After strong Indy 500 test, Foster targets Barber points

After a strong test ahead of his first Indianapolis 500, Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Louis Foster heads to more familiar ground at Barber in Alabama this weekend.

Foster, 21, is contesting his first NTT IndyCar Series season this year, but is familiar with Barber Motorsports Park through his junior career and has even tested an IndyCar at the venue, which is much more similar to the European road courses Foster grew up on than many other tracks in the USA.

Last year at Barber was the home of one of Foster’s best drives on his way to the Indy NXT by Firestone championship, IndyCar’s feeder series, when he overcame a mechanical issue which resulted in him not being able to qualify and start the race from last from which he fought back through the field to finish fifth.

“Barber is well known ground for us, so I’m really looking forward to going there and going to a track we’ve tested at so I’m not learning everything on the go,” says Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.

“We’ve got plenty of laps at this track, so I’m looking forward to hopefully starting from a better position on Friday and carrying that through the weekend.

"We're working well as a team and we have high hopes for the weekend."

Foster is currently 24th in the championship but has faced his fair share of adversity already. The standout moment of the season so far was at the Thermal Club where he qualified 10th, the best result by a rookie this season.

In Long Beach last time out he took a best result so far of 16th, and in the gap since then, took part in the final test before the Indy 500, a two-day event known as the open test.

He set the third best qualifying simulation there and already has one eye on the event.

“There were certainly positives to take for the whole RLL team at the Indy 500 open test,” added Foster, who is originally from Odiham in Hampshire.

“There are two races still to go before the Indy 500, but everyone knows that race dominates May and May starts this week. So with that fact and the open test happening last week it’s impossible not to have one eye on the 500, especially as a rookie going there for the first time.

“That being said, we’re not going to get complacent dreaming of the big race as the next two events are obviously really important too, especially for getting championship points on the board.

“The team has been working hard, we know how hard May can be on all the team members, so I really want to thank them for the tough work done already and the long hours still to come.”

You can watch Louis race live on Sunday in the UK on Sky Sports Mix and in the USA on FOX.

Barber road course schedule, all times Eastern:

Friday May 2

Practice 1 - 1530 (2030 UK) on FS2 in USA and Sky Sports Mix in UK

Saturday May 3

Practice 2 - 1130 (1630 UK) on FS1 in USA

Qualifications - 1430 (1930 UK) on FS1 in USA and Sky Sports Mix in UK

Sunday May 4

Warm-up - 1000 (1500 UK) on FS1 in USA

Race - 1330 (1830 UK) on FOX in USA and Sky Sports Mix in UK