Jamie Chadwick’s debut in an IndyCar around one of the toughest tracks in North America went down pretty well.
She proved her pace in slow-speed corners and her capability to cope with the demands of such a strong machine over the day.
But, there were struggles in one key area that cost her lap time – which was the ability to handle the car through high-speed corners.
While driving in Indy NXT this year, she was given help to make the steering of her car a bit easier on her, which is something that needs to be looked into with any future IndyCar drives.
Jamie Chadwick pleased that she has something to ‘work on’
Chadwick claimed a victory at Road America in the Indy NXT series this year and was one of only five drivers to do so.
Year on year, she continues to prove that she has the tangibles to compete at the top, and appears that a big break in IndyCar isn’t so far away now.
If she can sort out the steering issues that plagued her at Barber, she might gain that extra half a second in lap time she needs to convince a team to sign her up in a full-time capacity.
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“It went pretty well from a personal point of view. I was a little bit disappointed with finding the steering effort as hard as I did, but I think I knew that was potentially going to be the case doing the test at Barber,” she told Autosport.
“Which I guess was the worst-case scenario. But at the same time, it’s a real positive to know what I need to work on in that sense.”
What are Chadwick’s options for 2025?
Chadwick has a very slim chance of securing a 2025 IndyCar seat, competing against drivers with big sponsorship and years of experience.
There are only five open seats left on the grid with Juncos Hollinger Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan and PREMA.
The last of those are the only ones that might make sense with their European ties, but that could be a tough gig pairing a rookie team with a rookie driver.
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Another year in Indy NXT could be beneficial, especially if she can kick on and secure another few victories and maybe even the championship.
There’s bound to be an opportunity at some stage, but she just has to remain patient and back her talent – which is evident based on her past results.