O’Ward Sets The Pace In Gripping Laguna Practice

MONTEREY, Calif. — Lower grip on the track surface led to some exciting moments for the NTT IndyCar Series in Friday’s practice session for Sunday’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey.

Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren ended the combined session as the fastest driver in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren with a time of 1:09.2069 for a speed of 116.416 miles per hour.

Two-time WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca race winner Colton Herta of Andretti Global was second fastest at 1:09.3173 (116.231 mph) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.

Marcus Armstrong of Meyer-Shank Racing was third at 1:09.3174 (116.231 mph) in the No. 66 Honda followed by Chip Ganassi Racing and IndyCar point leader Alex Palou’s lap at 1:09.3679 (116.146 mph). Callum Ilott of Prema Racing rounded out the top five at 1:09.6735 (115.637 mph).

The drivers believe the track surface is aging to the point where the grip level is low and that may provide better racing on Sunday.

“This is looking a little bit more like older Laguna Seca, which opens up the passing lanes more, but it’s nowhere near the extent of the what the 2019 to 2022 races were like here,” Herta said of the track conditions with the current condition of the pavement on this race course.”

Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren, however, doesn’t believe he learned enough in Friday’s practice session to make him feel confident about Saturday’s qualifications.

“To be honest, I didn’t learn much,” Lundgaard said. “We were a lot slower than we anticipated. Having a slow practice one is not what we anticipated.

“I feel like second practice is very important, but ultimately qualifying is more important. Pato O’Ward was extremely quick, and we have to make sure we get out on top for Saturday.

“If it’s a clean race, it’s going to be a fun race. The track is degrading as it did in 2022. We are all very excited for that.”

Christian Rasmussen spun coming down the long hill entering Turn 1 with 21 minutes left in the all-group session.

Devlin DeFrancesco crashed 38 minutes into the session when he lost control of his Honda and had several hard hits against the concrete wall in Turns 4 and 4 before stopping on course. It brought out the first Red Flag of the weekend.

After cleaning off the track and towing the damaged No. 30 back to the paddock, it was back to racing with 5:50 left in the all-group session.

“We just lost it out of Turn 4, the grip is very low, and the track conditions are tricky,” DeFrancesco said. “The good news is the 30 car is fast, there isn’t too much damage to the car, and we are in the hunt.”

Team Penske’s Will Power went off course and nearly hit the wall in Turn 6 but drove through the dust and made it back on track. Even Scott Dixon spun out heading up the hill in Turn 5 and Turn 6.

The green flag remained, though, and both drivers were able to correct the issues.

That was before the Java House car driven by Northern California’s Alexander Rossi crashed hard into the tire barrier in Turn 6 in practice for the Jaba House Grand Prix. Just seconds before that, Jacob Abel also spun off course and rolled backwards in the gravel.

“I bottomed a little bit on that kind of extended part of the curve, the green curb area, and then it was kind of a correction, and then it went the other way,” Rossi said. “So, you know, really unfortunate, to have that happen in practice one, and not be able to get an idea of the Red.

“Anyways, it’s a shame. It’s not the way you want to start the weekend, especially a weekend like this with Java House. So, a lot of work to do to bounce back, but it seems like the cars are fast, so that’s an important thing, and we’ll just move on from it and get them tomorrow.”

“I bottomed a little bit on the green curb area, then corrected, then it went the other way,” Rossi explained. “Unfortunate that happened at the end of practice 1 and can’t see how the car operates on the Reds. Not good for Java House as the race sponsor, but it seems the cars are fast, and we will get after it tomorrow.”

That ended the session with Palou the fastest at 1:10.1701 in the No. 10 Honda followed by O’Ward’s No. 5 Chevrolet at 1:10.3418 for Arrow McLaren. Felix Rosenqvist was third at 1:10.5550 in the No. 60 The Grateful Dead Chevrolet for Meyer-Shank Racing at 1:10.7463.

David Malukas rounded out the top five at 1:10.8961 in the No. 4 Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing.

Next up were the two-group sessions of 10 minutes each.

Callum Ilott was the first to go on an offroad excursion into Turn 6 coming close to hitting the tire wall but able to drive through the gravel and back onto the track.

Rinus VeeKay spun coming out of Turn 11 just seconds before Christian Rasmussen also spun coming out of the final turn.

“Good session for us, trying to find the limits out here,” Rasmussen said. “Overall, pretty good. I didn’t maximize the speeds, I think there is more left in the car. It’s an exciting weekend for us and I think we can have a good weekend.

“There were a couple of stoppages we would have liked to have been without, but hopefully Alex (Rossi) got something out of it as well. I think hopefully, we can get there.

“There are a couple of things to fine tune here to be good.”

O’Ward ended that group on top at 1:09.2089 in a Chevrolet. Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 Meyer-Shank Honda was second at 1:09.3174 followed by Palou’s 1:09.3679 in the No. 10 Honda. Callum Ilott was fourth at 1:09.6735 in the No. 90 Prema Chevrolet and Rasmussen was fifth at 1:09.6736 in the No. 21.

The second group hit the track, and it didn’t take long for Colton Herta to leap to the top at 1:09.4997.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden brought out the Red Flag when he beached it out of Turn 8 in the corkscrew with 1:30 left in the session.

When that group session was concluded, Herta was the fastest at 1:09.3173 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, Felix Rosenqvist was second at 1:0.9132 in the No. 60 Grateful Dead Honda, rookie Louis Foster was third at 1:09.9877 in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, Christian Lundgaard was fourth at 1:10.0684 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Kyffin Simpson rounded out the top five at 1:10.1051 in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.