Free practice on Friday in Nashville hinted at a relatively favorable weekend for the Team Penskebut Saturday’s session has confirmed that the fearsome formation is aiming all its bullets towards the possible pole position of the Music City Grand Prix. Having already adapted almost fully to the demands of an IndyCar, Scott McLaughlin He is looking for his third win of 2022, and he has confirmed it by leading the last free practice sessions before qualifying.
Lowering the reference time of Free Practice 1 by half a second, the New Zealand driver recorded a time of 1:15,465, which was three tenths lower than any other competitor. In fact, only four other drivers managed to get below 1:16, and the closest were his two teammates. As happened the day before when he finished fifth, the local Josef Newgarden returned to escort McLaughlin in positions with his second place, in turn taking a tenth from a Will Power who defends the lead this weekend.
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The ‘best of the rest’ position went to Alexander Rossithe winner of last week’s Indy GP circuit, and this time he managed to beat a Colton Hertha that could only be eighth. In fact, the poleman and great dominator of the 2021 event (until his accident) also ended up being surpassed by a Romain Grosjean who improved his 10th place on Friday, being another of the nine riders who repeated his presence in the top 10. Who had not been involved in these events the day before was Kyle Kirkwoodwho went from a decent 17th place to sign an excellent lap in Foyt’s car that saw him finish fifthtaking advantage of the somewhat more decorous performance of its training in urban layouts.
Again, the start of the weekend has not been very encouraging for Ganassi in terms of performance. Álex Palou has been the least discreet note of the team by finishing ninth on Friday and twelfth in free practice this Saturday, surpassed by teammate Scott Dixon. Today he found half a second on the soft tires (that this weekend they have a green band due to a new sustainable compound used by Firestone) for a time of 1m16.304s, eight tenths off McLaughlin’s and half a second off P2.
In addition to Kirkwood, the rookies have returned to being protagonists with Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas. The Danish driver, who achieved his first podium last week by finishing second in Indianapolis, surprised everyone yesterday by leading Friday’s free practice, and Coyne’s competitor was not far behind with his third position. Today, both have revalidated their rhythm with very similar laps to complete the top 10and ran to those same top-five records before declining to pursue a final upgrade.
After finishing second on Friday, Felix Rosenqvist He promised them very happy with his speed today, but the Swede from McLaren SP finished his program spectacularly and early when he hit the wall at the exit of turn 4, before facing the bridge. He was able to return to the pits without causing a red flag, unlike the three he had yesterday by staying, but his final position ended up being sixth. Even with everything, he showed himself much finer than a Duck O’Ward who has finished his two free practice sessions in 14th and 13th position. In turn, the newly renovated Rinus VeeKay was the spitting image of Carpenter’s pain with setupscausing a red flag in Free Practice 1 and hitting the wall today in the seconds.
In the same way, it was not a very profitable session for the current winner Marcus Ericsonwhich is looking to recover the leadership lost in Indianapolis, but today could only finish in 19th position after hovering around the top 10 yesterday. An undesirable situation for a team that will need to trust its destiny to rain, chaos or fortune if you don’t want the Penske’s pace to deal them a major blow in Nashville facing an oval Gateway that they also have by hand. Still, this circuit is treacherous, and qualifying can hold many surprises.
RESULTS OF THE FREE RUNS OF THE MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX
– Free 1
– free 2
Photos: IndyCar Media