The Swede, who joined Andretti Global over the offseason, put down a flying lap of 51.9512s (115.724 mph) around the circuit’s shorter 1.67-mile layout, which came late in the afternoon session. He logged 83 laps in total on the day.
“Today is very important, especially when you’re in a new team,” Ericsson said. “It’s been a lot of learning processes, learning the people, learning the car. Everything is new, obviously. We don’t get a lot of tests these days. So, we need to maximize that.
“We just had a really good day. So, that’s positive, and we’re feeling excited about going to St. Pete.”
Team Penske’s Will Power ended up second after nailing a 52.0076s best lap, just ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in third, who led the morning session, pounded out 98 laps on the day (second-most) and hit a mark of 52.0104s.
“Back with the No. 5 team today,” O’Ward said, noting his switch to his original team after subbing for injured team-mate David Malukas in Monday’s running.
“It was a really smooth testing day for us today. We got through our whole run plan, and now we’re ready to get the season kicked off in St. Pete. We’re really looking forward to getting down there.”
Felix Rosenqvist was able to make a solid impression in the early days of his transition to Meyer Shank Racing, pushing a lap of 52.0305s to end up fourth. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal came away fifth, putting down a session-most 99 laps that featured a personal best of 52.0598s.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s rookies Kyffin Simpson and Linus Lundqvist wrapped up the day sixth and seventh, respectively. Santino Ferrucci surged AJ Foyt Racing into the top 10 to end up eighth, ahead of Juncos Hollinger Racing newcomer Romain Grosjean in ninth and Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong in 10th.
The top 10 were separated by 0.325s.
Rookie Christian Rasmussen (Ed Carpenter Racing) finished up 11th, followed by Colin Braun in 12th, who put down 67 laps in his first-ever taste of Indy car machinery that came courtesy of Dale Coyne Racing. Braun was 0.9657s off the mark set by Ericsson.
Of note, all of the top five in Tuesday’s test put down faster times than first day pacesetter Alex Palou.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which signals the start of the 2024 season for the IndyCar Series, is March 10.
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