MONTEREY, Calif. — Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was the fastest driver in Saturday morning’s practice session at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca.
The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet lapped the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course in 1:10.3014 for a speed of 114.604 miles per hour.
The session was delayed for over one hour because of a spectacular crash at the top of the Corkscrew portion of the racecourse during a Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West race. The car driven by Manuel Gil Deal Real appeared to have brake failure and flew over the wall and through the fence, sailing over the top of trees before crashing onto the ground.
The driver is awake following the incident and was transported to a Salinas, California hospital, where he is being evaluated and treated, according to a statement from Porsche Motorsport North America.
The tire barrier and fencing in the Corkscrew had to be repaired before IndyCar practice could begin.
Finally, at 11:10 a.m. Pacific Time, IndyCar began a shortened practice session featuring all cars instead of concluding with a full practice followed by two split group sessions. The session was scheduled for 25 minutes.
With 20 minutes remaining, Rinus VeeKay was the fastest in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet at 1:11.010 followed by five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Alexi Palou’s No. 10 DHL Honda at 1:11.015 and Pato O’Ward No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 1:11.070.
As the session entered the final 10 minutes, Alexander Rossi was the fastest at 1:10.658 in the No. 20 ECR Chevrolet followed by Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel’s No. 6 Chevrolet at 1:10.688. VeeKay was third at 1:10.763.
With 7:50 remaining, David Malukas had the fastest lap at 1:10.575 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Palou went to the top with five minutes left with a lap at 1:10.557 and Will Power moved into third at 1:10.578 in the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda.
McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet went to the top of the timing screen with a lap at 1:10.301 with 1:30 left in the session. That put all three Team Penske drivers into the top 10.
When the session concluded, it was McLaughlin on top at 1:10.301 in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Felix Rosenqvist followed in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda at 1:10.5413 followed by Palou at 1:10.557 in the No. 10 Honda, Malukas at 1:10.575 in the No. 12 Chevrolet, Power at 1:10.578 in the No. 26 Honda and Mick Schumacher’s No. 47 Honda from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at 1:10.589.
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, who is just two points behind second in the standing Christian Lundgaard, was seventh at 1:10.6108 and Lundgaard was ninth at 1:10.6867.
