After the first contact with the asphalt of the Barber Motorsports Parkit was time to put into practice what I had learned with the use of the soft tires in the second and final practice session of the Alabama Grand Prixprior to the qualifying session. And if there is something that the IndyCar drivers have been able to make clear, it is that the track has been raised capriciously and in search of the carbon fiber that the drivers can deposit on it.
The time table finished led by Rinus VeeKay with a 1:05.926, with the Dutchman being the only driver to drop below 1:06, something that did not happen in free practice last year. Four tenths off the track record, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver, looking to cement his strong start to the year, made the most of his soft tires to shock the usual suspects like Duck O’Ward and Colton Hertawhich finished just behind and separated by just 30 thousandths.
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In an interesting turn of events, Herta was the only rider with a Honda engine in the top 4as the driver who succeeded him in the table was Scott McLaughlin, again the only Penske in the top 10. Romain Grosjean He continued to show a solid performance in fifth place, and behind him was Álex Palou, only slightly improving his time from yesterday (1:06.221), but with good chances of qualifying again for the Fast Six. The Spaniard was once again Ganassi’s best, escorted by his teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon.
For these positions should have haunted alexander rossi after an excellent Friday, but bad fortune continues to haunt the American, who was the protagonist of a spectacular accident at the exit of the last corner. The Andretti driver lost control of the out-corner, missing the guards and crashing into a guardrail with the rear of the car, destroying the gearbox and damaging the engine in the process. As if that were not enough, Helio Castroneves he was unable to dodge the wreckage from behind, suffering a puncture and some suspension damage.
Later, Turn 5 chicane took Romain Grosjean and Will Power with it with the same error: enter past, cut inside and spin. The Frenchman made it out of the gravel run-off but not the Australian, whose exit necessitated a second red flag towards the end of the session. Continuing his seventh position from Friday, Callum Ilott again gave a great performance in ninth placebeating a Jack Harvey who closed the top 10 ahead of a Josef Newgarden who is trying to regain momentum for qualifying after some mechanical mishaps at the end of Free Practice 1.
RESULTS OF THE PRIZE 2 OF THE ALABAMA GP
Photos: IndyCar Media