Jamie Chadwick’s first IndyCar test for Andretti showed that she could be ready to step up to the big league if she can make one minor adjustment.
It’s not a question of whether she has the pace to contend with her rivals on the track, and more about her battle with the car.
An IndyCar is a serious piece of kit and a heavy bit of machinery, meaning that it requires a lot of effort to thrash around.
It’s especially tough at the track she tested at – Barber Motorsports Park, which has some particularly demanding high-speed corners.
Jamie Chadwick believes her IndyCar potential is ‘within reach’
The Indy NXT winner at Road America this year has already proven that winning is in her DNA, regardless of whether it’s while racing in Europe or North America.
But she’s a long way off that standard in any IndyCar yet, and speaking to RACER, admitted that she needs some assistance to reach that standard.
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“Honestly, at this point, I’m not 100% sure,” she said. “Part of me is like, there’s so much that feels that’s within reach with IndyCar, but it’s a big step physically, and I’m going to do everything in my absolute power to do that.
“Whether I can get fully on top of it, I don’t know. I think I need to get halfway, and ideally, we can find some other stuff with the team to help me with steering effort, which is exactly what we did in Indy NXT.
“So I need an honest discussion with them, honest discussion with myself as to what I feel like I can achieve. But it’s made me hungry for IndyCar, for sure. You get in a car like that, you don’t want to get out of it.”
How did Chadwick fare against fellow rookie tester Felipe Drugovich?
Funnily enough, Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich was also testing for the first time at Barber for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Brazilian has been out of a full-time singe-seater cockpit for nearly two years, but showed some excellent pace on Monday.
He clocked a time of 1m.07.631s, nearly three-tenths faster than reigning three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou set at the last test in a hybrid car.
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For all Chadwick self-reflected harshly on her struggles, she wasn’t too far behind after setting a 1m.08.687s to be a second shy of Drugovich.
It shows that both aren’t too far off where they need to be and particularly Drugovich could be in with a shout of an IndyCar drive soon if he can continue to impress like that.