Drugovich lined up for Ganassi IndyCar test later this month

The 2022 Formula 2 champion will get his first taste of IndyCar Series machinery later this month

Felipe Drugovich will get a chance to drive IndyCar Series machinery as part of a driver evaluation test with Chip Ganassi Racing at Barber Motorsports Park.

The 2022 Formula 2 champion is currently the test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin Formula 1 team. He has also spent this year competing in the European Le Mans Series, along with the Le Mans 24 Hours as part of a line-up that included Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani in a Cadillac V-Series.R prepared by Action Express. 

The test outing for the 24-year-old Brazilian will happen at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn circuit and take place on 30 September - the same day Jamie Chadwick will be on track in IndyCar equipment for Andretti Global.

Mike Hull, managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing, confirmed to Autosport that testing Drugovich was down to a variety of factors, including making up for a missed opportunity from last year.

“I think because of his Formula 2 experience, first of all,” Hull said. 

“He has an opportunity... That car is 625 horsepower, the tyres are similar, power to weight ratio is similar. So, it's a good evaluation of him as a driver. That way you're not spending a lot of time having him learn how to drive an IndyCar. He's basically already driven one for at least two years. That helps a lot.

“We had actually promised him a test a year ago and we weren't able to do it. And so it's more what we had promised.” 

Chip Ganassi Racing is downsizing from five cars to three for the 2025 season in the IndyCar Series, with six-time champion Scott Dixon and newly-crowned three-time titlist Alex Palou the only drivers confirmed. 

With that, though, Hull made clear this outing is not a determining factor to complete its driver roster for next season.

“There were no strings attached to that one,” Hull said. 

“Certainly, nothing to this one. We saw him first hand at Le Mans in the Cadillac car that Action Express runs, so we got to know him a bit with that. And so those three things combined probably contribute to it. Where is it gonna go? Right now, it doesn't have legs.”