a chance to do until Carb Day,” said Edwards.
“His exploring nature [was seen]; a couple of times he just came in off of Turn 3 rather than Turn 4 because he was out to experience as many different aspects of the track as he could today. [I’m] impressed with everything he did, but not surprisingly impressed because that’s very much his nature.”