The 19-year-old Barbados-born Caymanian will jump into the IndyCar Series in 2024, driving one of five CGR entries.
As part of the process to ensure maximum preparation, CGR Managing Director Mike Hull set out a challenging month-long test that involved driving previous generation F2 cars, World Series cars, and finishing with an Indy car. It also included driving a car.
Alex Lynn, one of the full-season WEC drivers in the Cadillac program who recently teamed up with Simpson to win the European Le Mans Series LMP2 title, helped set up and shakedown Simpson’s car. Despite limited running in the morning, Simpson completed 42 laps of the 3.363-mile, 15-turn circuit with a best time of 1:51.380.
“Honestly, it was a lot of fun. I thought it was a really cool car to drive and it was a new experience for me. It’s a very high-tech car and I learned a lot,” Simpson said. , it was a lot of fun.” It was a great experience. I would like to thank GM and Chip Ganassi Racing for this opportunity.
“It drives more like a GT car (compared to LMP2) and I thought that was really interesting. It has so much power that it gets up to speed quickly. The team was very happy with it. I think Nico (Vallone, who also tested the Cadillac V Series.R) and I were able to notice a few things that drivers who drive this all the time are used to. I think it was a big thing for the players and I hope they can use that information to improve the car for next year.”
Vallone, who drove 44 laps that day, is the 2024 WEC endurance driver for the Corvette GTE program, winning his class and taking the GTE title at the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
WEC testing will be the latest part of a versatile year for Simpson, who joined CGR as a development driver in May 2022. He competed in Indy NXT for the past two seasons and last year had one pole position and two podiums in 13 races for HMD Motorsports. In addition to his success in ELMS, he also won the IMSA Sports Car Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring while co-driving with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. Finally, he won one race in the Asian Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing and finished third in the overall championship.
Other notable players taking part in the WEC Rookie Test include IMSA regulars Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, as well as WEC LMP2 and Indy NXT driver Josh Pearson.
All three drivers drove the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing. Bernicocourt completed 37 laps and set the best time of the trio with a time of 1:50.740. Pearson followed with a time of 1 minute 51.085 seconds after 32 laps, followed by Hawksworth with a time of 1 minute 51.316 seconds after 41 laps.