XPost: rec.autos.sport.f1, rec.autos.sport.indycar

(Here is the news-

(Meanwhile, here is the information and championship chart
on Chadwick's last season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Indy_NXT
It seems non-impressive, but Andretti will give her another year.)

https://www.motorsport.com/indylights/news/jamie-chadwick-/10540948/

Chadwick feels "relaxed" over crucial second Indy NXT season
Jamie Chadwick is less than two months removed from the 2023 Indy NXT
season but is already focused forward and feeling more relaxed about
next year.
Joey Barnes
AUTHOR
Joey Barnes
UPDATED
OCT 31, 2023, 11:45 AM

1
Jamie Chadwick
The 25-year-old Briton is coming off a respectable rookie campaign where
she earned five top-10 finishes, including a season-best sixth (Portland).

With that, though, off-season preparations are already well underway,
and it was kickstarted with the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Oct. 20. Chadwick, sporting
an all-black firesuit, looked more comfortable on the day than at any
point during last season.

“I'm amazed at how different I feel,” said Chadwick, a three-time W
Series champion. “... just familiarity, culturally, everything.

“There's just so much adjustment last year and I just felt like it took
me too long and a lot of time to just adapt and learn what was required,
and obviously all new tracks as well. Felt like everything was just a
new thing.

“So, now just having familiarity with everything, feels a lot more
relaxing and a lot better going into it.”

One of the key contributors for the rising confidence isn’t solely on
the experience gained, but also the continuity of remaining with
Andretti Global for 2024.

“It's a huge part of it,” Chadwick said. “I think we started the journey with Andretti and just so many things that I was able to kind of learn
with them, particularly close with the team, with my engineer and the
team around me.

“I think a lot of that was with their support, so to come back with that
and be able to refer to a lot of the stuff that we learned in this past
year is going to be valuable for sure.

“They've obviously got a very fast car capable of winning races and championships, so there's no sort of doubt on that side of things,
either. I know that I've got the car and the team behind me for it.”



Although it is only testing, the benchmark became clear as team-mate
Louis Foster, the 2022 USF Pro 2000 champion, paced the 21-car field
with a flying lap of 1m14.8432s around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS circuit.

Chadwick was third quickest among the four Andretti drivers, logging 44
laps with a best of 1m15.4714s, putting her 11th overall – directly
behind rookie Bryce Aron in 10th and ahead of James Roe in 13th.

Chadwick, a development driver for the Williams F1 team since 2019,
reflected back on last season and noted when the adjustment to Indy cars started to click.

“It started to come to us as we sort of came here [to Indianapolis Motor Speedway] and Detroit,” Chadwick said.

“From there on in the season, the first two races were the hardest: St.
Pete just being a baptism, then Barber being very physical. After that,
it started to get a little bit better, even if it didn't sort of show it
in results.

“As the year went on, honestly, I felt like every race weekend we just
got closer and closer, even if that wasn't reflected on paper, on a
result, just in what we see in the data and what I feel within the car,
we were getting closer and closer. It felt like maybe Nashville was a breakthrough race, but before that I had already started to be more
comfortable and confident.”

With five more months until the 2024 season begins on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, Chadwick is focused on maximizing the off-season.

“I think the nice thing going into it this year is I know what to expect
a little bit,” Chadwick said.

“Last year, I remembered having 1,000,001 things thinking about what do
I need to expect. I didn't know, so I went in with just take everything
that I can from the first race, but now knowing what I need to work on,
having that experience I think is going to give me clarity over this
winter to be structured and work hard on what we can.

“It's limited in test days, but last year we didn't actually run the Firestone (tire) until the week before the first race, so last year was definitely tough in terms of limited running. This year, I think it
should be a bit better.”


1

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)