Winterfest kicks off at NOLA with Indy Lights testing

The IL-15s are on track while the Pro Mazda and USF2000 teams are unloading their cars from the trailers. That means it’s time for Winterfest, the annual event where the Mazda Road to Indy teams shake off their offseason rust before opening the season in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Times dropped below the 1 minute 30 second mark early and at the end of the first session as Juncos Racing’s Spencer Pigot ended the first session with the fastest lap of a 1:27.4298 for an average speed just under 113 mph.

After Pigot, Carlin Racing’s Ed Jones was second with Andretti Autosport’s Shelby Blackstock in third. Pigot’s teammate Kyle Kaiser was fourth while Schmidt-Peterson’s Jack Harvey rounded out the top five.

Red flags

The morning and afternoon sessions have seen a few red flags called out for cars being stopped on track, with the most serious situation occurring when Belardi Auto Racing’s Juan Piedrahita had a small off-track excursion which dirtied up a few body parts on the car and caused his front wing to become detached from the rest of the car.

The afternoon session has seen times drop further with Carlin Racing’s Max Chilton scoring the fastest lap of the day with a 1:25.311. Pigot is currently second, Harvey third, Blackstock fourth and Piedrahita’s team mate Felix Serralles finishing off the top five.

Eleven cars took times during the day. The driver with the fewest number of laps is Piedrahita with 24.