Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Edition

Global Global
Practice report
IndyCar Barber Motorsports Park

IndyCar Barber: VeeKay pips Grosjean by 0.0356s to lead second practice

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay showcased his stout pace to lead the second IndyCar practice of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.

Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

The 23-year-old Dutchman rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with a quick lap of 1m06.5463s at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course.

“The car feels really good,” VeeKay said. “It felt pretty good yesterday.

“Couldn't really get a lap in on the red tires, but we made some changes overnight for what we thought was the right direction and it was the right direction. So that's really good.

“I'm excited for qualifying. It's usually a very good sign when you're fast in practice two.”

Romain Grosjean continued his strong weekend, with the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet finishing just off VeeKay at 0.0356s behind. Team Penske’s Scott Mclaughlin ended up third at 0.0636s off the top mark.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s duo of Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard wrapped up fourth and fifth, respectively.

Pato O’Ward was sixth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power in seventh.

Reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou ended the session with his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in eighth. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who led the opening session on Friday and remains in the spotlight over his St. Petersburg disqualification, was ninth.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year, finished 10th. 

The session began with a red flag coming out less than three minutes in after Pietro Fittipaldi went off in Turn 2, suffering an steering failure.

“We were just doing laps and warming up the car,” Fittipaldi said. “Weren't really pushing and then my steering rack just came loose. Luckily, it didn't happen in the high-speed corner because it would've been pretty scary.

“I had no steering, basically. Disappointed because we need laps, obviously, to keep getting rhythm with these tracks I don't know. Obviously, doesn't help the race.”

Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Lundgaard went fastest shortly after the resumption of practice, producing a flying lap of 1m06.6973s. But VeeKay dethroned the Dane with his fast lap with 30 minutes to go.

The red flag came back out with 20 minutes remaining after Arrow McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire, making his second career IndyCar start this weekend, spun off course in Turn 14 after sliding over the crest of the hill. He was able to continue on after receiving assistance.

During the red flag, the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Felix Rosenqvist was seen getting pushed back to the paddock an engine issue, prematurely ending his session.

“We had a loss of power and then they said we have to park it [for] something with the engine,” Rosenqvist said. “So, unfortunate.

“I thought actually the car felt pretty good compared to yesterday, so I'm happier now going into qualifying than if it would've been yesterday.

“Bad luck, but we'll get her fixed here. I think we might do an engine change and see we end up in quali.”

Qualifying is set for later today at 3:30pm ET.

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Gap   Laps 
21 Rinus VeeKay Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.5463   18
77 Romain Grosjean Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.5819 0.0356 23
3 Scott McLaughlin Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.6099 0.0636 24
15 Graham Rahal Dallara/Honda 1'06.6588 0.1125 21
45 C.Lundgaard Dallara/Honda 1'06.6973 0.1510 19
5 Patricio O'Ward Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.7528 0.2065 21
12 Will Power Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.7736 0.2273 23
10 Alex Palou Dallara/Honda 1'06.7776 0.2313 26
2 Josef Newgarden Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.8082 0.2619 17
10  11 Marcus Armstrong Dallara/Honda 1'06.8590 0.3127 24
11  7 Alexander Rossi Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.8634 0.3171 16
12  9 Scott Dixon Dallara/Honda 1'06.9763 0.4300 21
13  78 Agustín Canapino Dallara/Chevrolet 1'06.9977 0.4514 25
14  26 Colton Herta Dallara/Honda 1'07.0557 0.5094 24
15  20 C.Rasmussen Dallara/Chevrolet 1'07.0712 0.5249 24
16  14 Santino Ferrucci Dallara/Chevrolet 1'07.0893 0.5430 18
17  28 Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Honda 1'07.0927 0.5464 26
18  27 Kyle Kirkwood Dallara/Honda 1'07.1810 0.6347 22
19  66 Tom Blomqvist Dallara/Honda 1'07.2517 0.7054 21
20  8 Linus Lundqvist Dallara/Honda 1'07.2799 0.7336 31
21  18 Jack Harvey Dallara/Honda 1'07.5641 1.0178 25
22  4 Kyffin Simpson Dallara/Honda 1'07.5755 1.0292 26
23  6 Théo Pourchaire Dallara/Chevrolet 1'07.6949 1.1486 25
24  51 Luca Ghiotto Dallara/Honda 1'07.7358 1.1895 27
25  60 Felix Rosenqvist Dallara/Honda 1'07.8813 1.3350 7
26  41 Sting Ray Robb Dallara/Chevrolet 1'08.3179 1.7716 22
27  30 P.Fittipaldi Dallara/Honda 1'18.4327 11.8864 1

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Penske's IndyCar explanation 'doesn't stack up', accuses McLaren's Brown
Next article Penske IndyCar scandal “not helpful” says Honda

Top Comments

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Edition

Global Global