Kirkwood Sizzles In Mid-Ohio IndyCar Drills
STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — On the 249th birthday of the United States, it’s only fitting that a driver from the USA was the Fastest on the Fourth of July at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
It was Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, who drove the No. 27 Honda Honda to the fastest lap of the day at 1:05.8272 around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course for a speed of 123.487 mph.
The Andretti Global IndyCar Series driver is sponsored in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio by Honda.
“The Honda Honda is looking pretty good,” Kirkwood said. “We’re fast. We’re in Honda country and it’s just cool to represent a brand I love so much. I’ve been with them since I was 12 and it’s enjoyable to have them sponsor me this weekend.”
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was second fastest at 1:06.0160 in the No. 5 Chevrolet for a speed of 123.134 miles per hour.
“We would love to go back-to-back here, but it’s early in the weekend,” O’Ward said. “The car is in the window. I’m comfortable in it. I’m happy. “They’ve made a few safety changes. But so far, it’s been a good session for us today. So just a couple of things to clean up and we’ll be back at it tomorrow. It’s new pavement and there’s less banking. So, you definitely feel the difference, especially as now as it’s rubbering in, like, you definitely feel the progression of it. But, yeah, I think it won’t be too much of a change once the whole track’s rubbered in. Just finding the limits. This is when you want to find them. So far, it’s been, it’s been alright.
“I love coming here, and the fans are always super pumped to be here for the Fourth of July weekend. And, it always smells so good, you know, those juicy burgers or whatever else they’re cooking. It’s a cool weekend to be a part of.”
IndyCar Series points leader Alex Palou was third fastest at 1:06.0409 (123.087 mph) in the No. 10 Open AI Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou enters the race with a 97-point lead over Kirkwood with eight races remaining in the season.
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was fourth at 1:06.1791 (122.830 mph) in the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet with Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global rounding out the top five at 1:06.2324 (122.731 mph) in the No. 27 Honda at Andretti Global.
The first session was open to all cars with group running scheduled for after that session.
Just 13 minutes into the session, the red flag was displayed after Jacob Abel spun the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda between Turns 1 and 2. The car was able to continue on its own power but was assessed a five-minute penalty for causing a red flag.
Two minutes later, it was back to green flag racing, but 13 minutes later, David Malukas’ No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet ran off course and made hard contact into the tire barrier in Turn 4. Malukas climbed from his car without assistance from the AMR IndyCar Safety Team.
He was seen and released from the IndyCar Medical Unit.
“I just lost the rears,” Malukas said of his tires. “It was our last lap before we were going to come in, so I pushed a little harder. I went of the downshift, and it kicked the rears out.
“I was in there (medical trailer) watching TV and it was happening to a lot of other guys. The track has been really slick. It caught me off guard. I tried to save it, but going up that hill it just swung around, and I couldn’t keep it underneath me.
“Unfortunately.”
Five minutes later, the green flag was back out and practice continued. However, at 5:14 p.m., the Red Flag was displayed after Colton Herta ran off course in Turn 6 after making contact with the barrier. He was able to return to the pits under the cars power But was assessed a five-minute penalty.
Seven minutes later, the green flag waved with practice for Group 1 and Rookie drivers. The session was 12 minutes long.
At the end of the first group, Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Honda Honda for Andretti Global was the fastest at 1:05.8272.
“In the past few years here, it’s been hard to keep up with the track, it usually rains here but with the new track surface, it’s easier to feel the track. It doesn’t change as much,” Kirkwood explained.
In the second group, Felix Rosenqvist had an issue with his No. 60 Honda and pulled off course in Turn 4 to bring out the red flag. Four minutes later, the green was displayed to complete the session.
“I think it was productive,” Herta said. “Pretty messy from me with an off, and then I backed into the wall at turn 6, 7 — 6. So, it could have been a little bit better from my side of things, but it was still productive.”
Both Herta and Power said after practice the most frustrating aspect of the session was drivers backing up to the rest of the field, causing some errant runs and attempts by drivers attempting to find speed.
“It’s very annoying in these sessions, especially when you know you’re fast and you just have nothing to show for it,” Herta said. “It’s frustrating. I don’t know, it is what it is.
“It’s a little bit better with these sessions, but even for the beginning of the session, then you just don’t really get laps. So, you’re kind of guessing the last half of the track, where to put it and how much speed to roll when you get the reds on. It definitely disrupts the flow of your work progress for sure.”
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