WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing found more speed in Saturday’s afternoon practice session for the Freedom 25 Grand Prix.
His fast time came after the field was split into two groups at the end of practice. Palou lowered the times even further with a fast speed of 56.614 around the 1.7-mile, seven-turn street course.
That speed held up in Group 1 as the fastest and was the fastest overall speed of Practice 2.
“That was on the soft tires and that is all we had,” Palou said. “The track is so incredible. It’s very bumpy, but super fun. The Open AI car has been very fast all day. Two-hundred-and-fifty miles is going to be very long, but it’s going to be fun.”
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing followed at 56.818 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Nolan Siegel of Arrow McLaren was third at 56.839 in the No. 6 Chevrolet, teammate Christian Lundgaard was fourth at 56.875, and Alexander Rossi was third at 56.936 in the No. 20 ECR Chevrolet.
“It is interesting, but the bumps add some character to the track and make it a lot of fun to drive,” Siegel said. “It’s really good. I’m really enjoying myself here in D.C.”
Group 2 closed out the practice session, and it included Will Power skidding into the Turn 1 runoff. He returned to the track as it stayed green.
With 5 minutes remaining, Kyle Kirkwood was the fastest at 56.761 in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda followed by Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 56.873 and Scott McLaughlin’s 56.994 in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, Marcus Ericsson’s 57.095 in the No. 28 Honda and Mick Schumacher’s No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda at 57.397.
Power went into the runoff in Turn 1 three times in the session at the checkered flag, but once again did not damage the car. But he did knock Schumacher out of the top five as Power took over fifth.
In the all-cars portion that started practice, McLaughlin saved his best speed for his last lap. The driver from Christchurch, New Zealand, who recently became a United States Citizen, turned a lap in the No. 3 Chevrolet at 56.894 around the 1.7-mile, seven-turn street course at the National Mall.
He was followed by Palou in the No. 10 Open AI Honda at 67.105. Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 ECR Chevrolet was third at 57.117 followed by Christian Lundgaard’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 57.324 and Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda at 57.365.
When the all-cars session began at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, the ambient temperature was 73 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 79 percent. The skies were cloudy and the track temperature was 90.14 degrees F according to Firestone engineers.
Graham Rahal brought out the first Red Flag of the weekend when he ran off course in Turn 6. It was a similar incident to Christian Lundgaard’s crash in the first practice as both cars nipped the outside wall with the rear wheel before driving off course.
“I went in there that lap same as any other and the rear lock up on the spot and that is super frustrating,” Rahal said. “There is nothing to do. I would have liked to have gotten some more laps out there, but we are struggling for sure. Trying to figure out brake issues and where we can go from there.”
At 1:21 p.m., green flag racing resumed with 24 minutes remaining in the session.
With 9 minutes left, Palou was the fastest in the No. 10 Honda at 57.105 followed by Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 ECR Chevrolet at 57.117, Christian Lundgaard’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 57.324, Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda at 57.365 and Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Honda at 57.389.
At 1:37 p.m., the Red Flag was displayed when Louie Foster’s No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda hit some bumps, lost control and hit the wall near Turn 6. Foster’s car had nose and front wing damage.
Four minutes later, it was back to green with less than 4 minutes remaining and Palou still on top. That was before McLaughlin knocked him down to No. 2 just before the checkered flag.
Group practice followed and by the time that concluded, the combined speeds had Palou on top at 56.614 followed by Kirkwood’s 56.691, Dixon’s 56.818, Siegel’s 56.839 and O’Ward’s 56.873.
IndyCar returns to the race track at 5 p.m. ET for the start of knockout qualifications, culminating with the Firestone Fast Six, which will be single car runs in a showdown for the NTT P1 Award.
