Rookie Ed Jones has ended practice seven fastest ahead of Sunday qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, continuing to impress many within the paddock for Dale Coyne Racing.
The session was initially delayed by 30 minutes to allow the track to fully dry out, with wet patches lingering around the 2.5-mile oval.
The seventh practice session was the last chance for the teams and drivers to finalise their preparations for the main qualifying session later in the day, with the session split into two segments.
The first 35 minutes of track action was reserved for drivers who ended Saturday qualifying in positions P10 to P33, with the drivers who managed to qualify for the ‘Fast 9’ partaking in their own 35 minute practice session shortly afterwards.
Drivers from the second segment of qualifying were ultimately unable to trouble the drivers from the first group, with Ryan Hunter-Reay ending proceedings P2 behind pace-setter Jones.
Graham Rahal was P3 for RLL Racing, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya who was the fastest Chevrolet-powered driver for Penske.
Rookie Jack Harvey once again made the most of his track time, completing the most amount of laps and ending proceedings P5.
Meanwhile double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso was the fastest driver from the second segment, finishing P6 for McLaren-Honda-Andretti.
The Spaniard will battle for pole position later in the day during qualifying, after impressively booking his place in the all-important ‘Fast 9’ during Saturday qualifying yesterday.
Josef Newgarden was seventh for Penske, ending the session ahead of team-mate and reigning champion Simon Pagenaud.
IndyCar returnee Oriol Servia and Will Power rounded out the top ten, with many big names failing to trouble the top ten throughout the session.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was P12, ahead of reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi.
Meanwhile Takuma Sato was a lowly P16, after ending Saturday qualifying P2 yesterday with a highly competitive performance for Andretti Autosport.
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