1
IndyCar makes its debut at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, which is most well known for hosting the US Grand Prix.
However with the Formula 1 race months away, IndyCar makes use of the tarmac, with the second round of the NTT IndyCar Series travelling to Austin, Texas to the circuit that was opened in 2012.
The first two practice sessions were held on Friday as drivers prepare for qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Free practice one
Running during the first session was limited, with a blown engine for Colton Herta costing the drivers 15 minutes of track time. Despite the problems from the young American, he ended the session in second place, behind championship leader Josef Newgarden.
There was a scurry for improvements after Herta's drama had been cleared up. However, very few of the drivers managed to set a faster lap time.
Alexander Rossi was third for Andretti, while his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was a long way off in fourth. Graham Rahal was sixth, while the almost winner of the St. Petersburg race Felix Rosenqvist was sixth for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Patricio O'Ward made his first appearance of the season for Carlin, but ended the session further down the order.
Free practice one results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
undefined 1. |
undefined Josef Newgarden |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1:48.6567 |
undefined - |
undefined 2. |
undefined Colton Herta |
undefined Harding Racing |
undefined 1:48.7939 |
undefined 0.1372 |
undefined 3. |
undefined Alexander Rossi |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1:49.0456 |
undefined 0.3889 |
undefined 4. |
undefined Ryan Hunter-Reay |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1:49.5011 |
undefined 0.8444 |
undefined 5. |
undefined Graham Rahal |
undefined Rahal Letterman LaniganRacing |
undefined 1:49.5076 |
undefined 0.8509 |
undefined 6. |
undefined Felix Rosenqvist |
undefined Chip Ganassi Racing |
undefined 1:49.6846 |
undefined 1.0279 |
undefined 7. |
undefined Simon Pagenaud |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1:49.7204 |
undefined 1.0637 |
undefined 8. |
undefined Will Power |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1:49.7380 |
undefined 1.0813 |
undefined 9. |
undefined Scott Dixon |
undefined Chip Ganassi Racing |
undefined 1:49.8542 |
undefined 1.1975 |
undefined 10. |
undefined Max Chilton |
undefined Carlin |
undefined 1:50.0187 |
undefined 1.3620 |
undefined 11. |
undefined Marcus Ericsson |
undefined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
undefined 1:50.0667 |
undefined 1.4100 |
undefined 12. |
undefined James Hinchcliffe |
undefined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
undefined 1:50.2005 |
undefined 1.5438 |
undefined 13. |
undefined Matheus Leist |
undefined A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
undefined 1:50.2346 |
undefined 1.5779 |
undefined 14. |
undefined Spencer Pigot |
undefined Ed Carpenter Racing |
undefined 1:50.3046 |
undefined 1.6479 |
undefined 15. |
undefined Santino Ferrucci |
undefined Dale Coyne Racing |
undefined 1:50.3986 |
undefined 1.7419 |
undefined 16. |
undefined Patricio O'Ward |
undefined Carlin |
undefined 1:50.4896 |
undefined 1.8329 |
undefined 17. |
undefined Marco Andretti |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1:50.5477 |
undefined 1.8910 |
undefined 18. |
undefined Zach Veach |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1:50.9096 |
undefined 2.2529 |
undefined 19. |
undefined Takuma Sato |
undefined Rahal Letterman LaniganRacing |
undefined 1:51.0908 |
undefined 2.4341 |
undefined 20. |
undefined Sébastien Bourdais |
undefined Dale Coyne Racing |
undefined 1:51.3202 |
undefined 2.6635 |
undefined 21. |
undefined Jack Harvey |
undefined Meyer Shank Racing |
undefined 1:51.5130 |
undefined 2.8563 |
undefined 22. |
undefined Tony Kanaan |
undefined A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
undefined 1:51.7326 |
undefined 3.0759 |
undefined 23. |
undefined Kyle Kaiser |
undefined Juncos Racing |
undefined 1:51.7955 |
undefined 3.1388 |
undefined 24. |
undefined Ed Jones |
undefined Ed Carpenter Racing |
undefined 1:52.6301 |
undefined 3.9734 |
Free practice two
There were no major dramas in the second session, with Team Penske continuing to lead the timesheets. However, this time around it was Will Power out on top, marginally ahead of rookie Felix Rosenqvist and Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi.
Once again, Hunter-Reay followed Rossi in fourth place, but ended the session ahead of Ed Jones who is running despite breaking a bone in his finger at St. Petersburg two weeks ago.
Zach Veach made it three out of the four Andretti's inside the top ten, as he headed Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud. Pagenaud's teammate Josef Newgarden was two places further down the order, with Takuma Sato lodged in between. Sebastian Bourdais rounded out the top ten.
After his engine blew up this morning, Colton Herta was late joining the session for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in an additional session that acts as the warm-up and hot pitstop practice.
Free practice two results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
undefined 1. |
undefined Will Power |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1'47.4401 |
undefined - |
undefined 2. |
undefined Felix Rosenqvist |
undefined Chip Ganassi Racing |
undefined 1'47.6150 |
undefined 0.1749 |
undefined 3. |
undefined Alexander Rossi |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1'47.9311 |
undefined 0.4910 |
undefined 4. |
undefined Ryan Hunter-Reay |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1'48.1209 |
undefined 0.6808 |
undefined 5. |
undefined Ed Jones |
undefined Ed Carpenter Racing |
undefined 1'48.1597 |
undefined 0.7196 |
undefined 6. |
undefined Zach Veach |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1'48.1988 |
undefined 0.7587 |
undefined 7. |
undefined Simon Pagenaud |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1'48.2728 |
undefined 0.8327 |
undefined 8. |
undefined Takuma Sato |
undefined Rahal Letterman LaniganRacing |
undefined 1'48.3484 |
undefined 0.9083 |
undefined 9. |
undefined Josef Newgarden |
undefined Team Penske |
undefined 1'48.4497 |
undefined 1.0096 |
undefined 10. |
undefined Sébastien Bourdais |
undefined Dale Coyne Racing |
undefined 1'48.4585 |
undefined 1.0184 |
undefined 11. |
undefined Patricio O'Ward |
undefined Carlin |
undefined 1'48.5212 |
undefined 1.0811 |
undefined 12. |
undefined James Hinchcliffe |
undefined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
undefined 1'48.5311 |
undefined 1.0910 |
undefined 13. |
undefined Graham Rahal |
undefined Rahal Letterman LaniganRacing |
undefined 1'48.5328 |
undefined 1.0927 |
undefined 14. |
undefined Jack Harvey |
undefined Meyer Shank Racing |
undefined 1'48.5541 |
undefined 1.1140 |
undefined 15. |
undefined Max Chilton |
undefined Carlin |
undefined 1'48.5643 |
undefined 1.1242 |
undefined 16. |
undefined Scott Dixon |
undefined Chip Ganassi Racing |
undefined 1'48.5735 |
undefined 1.1334 |
undefined 17. |
undefined Marcus Ericsson |
undefined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
undefined 1'48.9461 |
undefined 1.5060 |
undefined 18 |
undefined Matheus Leist |
undefined A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
undefined 1'49.0534 |
undefined 1.6133 |
undefined 19. |
undefined Marco Andretti |
undefined Andretti Autosport |
undefined 1'49.1639 |
undefined 1.7238 |
undefined 20. |
undefined Spencer Pigot |
undefined Ed Carpenter Racing |
undefined 1'49.2359 |
undefined 1.7958 |
undefined 21. |
undefined Santino Ferrucci |
undefined Dale Coyne Racing |
undefined 1'49.2512 |
undefined 1.8111 |
undefined 22. |
undefined Kyle Kaiser |
undefined Juncos Racing |
undefined 1'50.5787 |
undefined 3.1386 |
undefined 23. |
undefined Tony Kanaan |
undefined A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
undefined 1'51.6903 |
undefined 4.2502 |
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
Replies (1)
Login to replyRam Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Hey Fergal, any chance of getting some highlights of FE weekends as well? I don't know about others but I like the FE racing scene as much, if not more than then IndyCar. Unfortunately the races aren't always available to watch on race weekends, so it would be nice to see some news. Some good racing going on there from the races I've seen so far this season.