ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. — Two-time and reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou has a special relationship with the beautiful and picturesque 4.014-mile, 14-turn Road America road course.
He drove to victories here in 2021 and 2023. Both years, he won the championship.
On Friday, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was the fastest driver in the 75-minute practice session with a quick time of 1 minute, 43.1709 seconds for a speed of 140.063 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“It’s a really great start so far,” Palou said. “It doesn’t mean anything; it just means that the car is really good, easy to drive. It’s great to be back here. A proper track for IndyCar. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Colton Herta was second at 1:43.2506 (139.955 mph) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian, followed by Santino Ferrucci at 1:43.3618 (139.804 mph) in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.
“If you look at our results, too, we have four top 10s in six races, on all tracks now, so street, road and oval,” Ferrucci said. “It’s been a much easier I want to say way of rolling off of the hauler. So, we unroll pretty quick.
“Last year we were actually competitive here, which was nice. We were able to take some of that and mix it in with our Penske alliance. Obviously, we get some dampers from them. So, putting everything together, we have a pretty good car.
“I actually feel very comfortable because it’s a car I’ve been on before. I’m not trying to learn something new for the first time this weekend as far as setup goes.
“It’s a very similar car off of Barber, as well. We’re starting to find the sweet spot for me because I don’t drive quite like the other three drivers or like my teammate. It’s been a bit of a learning curve.
“It’s nice to be quick off the trailer.”
Two-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden rebounded from a 26th-place finish last Sunday at Detroit to end up fourth in this 75-minute session at 1:43.3812 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top five at 1:43.3984 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Championship leader Scott Dixon, winner last Sunday at Detroit, was sixth at 1:43.5340 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Luca Ghiotto was the quickest of the six rookies in the 27-driver field, 17th at 1:44.1009 in the No. 51 GAV Air Technology Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. INDY NXT by Firestone championship contender Nolan Siegel, named earlier today to substitute for Agustin Canapino at this race, was 26th at 1:45.1027 in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.
Less than a second separated the top 17 drivers in the field on the fast, flowing, picturesque circuit, the longest on the NTT IndyCar Series calendar.
Many drivers found the grass and gravel outside of turn 14, a right-hander leading to the long hill up the front straightaway. Romain Grosjean made contact with the tire barrier adjacent to that turn in his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, triggering a red flag 19 minutes into the session.
He was unhurt.
“It was my first time here at Road America,” said Pietro Fittipaldi of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “There’s a lot of tracks this year which I don’t know, like the majority of the tracks. I only know four of the 16 tracks we’re racing on.
“Every time in the first practice it’s always like doing as many laps as possible on the first set of tires. Because I’m not deemed a rookie, we have one set less, right? We’re always a little bit on the back foot in terms of that using a tire to try to learn the track. We did that today.
“Every time I’m getting in the IndyCar, I’m just adapting to the new tracks quicker and quicker. I think just understanding where to extract lap time with the car, which initially with the inexperience, it’s a little bit difficult. Once you start understanding it, you start getting it. To learn new tracks, the process is faster.
“The team gave me a good car today in practice. Yeah, we’re pretty competitive from the get-go. Amazing circuit. Probably the best track I’ve raced in the U.S. or driven in the U.S. There’s still many I haven’t learned yet. But this one is by far number one at the moment.”
