MONTEREY, Calif. — Colton Herta of Andretti Global got a head start on a third NTT IndyCar Series victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as he was the fastest driver during Friday’s 75-minute practice session.
Herta is a two-time winner at the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course with victories as a rookie in 2019 and again in 2022. His father, Bryan, is also a back-to-back winner at Laguna Seca with victories in 1998 and 1999.
The 1998 win was the first for the Herta family.
Now, Laguna Seca has been nicknamed the “House of Herta.”
But the 23-year-old driver from Santa Clarita, Calif., who now lives in Nashville is still curious how his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda will handle on the softer compound Firestone Reds.
“Unfortunately, not,” Herta said. “We only got in out lap there before Will Power brought out the final red. It’s really close. I’m really happy with the way things have gone this weekend.”
With just 3:30 left in the session, Team Penske’s Will Power, the fastest driver in Thursday’s five-hour test session, made contact with his rear in Turn 4, collapsing the back of his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet to bring out yet another red flag.
Herta’s Honda finished on top. He was followed by Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with a fast time of 1:07.5911. His teammate, Alexander Rossi, was third at 1:07.6336 in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda at 1:07.7913 with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood rounding out the top five at 1:07.8502 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda.
Juri Vips, in just his second IndyCar Series race, was sixth at 1:07.9175 in the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda. Teammate Graham Rahal was seventh in the No. 16 RLL Honda.
Thirty minutes into the session, Herta had the fast time at 1:07.5382. He was followed by Rossi, Ericsson, Kirkwood and Vips. But two minutes later, Romain Grosjean was entering the high-speed fourth turn and the rear of his No. 28 DHL Honda, smacking hard into the Turn 4 wall — destroying his car.
The driver from Geneva, Switzerland, was able to climb out of the car as the AMR Safety Crew tended to the damage. When asked how quick it took for the rear end to snap loose from the high-grip pavement, Grosjean explained.
“Very, very quickly,” Grosjean said. “The car swapped ends on me. I’m going to have a look and try to see what happened and have a go and see again.”
Vips came to a stop going up the hill tow the Corkscrew, to bring out a red flag with 29 minutes left.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske was the next to bring out the red flag when the driver from Christchurch, New Zealand, beached the No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet in the gravel pit. Agustin Canapino was another red flagger when he spun out in Turn 6 as he was set up to go up the hill.
Canapino’s Chevrolet was refired, and the track went back to green with six minutes left. Pato O’Ward and Rossi were among a number of drivers that put on the Firestone Reds to see how fast the car would be on the softer compound tires.
But they never got more than an out lap as the session came to an early end after Power’s crash in Turn 4.
IndyCar is back on track for a one-hour practice session from 1-2 p.m. (ET) Saturday. Knockout qualifications for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey is set for 5 p.m. (ET).