Callum Ilott will drive for Arrow McLaren in the Indy 500

Training for the Indy 500 begins today at Indianapolis’ classic oval speedway, also known as the ‘Old Brickyard’.

The training sessions will take place over four days, with the last one being called ‘Fast Friday’. IndyCar teams will look for qualifying settings, which include switching the cars’ powerplants to maximum power mode. And the first day of qualifying takes place on Saturday, which then continues on Sunday, and the race itself is scheduled for May 26.

A total of 33 cars will line up in the Indy 500, and the Arrow McLaren team has announced four entrants, the latest of which was 25-year-old Briton Callum Ilott. He will drive the No. 6 Dallara Chevrolet.

By the way, just a few days ago he won the 6 Hours of Spa, the next stage of the WEC, together with Will Stevens, driving the Porsche 963 hypercar of the Jota team.

We recently reported that Arrow McLaren has signed a contract with Theo Pourcher, who will compete for the American team in all remaining stages of the season – with the exception of the Indy 500. Before this, he has no experience of racing on oval circuits, while Ilott has so much experience – notably, this will be his third 500-mile race in Indianapolis. Last year he competed there as a member of the Juncos Hollinger Racing team, starting in 27th place and finishing in 12th place.

“Callum will bring a wealth of experience to the team and we believe his contribution to the Indy 500 will be extremely valuable,” said Gavin Ward, managing director of Arrow McLaren. “The team hit it off well in the first two stages of the season and we look forward to continuing this partnership.” I am confident that Calum and the team working on car No. 6 will fight for high positions both in qualifying and in the race, just like the rest of our cars.”

Callum Ilott: “It is every driver’s dream to compete in the Indy 500, and I would like to thank Zac Brown, Gavin Ward and Tony Kanaan for allowing them to start this race.

I return behind the wheel of a well-known car, and we also know the McLaren team. I feel comfortable here and I know that together we can work well together in May to fight for a high result in the race.”

Callum Ilott drove for Arrow McLaren at the first two rounds of the season in Florida and California, but his main focus in 2024 remains endurance racing. After the victory in Spa, he is in 2nd place together with Stevens in the personal WEC classification.