– Apart from a delayed start to the morning session, which subsequently led to a shortening of the afternoon session, Wednesday saw the second and final day of the official IndyCar test sessions in preparation for this year’s Indy 500 proceed as planned. The forecasted rain showers were only an issue in the morning.
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For Mick Schumacher (Rahal-Honda), Wednesday was the second opportunity to gain experience on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with its four 90-degree turns. On the second test day, he narrowly missed the top 10 in the daily standings.
In the morning session, Schumacher finished P20 with a pack-driven lap at 221.086 miles per hour (355.727 km/h). In the afternoon session, he improved to P12 with another slipstream-assisted lap at 222.802 mph (358.488 km/h).
In the morning, Schumacher completed 39 laps, adding another 77 in the afternoon, bringing the rookie in German service to a total of 116 laps on the second test day. On the first test day (Tuesday), Schumacher had completed 99 laps and subsequently explained in the press conference that he is building his personal database for driving on superspeedways.
In the he finished P20. Regarding the currently still not very meaningful ranking among the three rookies in the 33-driver Indy 500 field for 2026, Caio Collet (Foyt-Chevrolet) was the fastest, followed by Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda) and Schumacher.
In the middle of the action: Fox on the track
As on Tuesday, the driving operations on Wednesday were free of accidents. However, there were two minor incidents. In Jack Harvey’s car (Dreyer/Reinbold-Chevrolet), heavy smoke and a little flame appeared at the rear.
Also in the afternoon, when Mick Schumacher’s Indianapolis teammate Takuma Sato (Rahal-Honda) was on a fast lap, a fox was spotted on the track. The animal was unharmed, and a yellow flag was called in time.
It had rained overnight and in the early morning hours in Indianapolis. When the driving operations for the second test day were supposed to start at 10:00 a.m. local time, the rain had stopped, but the 2.5-mile oval was still wet in places. The drying of the track with jet dryers lasted until shortly after 11:00 a.m. A few minutes later, the IndyCar cars took over the track from the drying vehicles.
Weather and faulty clutch: Changed daily schedule
Due to the delayed start to the day and the aftermath of the previous day, the program for the second test day was adjusted. Instead of a two-hour session followed by a one-hour break and then a four-hour session, the schedule was rearranged.
After the two-hour session for all, which ended only at 1:15 p.m., Katherine Legge (HMD/Foyt-Chevrolet) had the oval to herself for an hour. Reason: Because she was unable to complete a single flying lap on Tuesday due to a faulty clutch, Legge had to catch up on her “refresher” program (levels 2 and 3 of the rookie program). She succeeded on Wednesday.
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IndyCar 2026: Indy 500 Pre-Test, Day 2
The afternoon session for all 33 drivers including Katherine Legge concluded the second test day. Due to the changes in the daily schedule, this final session lasted only 2:45 hours instead of the originally planned four hours. At least: After the morning delay, the entire driving operation on Wednesday took place under cloudy skies but without further precipitation.
Caio Collet ends two-day test with fastest lap
The fastest lap on Wednesday – and also of the entire two-day test – was set by one of the rookies in the field. Caio Collet shone in the morning with an average speed of 226.381 miles per hour, which corresponds to 364.247 km/h. The Brazilian’s lap was done in a pack and thus with the help of slipstream.
In the afternoon session, two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet) was the fastest in the pack, but was slower than Collet in the morning. Second and third fastest in the afternoon were Indy 500 defending champion Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda) and Conor Daly (Dreyer/Reinbold-Chevrolet), who had set the best time on Tuesday.
In the ranking of laps without slipstream, i.e., solo runs, Jack Harvey again set the best mark on Wednesday, surpassing his Tuesday value. On Wednesday morning, Harvey achieved an average of 221.112 mph (355.769 km/h) without slipstream. This corresponds to a lap time of 40.703 seconds on the 2.5-mile (4.023 km) oval.
However, such laps without slipstream were not driven by every one of the 33 drivers on either Wednesday or Tuesday, so this ranking is far from conclusive. The teams’ test programs were, as usual, different.
Some focused primarily on the handling of their cars in the pack, while others already began setup work for solo laps. The latter will become a major topic towards the end of the training week (May 12 to 15) because in qualifying, each driver must complete four consecutive solo laps (25 questions and answers about the 2026 IndyCar season with Mick Schumacher).
The test sessions in preparation for the 110th edition of the Indy 500 are now complete. Next up on the Indianapolis oval is the training week starting on May 12 (Tuesday). The two-day qualifying for the IndyCar season highlight is scheduled for the weekend of May 16/17. The 500-mile race is on the calendar for May 24.
Before that, however, a completely different discipline awaits. On the twisty Indianapolis road course, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis will take place on May 9 (Saturday), the sixth of 18 races in the 2026 IndyCar calendar. For Mick Schumacher, the Indianapolis road course is not an unfamiliar track, as he completed his first IndyCar test on exactly this track in October 2025.
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