Nearly 10 years removed from her last NTT IndyCar Series outing, Katherine Legge spent Monday at Texas Motor Speedway preparing for her return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where she’ll attempt to qualify for her third Indianapolis 500 in May.
Sought and signed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to pilot the No. 44 Honda, the Briton re-acclimated herself with the DW12 chassis and all of the new components, including its mandatory aeroscreen, which have been added since her last IndyCar race at Indy in 2013.
“My first thought when I left pit lane was, ‘Wow, I do not remember it being this fast!’ she said. “I was in awe of how incredible it was and what a feeling it is. It did not hold, though, as you get comfortable relatively quickly. But even on the last runs of the day, you still have a healthy respect for how fast Texas really is and you’re still in awe of the speed at which these cars can run but you feel a little more relaxed at knowing you have the capability of doing it. At the beginning it’s very much like being a deer in headlights but it soon comes back.”
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Legge shared the track with oval rookie and reigning Indy NXT champion Linus Lundqvist, who was invited to test in a second RLL car. The Swede was put to use at times to lead Legge and give her an opportunity to spend time in the draft and practice passing. Her next outing in the No. 44 Honda will come later this month during the compulsory Indy 500 open test.
“I think the test went really well,” she concluded. “I think the team are happy and that we made some strides forward with both myself and also the car. Hopefully we can take some of that and it will translate at the Indy open test.
“We will look at data and put a plan together for the Indy open test. We’re also on the simulator before the test so there is yet more time to prepare. There will be more debriefs, meetings and pre-event reports and then get back on track for two days to continue to learn before opening day for the Indy 500. I’m looking forward to every bit of it.”