The NTT IndyCar Series began the Indianapolis GP weekend with a chilly practice session on Friday morning.
The air was cool, but the summer sun was strong and warmed the track enough for drivers to get representative data for the rest of the weekend.
Continuing his masterful form, Alex Palou was the quickest straight out of the gates.
He piloted his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a lap of 1:12.8424 around the 2.44-mile course, just ahead of his team-mate Kyffin Simpson.
Simpson was impressively quick, as was rookie Louis Foster. The young RLL driver put in a strong lap after pushing too hard and locking up into Turn 7.
Santino Ferrucci and Nolan Siegel rounded out the top five. The fastest Team Penske driver was Will Power in 11th.
All drivers were able to complete a good number of laps to get a feel for their machines. All except Rinus VeeKay that is.
The 2021 winner of the IMS Grand Prix got off to a late start because his Dale Coyne Racing team decided to conduct a late setup change on pit road.
Once he did get on track, he didn’t even complete one lap before he lost power and stopped on course. The safety crew towed him back to the pits so the team could diagnose the issue.
VeeKay was able to get out for a few laps later in the session, and spun through the grass as he found the limits of his machine.
There was a second interruption later in the session for Marcus Armstrong, as he stopped in the pit entrance after reporting low voltage in his #66 Meyer Shank Racing entry.
Robert Shwartzman had to call his day off after only four laps due to mechanical issues, further hurting his goal to learn through consistent seat time.
Next up is another practice session which gets underway at 1:10 PM eastern time, followed by qualifying at 4:30 PM.
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