FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Speedway, Ind. – Back for the first time since the season finale at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, ABEL Motorsports armed with a stable of 3 drivers, took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 20th for the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test.
Strapping in to a brand new Dallara IL-15, Jacob Abel, had a busy day leading the team in testing laps completed, at 73 between the two sessions. As the first session kicked off right at 9 o’clock in the morning, the conditions were less than ideal as rain and cold temperatures had made their way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, resulting in Abel only turning 20-laps in the session.
As the day wore on, the sun began to peek out behind the clouds and temperatures started to rise, as did the speeds on track. Abel finished out the final session completing another 53-laps putting him 2nd on the timing charts just a tenth off of the top position.
“It’s always great getting back behind the wheel of a race car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Jacob Abel. “Even on days when its cold and overcast, you still can’t beat laps around here. For us on the No. 51 car, we were working with a brand-new chassis so working through some new car things, but overall a great day back in the car” remarked Abel.
“The first session of the day was a bit of a wash just with the cold temperatures, so no one made a ton of laps but session 2 the sun came out some and the track temp came up so we were able to start really working through different things. Huge thank you again to my ABEL Motorsports guys for their work all day and getting the car where I like it,” said Jacob Abel.
The first driver announced for ABEL Motorsports driver lineup in the 2024 INDY NXT Championship, Yuven Sundaramoorthy, was right at home back behind the wheel of the No. 22 car. Based on track conditions in the first session of the day, it was decided between Sundaramoorthy and the ABEL Engineering staff to run a few laps but wait until the more ideal track conditions in the later session to really get to work.
“We all agreed that there just wasn’t a ton for us to gain by running in conditions that we will more than likely not encounter here next year so we decided to run a couple of laps and then wait until the second session to start running laps,” remarked the 20-year-old driver.
Tying fellow ABEL Motorsports driver, Jonathan Browne, by completing 65-laps in the second session of the day provided Sundaramoorthy plenty of time to try a few different setup changes as he and his crew worked to dial the car in.
“We got to run a ton of laps in that second session and got to try a few things to the car and I could really start to feel what the changes were doing to the car. Overall, I think we were really getting into a good rhythm at the end minus all of the the red flags, and I put another 65-laps of experience under my belt. At the end of the day I am really happy with the progress we made, and I can’t wait until we get the season started” said Sundaramoorthy.
Rounding out ABEL’s stable for the 1-day test at Indianapolis was USF Pro 2000 sophomore, Jonathan Browne. Browne was making his 1st ever laps in the Dallara IL-15, including his 1st time actually starting the No. 5 ABEL Construction machine.
“It was great to get my first taste of INDY NXT action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unfortunately we missed the morning session due to weather so everything running wise got pushed to the evening session,” expressed Browne.
As track temperatures rose, Browne wasted no time getting on track and getting the learning process underway, on his way to completing 65-laps in the second and final session of the day.
“Putting all of the running in the afternoon session made it a bit tricky to take time in learning what is a completely new car to me. Other than that, it was a great experience and we were getting faster each time we went on track, just ran out of time in the end. I have to give a huge thank you to everyone at ABEL Motorsports for the effort and work all week to get me out there and I hope we can have more in the near future,” said Browne.
As the team heads back to the off-season and preparations for the 2024 season, make sure you stay up to date with everything ABEL Motorsports, including driver lineups, by following the team @abelmotorsports on social media, or by visiting www.abelmotorsports.com .
Abel Motorsports including team Principal, Bill Abel, has been competing since 1972. ABEL Motorsports is now on to the third generation with Jacob Abel being the flagship driver for the team. The team was able to capture the inaugural F3 Americas Championship in 2018, and currently competes in the freshly rebranded INDY NXT by Firestone series, the official development series for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the team’s first entry into the Indianapolis 500 with driver RC Enerson in 2023. For more information visit the official team website at: www.abelmotorsports.com