Jamie Chadwick finally received the opportunity to drive an IndyCar that she has patiently been waiting a long time to experience.
The Brit was handed the chance to lap around Barber Motorsports Park for Andretti – one of the most physically demanding tracks that they could have taken her to.
Years of single-seater experience in both Europe and North America now have helped to build her confidence and experience behind the wheel.
So much so, that colleague Kyle Kirkwood praised her calm demeanour and excellent feedback after she finished conducting the test.
Jamie Chadwick struggles in the high-speed corners
Chadwick has never quite driven anything as fast and as demanding as an IndyCar around some of Barber’s high-speed corners.
It puts a lot of physical strain on the body and requires a lot of effort to wring every bit of lap time out of the car.
Speaking to RACER, Andretti’s chief engineer, Craig Hampson discussed where she was good and where she struggled.
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“She had no problem making lap time in the slower-speed corners. But there are three high-speed corners here that you can make big chunks of lap time on, and that’s where she wasn’t able to get the lap time out of the car in those corners.
“And she knows it, and she was pretty honest about, ‘Hey guys, I’m out of gas here.’ We did do what we could do the car to reduce the steering effort in the high-speed corners, but I’m sure there’s more we could do to help her.”
Are there any IndyCar openings for Chadwick in 2025?
Sadly for the 26-year-old, there are no openings with the team she tested with for 2025, with those spots taken by Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and Marcus Ericsson.
There are a few seats elsewhere on the grid, but they’re being chased by drivers with lots of substantial sponsorship money.
Juncos Hollinger Racing has as many as 10 drivers pursuing one of its two seats according to 2024 driver Conor Daly.
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Another year in Indy NXT could be wise, to enable her to get fitter and become more prepared for the physical demands of IndyCar.
There’s also a possibility that she could make a push for that championship and guarantee a shot at the Indy 500 in 2026 if she can come out on top.