IndyCar GP Indy: Newgarden edges VeeKay, Power in FP2

Double IndyCar champion Newgarden lapped the 2.439-mile road course circuit in 1m09.332s on Firestone’s softer compound tyres to duck underneath the 1m09.878s set by first practice pace-setter Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport).

With higher track temperatures than in the morning session, times on the primary Firestone tires initially didn’t dip beneath 1m10.4s with Newgarden making the early running 20 minutes into the session.

IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson (Chip Ganassi Racing) was, as usual, the first driver to try the red-walled softer compound, their potential underlined when AJ Foyt Racing’s Dalton Kellett sprung to the top with 15 minutes left to run.

The leading runners then put on the soft tyres and Power ducked down to 1m09.499s to go fastest, ahead of Rossi's closest challenger in the morning session Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank Racing) and Colton Herta (Andretti), fresh from staving off rumours he could move to Formula 1 by signing an extension to his contract through to 2023.

The 21-year-old then improved still further, matching Power’s time.

Ed Carpenter Racing driver VeeKay, who took his first pole here at the Harvest GP last autumn, edged them both by 0.097s to go fastest before Newgarden dug deep and trimmed a further 0.069s off the Dutchman's best.

Power tried again, but the 2014 series champion came up 0.14sec short to remain third, despite lightly grazing the wall at the entry of Turn 1.

Will Power

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Herta ended the session fourth and the best of the Andretti runners, half a tenth clear of Penske rookie Scott McLaughlin - who nudged Harvey down to sixth by 0.06s.

Fellow rookie Romain Grosjean’s best effort for Dale Coyne Racing was good enough to edge compatriot Simon Pagenaud in the fourth Penske for seventh spot, while Arrow McLaren SP pair Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top 10.

Their temporary team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya’s return to IndyCar road course action for the first time since Sonoma in 2016 continued to be troubled as the Colombian spun twice - once on both tyre compounds - to finish up last.

Reigning champion Scott Dixon also suffered a poor showing, the Ganassi driver ending the session in 23rd after completing just 11 laps. He suffered an apparent clutch issue when trying to pull away from his pitbox.

Dixon's team-mate Alex Palou got up to speed relatively swiftly on primaries after missing the morning session due to a water leak, but dropped down to 13th after everyone had switched to the softer compound.

IndyCar Grand Prix of Indianapolis - Practice 2

Cla	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	20	1'09.332
2	Rinus van Kalmthout	Ed Carpenter Racing	17	1'09.402	0.069
3	Will Power	Team Penske	21	1'09.474	0.142
4	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	19	1'09.499	0.167
5	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	18	1'09.551	0.219
6	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	17	1'09.619	0.286
7	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing with RWR	21	1'09.621	0.289
8	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	19	1'09.737	0.405
9	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	20	1'09.739	0.407
10	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	17	1'09.774	0.442
11	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	18	1'09.778	0.446
12	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	18	1'09.784	0.452
13	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	22	1'09.845	0.513
14	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan	12	1'09.906	0.574
15	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	19	1'09.921	0.589
16	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	21	1'09.972	0.640
17	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	18	1'09.978	0.646
18	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	20	1'09.987	0.655
19	Dalton Kellett	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	22	1'10.118	0.786
20	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	19	1'10.135	0.803
21	Sébastien Bourdais	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	20	1'10.349	1.017
22	Charlie Kimball	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	17	1'10.683	1.351
23	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	11	1'10.777	1.444
24	Jimmie Johnson	Chip Ganassi Racing	16	1'10.975	1.642
25	Juan Pablo Montoya	Arrow McLaren SP	14	1'11.808	2.475
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