The second IndyCar practice session took place on Saturday morning from Laguna Seca, and drivers faced a very different track than the day before.
Clouds rolled into the California hillside, and brought considerably cooler conditions with them. And it was the defending series champion Alex Palou who was best able to master the track.
The Spaniard completed his best lap in 1:11.3847, over three-tenths of a second faster than Alexander Rossi in second.
The current points leader Will Power finished third, placing above his result from the opening session the day before.
The other two main contenders for the title Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon finished the session fourth and seventh respectively. With all three drivers making their way to the front, it seems likely that a close race will be on the cards for Sunday’s season finale.
At the midpoint of the session, Callum Ilott was at the top of the timing screen after putting in a couple impressive laps.
Once the rest of the field put on the softer red tires and ran a couple qualifying simulations, however, the rookie dropped down to ninth.
He was not the fastest rookie of the session, however, and Christian Lundgaard once again showed he is very comfortable behind the wheel of an IndyCar and put in the seventh-fastest time.
There were a couple stoppages during the session, with Graham Rahal bringing out the first red flag. The veteran misjudged the corkscrew, and ended up sliding backwards down the steep drop.
A bit later, Pato O’Ward lost control while navigating the high-speed turn 10, and took a trip through the gravel. His Arrow McLaren SP Chevy touched the tire wall, but didn’t appear to do too much damage.
The sun is forecast to break through the clouds a little bit by time qualifying rolls around at 2:00 PM local time, but the track should stay considerably cooler than it was on Friday.
