By the Numbers: Practice Results
Alexander Rossi sent a message of intent during the opening practice for the GMR Grand Prix: The comeback starts now.
2016 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Rossi, mired in 15th in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings, led the 45-minute session this morning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a top lap of one minute, 9.8784 seconds in the No. 27 AutoNation/NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda.
“It’s Practice 1, so there’s not too much to take from it yet, but it’s good to go out and re-establish the baseline we felt we had at the Harvest GP,” Rossi said. “Looking forward to Practice 2 and qualifying later today.
“This track is fairly temperature-sensitive, but the forecast is pretty cool temperatures. Shouldn’t be a big issue. We’ve just got to make sure we continue the development forward and continue to improve each session.”
Jack Harvey was second quickest at 1:09.9646 in the No. 60 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda, followed by Rinus VeeKay at 1:10.0624 in the No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet.
Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden was fourth at 1:10.0643 in the No. 2 Snap-on Tools Team Penske Chevrolet. Rookie Romain Grosjean ended up fifth after his first laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit with a top lap of 1:10.1587 in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda.
Practice continues with another 45-minute session starting at 1 p.m. (ET). NTT P1 Award qualifying starts at 4:30 p.m. The sessions should be extremely competitive, as less than one second separated the top 19 drivers in practice this morning.
Alex Palou, winner of the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, didn’t turn a lap in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda due to a mechanical problem. Sebastien Bourdais also encountered mechanical gremlins in the No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, limiting him to just three laps.