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IndyCar Indy GP: Rossi tops practice, Newgarden bounces back

Alexander Rossi topped the only practice session before IndyCar qualifying for the Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, as Josef Newgarden clocked a strong second.

Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport Honda

Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport Honda

Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images

Andretti Autosport driver Rossi set the best time of 1m10.091s on the 2.439-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to pip Team Penske's Newgarden - whose participation had been in doubt after losing consciousness following a crash at Iowa last weekend - by just 0.020s.

Colton Herta made it two Andretti Autosport runners in the top three, 0.058s behind in third, while Newgarden's team-mate Scott McLaughlin was fourth ahead of lead Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou.

Defending champion Palou, who is at the centre of a legal struggle with his own team after McLaren Racing announced that it had signed the Spaniard for an undisclosed programme in 2023, had gone quickest with around half an hour of the 90-minute session left to run on the hard compound Firestones.

Then Rinus VeeKay, who won on this course in May 2021, overhauled him on the alternate compound to slot his Ed Carpenter Racing entry into top spot.

Rossi and rookie team-mate Devlin DeFrancesco then moved into first and second with their second laps on the softer red tyres, but the pair were soon separated from each other by Rahal Letterman Lanigan drivers Jack Harvey and Rookie of the Year points leader Christian Lundgaard.

Herta then moved up to second before Newgarden, who was cleared to practice on the condition he would be re-evaluated afterwards, claimed second in the #2 Team Penske-Chevrolet in an impressive return to the cockpit after spending Sunday night under observation in hospital.

The third Team Penske driver, second in points Will Power, didn’t find the necessary speed while his reds were at their best and ended up only 18th fastest. He did, however, evoke a “nice save”comment from his strategist Ron Ruzewski after gathering up an alarming, smoky oversteer moment at Turn 8 while on the harder compound rubber.

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Perry Nelson / Motorsport Images

Less successful in terms of honing their handling was Pato O’Ward, who took three adventures into grass and dirt in his Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet to finish up 20th fastest.

Romain Grosjean also appeared to have a very loose car, and languished adrift of his Andretti team-mates down in 21st at the scene of his first IndyCar pole last year.

Qualifying begins at 1pm local time today.

IndyCar Indy GP Practice Results:

Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap Mph
1 United States Alexander Rossi United States Andretti Autosport 31 1'10.0919   125.270
2 United States Josef Newgarden United States Team Penske 27 1'10.1121 0.0202 125.234
3 United States Colton Herta United States Andretti Autosport 25 1'10.1507 0.0588 125.165
4 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin United States Team Penske 32 1'10.2065 0.1146 125.065
5 Spain Alex Palou United States Chip Ganassi Racing 29 1'10.2093 0.1174 125.060
6 United States Graham Rahal United States Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 29 1'10.2948 0.2029 124.908
7 Sweden Felix Rosenqvist United States Arrow McLaren SP 25 1'10.2948 0.2029 124.908
8 Denmark Christian Lundgaard United States Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 29 1'10.3237 0.2318 124.857
9 Brazil Helio Castroneves United States Meyer Shank Racing 25 1'10.3694 0.2775 124.776
10 United States Conor Daly United States Ed Carpenter Racing 29 1'10.4016 0.3097 124.719
11 Sweden Marcus Ericsson United States Chip Ganassi Racing 27 1'10.4739 0.3820 124.591
12 United Kingdom Callum Ilott United States Juncos Hollinger Racing 32 1'10.5234 0.4315 124.503
13 United States David Malukas United States Dale Coyne Racing 30 1'10.5350 0.4431 124.483
14 United Kingdom Jack Harvey United States Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 30 1'10.5927 0.5008 124.381
15 New Zealand Scott Dixon United States Chip Ganassi Racing 31 1'10.5991 0.5072 124.370
16 France Simon Pagenaud United States Meyer Shank Racing 27 1'10.6038 0.5119 124.362
17 Canada Devlin DeFrancesco United States Andretti Autosport 29 1'10.6040 0.5121 124.361
18 Australia Will Power United States Team Penske 34 1'10.6196 0.5277 124.334
19 Netherlands Rinus van Kalmthout United States Ed Carpenter Racing 30 1'10.6478 0.5559 124.284
20 Mexico Patricio O'Ward United States Arrow McLaren SP 26 1'10.7272 0.6353 124.145
21 France Romain Grosjean United States Andretti Autosport 30 1'10.7344 0.6425 124.132
22 United States Kyle Kirkwood United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises 29 1'11.1466 1.0547 123.413
23 Japan Takuma Sato United States Dale Coyne Racing 28 1'11.2690 1.1771 123.201
24 United States Jimmie Johnson United States Chip Ganassi Racing 39 1'11.6786 1.5867 122.497
25 Canada Dalton Kellett United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises 20 1'12.4978 2.4059 121.113

 

 

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