Just a few short days after the conclusion of a thrilling Indianapolis 500, IndyCar was back on track Friday with a completely different challenge.
Instead of low downforce and a sweeping oval, drivers fitted full downforce and a soft shock packages to tackle the short course in downtown Detroit.
Alex Palou was quickest overall in his special HRC livery, adapting to the different challenge quickly and completing a lap in 62.7722 seconds.
Kyle Kirkwood was the second quickest, with his Andretti Global team-mate Will Power slotting into third.
Fourth quick was Marcus Armstrong, and Pato O’Ward was fifth quick after topping the timesheets early in the session.
Two injured drivers turned laps after limping to their machines, with Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden setting the 13th and 21st best laps respectively.
Both reiterated that they will not be impeded while in the car, despite walking casts on both while out of the car.
The track changed quite heavily through the session, with rubber building into the circuit as all 25 drivers lapped the short course.
Surprisingly, the softer red tires were not immediately quicker for everyone, and the harder compound seemed to work better for much of the field.
That may change as teams look over the data from today and make adjustments.
Small incidents
There was a short stoppage early in practice when Marcus Ericsson’s #28 Honda began leaking fluid on track.
The yellow liquid, potentially oil, forced a red flag while the safety crew inspected the track to make sure it was not too dangerous.
The all clear was given a few minutes later, and Ericsson’s team was able to get the leaking part fixed nearly as quickly.
A couple other stoppages later on were caused by Romain Grosjean and Sting Ray Robb, who both spun and were stuck in the racing line.
Robb suffered a clutch issue at the start of the session as well, and was not able to see what his car could do in the opening minutes.
His Juncos Hollinger Racing crew got the problem solved on pit lane, however, and he was able to complete 10 laps before the session was complete.
There were no damaging issues, however, and nobody crashed into the concrete barriers that line the track.
One more practice is scheduled for Saturday, followed by a knockout qualifying session in the afternoon.
Discussion about this post