Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets for Saturday morning practice from the streets of Long Beach, lapping the 1.97-mile course in 1 minute 5.652 seconds.
This is the second time this season Grosjean has ended a practice session on top, with a top 5 finish in St. Petersburg the result of that weekend.
Times were a bit quicker than Friday’s running, mostly on account of the changed weather. Air temperatures were 30 °F cooler and conditions were a bit less slick as a result.
Whether because of the temperature or extra rubber on the track from the multiple support series, grip levels are high and it is expected that the qualifying record will be broken later this afternoon.
As has been the norm at the Southern California track, Andretti Autosport was on form. Three of the top four cars were from the Andretti stable, with Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi being split by Team Penske’s Will Power.
The talk of the paddock on Saturday morning was Jimmie Johnson, who fractured his hand in yesterday’s practice session when the forgot to take his hands off the wheel before hitting the tire barrier.
He was given the all clear this morning, but unfortunately Johnson crashed for a second time over halfway through the session.
He misjudged his braking zone and ran into the tires at the end of the front straight, and took his hands off the wheel after appearing to have learned his lesson from the day before.
David Malukas and Graham Rahal each ran into the tire barriers near the fountain turn, bringing out a couple short red flags as time wound down.
Traffic was an issue throughout the 45-minute session, with multiple instances of drivers having to back up around the blind turn 10 ahead of the tight final hairpin.
Drivers will get about two hours of rest and, in the case of Jimmie Johnson, recovery before the knockout qualifying session gets underway at noon local time.
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