The second practice session for IndyCar’s season-opening round at St. Petersburg was completed on Saturday morning, with Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson leading the way.
The Swede put his #28 entry into the top spot with a lap of 1:00.5151, just a hair slower than his team-mate Kyle Kirkwood’s best time from the day before.
Behind Ericsson were a few surprises hanging out in the top positions.
Rinus VeeKay, now driving for Dale Coyne Racing, completed the second fastest lap in the #18 entry, just ahead of Alex Palou on the timesheets.
Fourth fastest was Nolan Siegel in the #6 Arrow McLaren entry, followed by a strong showing from Conor Daly in the #76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Entry.
Daly piloting the #76 was a bit of a surprise to the entire paddock, as he had been planning to run the #78.
But it appears a late sponsorship deal has led to JHR changing Daly’s number, even though a formal announcement is still forthcoming.
After laying down respectable times in the first practice session, PREMA slipped down the order a bit on Saturday morning. Its two drivers were only able to manage the 23rd and 27th best times.
Interruptions
There were a couple brief interruptions to the running, with the first being caused by Will Power stopping on course in Turn 1.
The two-time champion suffered some sort of electrical issue that shut off the car, preventing him from returning to the pits on his own.
Team Penske was able to get the #12 entry fixed in short order, however, and Power was able to return to the track without missing too much time.
The second red flag was brought out by a piece of the track coming loose and sitting in the racing line in Turn 11.
Cars were brought in so safety crews could remove the dangerous bit of asphalt, but no other repairs were needed.
After having troubles keeping their cars underneath them on Friday while navigating the bumpy Turn 3, most teams appeared to have made appropriate adjustments to their setups overnight.
The fast corner is still tricky, but did not pose as much of a problem during Saturday morning’s running.
Graham Rahal locked up his front tires while braking hard for Turn 4, causing him to drive into the runoff area in order to spin his car around.
He was not alone in finding the limits of the tires under braking, and multiple others had to complete the same maneuver before the session was done.
Next up for the 27 drivers is qualifying, which almost always ends in tears for at least one driver as they push the limits even further on the city streets of St. Petersburg.
