A test reopens the American option
Sophia Flörsch returned to an Indy NXT car on 16 October at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in Indianapolis. She drove Abel Motorsports’ number 77 entry while exploring a possible return to the championship for 2027. That is the starting point for this analysis: her test appearance is confirmed, and she expressed the intention to build a full campaign. The official report does not announce a full-time race contract for next year.
What Flörsch wanted from Indianapolis
According to the comments published by Indy NXT, her immediate aim was to reacquaint herself with the car and continue discussions about the future. Flörsch described an intention to contest the full 2027 season within a longer-term programme. This outlines the direction she wants the project to take. For readers, the useful distinction is between testing, negotiating and confirming participation: each stage provides new information, but one should not be presented as proof that another has already happened.
Why this differs from her 2025 debut
Her first Indy NXT race was the March 2025 St. Petersburg opener with HMD Motorsports. She qualified 17th and finished 12th. On 27 March, the team announced that their collaboration had ended by mutual agreement for the remainder of the season. That history explains why the present discussion concerns a return and the construction of continuity. The official account does not support adding other reasons for the separation or turning the Abel test into a competitive race result.
Formula E experience enters the picture
Between those points, Flörsch accumulated mileage and time with engineers through Formula E development work. She connected that activity with her maturity as a driver. Opel’s announcement on 24 August includes her in the team’s project as a test and development driver, alongside race drivers Mitch Evans and Théo Pourchaire. These roles need to be read separately: contributing to an electric car’s development does not automatically establish a race seat in that championship or in Indy NXT.
A career spanning single-seaters and endurance racing
The profile published by the championship when she left HMD notes that Flörsch was the first woman to score points in FIA Formula 3. Her experience also includes the LMP2 category of the European Le Mans Series, where she collected two podiums. Those results add depth to a career that cannot be reduced to one American race in 2025. The sporting question around a return is how she can translate that experience into consistent adaptation to Indy NXT machinery and its calendar.
The next landmark is confirmation of participation
The story is worth following through subsequent announcements from the driver, team and championship. The organisation, car number, length of an agreement and rounds covered would clarify the shape of a potential 2027 project. Until such a confirmation, the accurate description remains a possible return being explored through testing and discussions. Indianapolis renewed Flörsch’s contact with the machinery and the American environment; the future competitive programme remains the next stage to be established through an official announcement.
