Alexander Rossi has ended final practice for the Honda Indy 200 fastest at Mid-Ohio, after an interrupted session which was plagued by two red flag delays.
After mixed weather conditions for the opening two practice sessions on Friday the drivers were greeted with sunshine ahead of their final chance to prepare for qualifying later in the day, with the drivers wasting no time and immediately taking to the track at the start of the session.
Takuma Sato was second fastest for Andretti Autosport, as Honda locked-out the top four positions after a very competitive session.
The reigning Indianapolis 500 winner was followed by Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, with the Brazilian veteran in particular improving drastically after a very uncompetitive start to the weekend.
Josef Newgarden was the fastest Chevrolet-powered driver in P4 for Penske, ahead of team-mate and reigning champion Simon Pagenaud.
After a relatively productive start to the weekend Penske seemed to struggle during the final 45 minutes of practice, with Will Power bringing out the first red flag delay after running out of fuel during the early stages of the session.
The 2014 champion managed to return to the pits with assistance from the Holmatro Safety Team, however he was unable to trouble the top of the order after rejoining the action and could only manage P19 overall.
Ryan Hunter-Reay remained competitive after topping the second practice session earlier in the weekend, with the 2012 champion ending the session seventh for Andretti Autosport.
James Hinchcliffe was P8 ahead of Graham Rahal, with Helio Castroneves rounding out the top ten for Penske.
The IndyCar veteran initially ran as high as P1 throughout the session, but several late improvements from Honda-powered drivers demoted him down the order.
The second red flag delay arrived only minutes before the end of the session, as Mikhail Aleshin lost control of his car at Turn 11 and slammed into the retaining tyre barrier, lightly damaging the rear of his car.
This caused the session to come to a conclusion under red flag conditions, cementing Rossi’s place at the top of the order.
Further down the order A.J. Foyt Racing’s miserable weekend continued, with Conor Daly and Carlos Munoz P18 and P21 respectively, with J.R. Hildebrand also enduring a far from perfect session in P20 for Ed Carpenter Racing.
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