Saturday morning in downtown Detroit brought the roars of 2.2-liter engines as IndyCar took to the streets for second practice.
Temperatures were cool and the wind had shifted around, giving drivers more to think about than just the bumps on the road.
The story of the morning was tires, as drivers attempted to complete simulated qualifying runs.
It was taking drivers five laps or more to properly heat up their softer tires, not helped by the cooler temperature, leading to long runs that may preview an interesting qualifying session later in the day.
The fastest driver of the day was Kyle Kirkwood, who completed a lap of the short 1.645-mile course in just 61.814 seconds.
His Andretti team-mate Will Power was second quick, followed by Pato O’Ward in his Arrow McLaren Chevy.
The reigning champion was fourth quick, followed by Scott McLaughlin in the first Team Penske entry.
The session started off slowly, with a couple red flags. The first was for debris, but the second just a couple laps later was for Rinus VeeKay, who suffered a more troubling issue.
The Dutchman’s Chevy engine started pouring smoke near Turn 5, and he was forced to pull to the side of the road so his car could be carried back to the garage.
Later in the session, Christian Lundgaard also suffered an engine failure. The incident made for two expiring Chevy engines to start the day on Saturday.
Kirkwood also scraped against the wall and did damage to his suspension at one point, but his crew was able to repair the damage quickly enough for him to get back on track and set the quick time.
Next up for the 25 drivers is qualifying, which takes place at 1:00 PM eastern time.
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