Théo Pourchaire rather satisfied after his first IndyCar qualifying

Present in the second group of Q1, Pourchaire failed to advance to Q2, having to settle for 11th place. But if the raw result is necessarily disappointing, the fact of being only three tenths behind an experienced Pato O'Ward is a success, given Pourchaire's little experience in this car.

“I always learn withIndyCar, I'm getting to know the car, the circuit, I'm also discovering the team. I'm pretty happy with myself. In qualifying in the end I am 22nd, that may seem quite far away, I think we lacked a little performance as a team”, he explained at the end of the session.

Théo Pourchaire must make his debut in conditions which are not ideal at all, since he replaces David Malukas at short notice, still injured. This Long Beach weekend is all the more difficult as the McLaren actually seem less in the game than usual, since neither Pato O'Ward nor Alexander Red failed to advance to Q2, they will start from the seventh row of the grid.

“It will be better [Sunday], I finished three tenths behind Pato, Alex was not far from qualifying too and I was in the same time [Rossi was riding in the first group, editor's note]. I'm satisfied with myself, the team is too. Qualifying was a bit complicated, but it will do for the race. »

Pourchaire is “having fun” and hopes to do great things in IndyCar

Now there remains one part, possibly the most delicate, competing in your first race in the category! With 85 laps on the menu on a track as difficult as Long Beach, Pourchaire will clearly learn in an express way, which he adapts to perfectly.

“I'm going to discover IndyCar racing, 85 laps is very long, but I'm ready. I'm having fun, I'm discovering a great category and I think I can do great things here. I'm going to try to learn as much as I can about race strategy, fuel economy and tire degradation. This is all new to me. I will work hard and we will improve. »