Saturday’s IndyCar practice from the streets of Detroit got underway early in the day, with cool temperatures and a brisk wind greeting the field of 27 drivers.
Colton Herta was the fastest driver after 45 minutes were complete, using a long run to build heat into his Firestone tires.
He completed a lap of the temporary course in 1:10.7823, which was just a hair slower than his Andretti team-mate Kyle Kirkwood was when he topped the timesheets on Friday.
Scott McLaughlin was the second fastest on Saturday, followed by Kirkwood just behind.
Setting the fourth best time was Callum Ilott, showing that his PREMA team has found a setup that is at least close to what is needed on the bumpy streets.
Continuing his aggressive streak from the day before, Will Power was seen hassling other drivers throughout the day.
He did not end up with any penalties from the day before despite admitting to pushing Kirkwood deliberately. His actions were firmly within the rules on Saturday, though still aggressive.
Power ended the day in 18th, considerably further down the order than he would have liked.
The two Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers were at the very back of the order, leaving Sting Ray Robb and Conor Daly hoping something can be found in the garage area in the short time before qualifying.
Over the limit
Pato O’Ward suffered the biggest incident of the session, though it was relatively minor.
The Mexican driver overshot the braking zone for the hairpin but decided to try to make the corner anyway.
His #5 Arrow McLaren Chevy slid wide into the tire barriers and crunched his front wing in the process.
O’Ward was able to reverse on his own and returned to pit lane, with no break in the action needed.
Josef Newgarden drifted wide at one point and clipped the concrete barriers, which did a little bit of damage to his left rear and ended his session a few minutes early.
As with the previous session, and most street course sessions, there were quite a few instances of drivers running long in the braking zones.
In all cases, drivers were able to get going again on their own, owing in part to the hybrid system that allows drivers to restart their own cars if needed.
Qualifying is only a couple hours away, with a knockout session scheduled for 12:20 PM eastern.
Discussion about this post