In practice for the upcoming race, 23-year-old Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay soared to the top of the leaderboard, clocking an impressive lap time of 1m06.5463s at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course. VeeKay expressed satisfaction with his car’s performance, noting improvements made overnight that proved beneficial for his speed.
Continuing his strong showing, Romain Grosjean of Juncos Hollinger Racing secured the second position, trailing VeeKay by a narrow margin of 0.0356s. Scott Mclaughlin from Team Penske rounded out the top three, just 0.0636s behind the leader.
Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing claimed the fourth and fifth spots respectively, showcasing competitive performances. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Will Power of Team Penske secured the sixth and seventh positions.
Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar Series champion, settled for eighth place, while Josef Newgarden, under scrutiny after a disqualification, finished ninth. Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing rounded off the top ten, maintaining a solid presence.
The session saw interruptions, including a red flag early on caused by Pietro Fittipaldi’s steering failure. Lundgaard briefly held the fastest time after the resumption but was ultimately outpaced by VeeKay. Another red flag occurred later when Theo Pourchaire spun off course, while Felix Rosenqvist experienced an engine issue, prematurely ending his session.
Despite the setbacks, qualifying is scheduled to proceed later in the day at 3:30 pm ET, promising further excitement and challenges for the drivers. With VeeKay leading the pack in practice, anticipation builds for an electrifying qualifying session and race ahead.
