IndyCar Portland: McLaughlin tops FP2, Grosjean and Ilott clash
Scott McLaughlin led a relatively straightforward second practice session for the IndyCar Series on Saturday morning at Portland International Raceway.
The New Zealander turned a flying lap of 58.1516s around the 1.964-mile, 12-turn natural terrain road course to take the top spot with 18 minutes remaining in the 45-minute session. He led a Team Penske 1-2, besting teammate Josef Newgarden by 0.1179s.
The outing was a night-and-day difference for Penske as a whole compared to Friday’s opening practice when McLaughlin, the defending race winner and pole-sitter, was 16th and Newgarden was 10th.
Despite spinning 10 minutes into the session, six-time series champion Scott Dixon ended up third overall, with Chip Ganassi Racing entry trailing 0.1269s behind. Graham Rahal quietly asserted his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car in fourth, 0.1538s off McLaughlin’s pace-setter.
Championship leader Alex Palou (Ganassi) came across in the final spot of the top five, 0.2114s behind.
Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images
Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing), rookie Marcus Armstrong (Chip Ganassi Racing), Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) finished up sixth through eighth, respectively. The Arrow McLaren duo of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the rest of the top 10.
Colton Herta’s near-misses with the Turn 1 Armco eventually resulted in clipping the barrier with the right front during the session, which was followed by his Andretti Autosport crew looking over any potential issues in the aftermath. Herta ended up 14th overall.
The only red flag of the session was brought out with 14 minutes remaining by Sting Ray Robb, with the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR rookie stalling on-track in Turn 7 after a miscue on the exit of Turn 6.
The only significant drama came as the seconds ticked down. A brief moment in Turn 6 by Romain Grosjean allowed Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott to pull alongside.
The pair then banged wheels, with Grosjean sending Ilott off into the dirt before he returned to the track unharmed ahead of the checkered flag.
Grosjean’s No. 28 Andretti Autosport car logged a session-most 30 laps.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Top Comments
How IndyCar's GP of Arlington impacts its future, according to CEO Mark Miles
IndyCar’s Arlington circuit layout will leave drivers "exposed," but keep things entertaining - Newgarden
Indy NXT champion Foster signs multi-year deal with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Will Davison to start Bathurst 1000 after heavy Bathurst crash
Topgolf, but for racing: F1 Arcade’s bold pitch to American F1 fans
How IndyCar's GP of Arlington impacts its future, according to CEO Mark Miles
The defining moments of Williams boss Vowles’ rollercoaster season
When McLaren conquered F1 and the Indy 500
How the wider motorsport world reacted to Senna’s death
The apprenticeship that will aid Ilott's IndyCar to WEC switch at Jota
The long evolution of Dallara's Indy 500 winner
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
