IndyCar rookie Josef Newgarden plays down effect of delay in getting engine supply

Despite having Newgarden signed and the chassis in the workshop since December, the team was only able to get its hands on an engine from Honda just before the recent Sebring test. Newgarden was able to complete four days of running, and said that it was enough to provide some direction for the first race.

"It gave us some data to look at, gave us some talking points," he said. "We really have some information to grab hold of now before we go to St Pete."

The 21-year-old admitted that getting the engine so late was an inconvenience, but said that the team minimised the impact by having everything else fully prepared ahead of time.

"The only scramble was getting the engine in the car and trying to work through all of the difficulties with that. We were good to go on the car side. We had been working on that for a couple of months before the engine showed up. We had been ready to go for quite some time.

"The only thing we were lacking was the engine, and even when you do get the engine there is a lot that you have to go through from the electronic and ECU side just to figure out, and all the wiring in the cars. That's really what took some time for us once we did receive it. Working a couple of extra nights to get this thing ready for the official Sebring test wasn't too big of an issue for us."