Alex Palou Wowed by Dry Run in New IR-28 on IMS Road Course

Alex Palou finally got what the weather wouldn't allow two days earlier -- a chance to experience the new-for-2028 IR-28 NTT INDYCAR SERIES car in dry conditions.

Four-time series champion Palou returned Tuesday to the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for a two-hour test, becoming the second driver to evaluate the next-generation machine after Alexander Rossi completed its first public test Saturday.

Palou's initial outing Sunday was hampered by rain (photo, below), limiting him to just a handful of laps on Firestone Firehawk rain tires. Sunny conditions Tuesday evening allowed him to complete significantly more mileage and give engineers valuable dry-weather data as development of the IR-28 continued.

"It was good," Palou said. "We got a lot more laps in. It was great to get some dry running and new tires to see how this car really feels."

The early verdict was encouraging.

"The new car is awesome," Palou said. "It basically feels like the current car, but it's built better. Everything just feels refined. When you lean on it, all the shifts, everything just feels really good."

There are few drivers better suited to provide meaningful feedback.

Palou has won four NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships, including the last three in succession, and enters the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls) with an 83-point lead over Team Penske's David Malukas. With six races remaining over five race weekends, Palou is attempting to become just the second driver in series history to win four consecutive championships, joining Sebastien Bourdais from 2004-07.

While Tuesday's objective centered on gathering data rather than chasing lap time, Palou admitted it wasn't easy to resist the temptation to push.

"It's tough," he said. "As a driver, I come with the mindset of not pushing at all and just trying to give feedback and be relaxed. Then I go one lap and I can give a bit more and by the end, I can go full push. I like to push. That's how I feel good with myself and the car."

Even without running qualifying-style laps, Palou said the IR-28 immediately felt more planted to the asphalt and responsive than the current car.

"It feels like more downforce, or at least more efficient downforce," he said. "The basics already feel a lot nicer than what we have now."

Perhaps the biggest surprise was how different the car felt despite appearing similar to the current chassis.

"Honestly, it already surpassed my expectations," Palou said. "When you look at it, it's very similar to our current car, but it actually feels a lot different. It feels like a completely different new car, which is great. I didn't expect that, so I'm already happy."

Like many throughout the paddock, Palou is eager to see the IR-28 make its competitive debut.

"I'm very happy to announce that we'll race it next year," he said with a laugh. "I wish. That's the level of excitement everybody has. When we saw it in person for the first time, I was shocked by how good it looked. The renders didn't really do it justice. It looks like a big animal.

"Everybody is excited -- the drivers, the teams and especially the fans. But it's good that we have so much time to work on the car before we actually race it. It's important that we get it right and have a car that's good on speedways, street courses and road courses. We want to be able to race in the rain, too. It's important that we get everything right."

Being selected as one of the first drivers to test the IR-28 also carried personal significance.

"It's actually very special," Palou said. "I was telling my dad that because six or seven years ago I wasn't part of any team and just wanted to be part of something like this. Now to be the second driver to test the new car is awesome.

"It's awesome that Honda, INDYCAR and Dallara trust my feedback. I also think it's super important that we get feedback from a lot of different drivers because everybody focuses on different things. I might be thinking about braking while somebody else is thinking about steering or something else. Having a big variety of drivers testing it is only going to make the car better."