On a thrilling Saturday morning, the NTT IndyCar Series drivers flexed their racing muscles around the sleek contours of The Thermal Club course, marking the completion of the weekend’s second practice session. The undisputed star of the morning was Christian Lundgaard, who demonstrated exceptional speed in his Arrow McLaren Chevy, clocking an impressive lap of 1:40.6421.
The Danish speedster not only outpaced the competition but left them trailing by a significant margin – a formidable 0.483-second gap separated him from the runner-up, Alex Palou. Lundgaard’s advantage, however, could be attributed in part to his singular strategy of using the softer tire compound, which no other driver opted to do.
Marcus Ericsson, who had previously flexed his speed prowess on Friday, continued his dynamic performance by securing the third fastest time. He was closely trailed by Marcus Armstrong, and Pato O’Ward, who completed the day’s top five fastest times.
The day’s performance, however, painted a mixed picture for many teams. While Will Power secured the sixth fastest time, his Team Penske teammates lagged behind at 10th and 16th. Similarly, Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren’s drivers were scattered throughout the field, indicating a need for further setup work for most drivers.
The issue of grip remained a persistent challenge for the drivers. The Firestone tires exhibited a tendency to slide around the course and wore out rapidly, limiting the drivers to just a couple of laps per set. As a result, most laps were completed on the harder compound tire, with teams keen to reserve the softer compound for the qualifying runs later in the day.
The session’s most eventful moment came courtesy of Scott McLaughlin, who inadvertently took a piece of pit equipment – a cooling fan – onto the track attached to his #3 Team Penske Chevy’s right rear wheel. The fan eventually dislodged and was flung off the course, earning the team a monetary fine, though no further damage was incurred.
Despite this minor incident, the practice session continued smoothly overall, with the only other notable events being a few drivers overstepping their limits and taking brief detours through the gravel. However, all drivers managed to maintain control over their vehicles.
Unfortunately, Robert Shwartzman’s weekend woes persisted. After his #83 car caught fire on Friday during his first out-lap of the weekend, his troubles continued into Saturday. Despite the PREMA crew working until the early hours of the morning to assemble a new car, it wasn’t ready in time for the start of the session. Shwartzman was only able to take to the track in the closing minutes to complete a single system check lap, leaving him disadvantaged for the rest of the weekend.
The next major event will see the drivers return to the track for qualifying, scheduled for 2:00 PM local time, 5:00 PM eastern time. With the drama from the practice sessions still fresh, the qualifying races promise to be an exciting spectacle.