O’Ward: Qualifying fight will be “as tight as it’s ever been”
Despite leading first IndyCar practice at Long Beach by over quarter of a second, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward believes the qualifying battle will be a close battle.
Practice ended with O’Ward leading Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon by 0.265sec, his 1m06.6999s effort ensuring he was the only driver to average more than 106mph around the 1.968-mile street course.
“We got into the window,” said O’Ward who currently leads the championship after runner-up finishes in the first two rounds of the 2023 season. “It's tight, man.
“I think qualifying is going to be as tight as it's probably ever been. I think it puts a lot of emphasis on just the little mistakes you can make.”
He later added, “I guess I nailed down the lap. Yeah, it felt good. The little changes that got done to the track maybe not completely changed the setup, but I think it allows you to do a couple different things. You can get away with a couple more things that you couldn't years past.
“But where did it come from? I don't know. I guess, yeah, I was just driving!”
Regarding the resurfacing that has been done on the track from Turns 6 to 8, O’Ward said: “It's a lot better. I think what's made it a little bit trickier is where the new asphalt meets the old one in Turn 8. It reminds you of Turn 3. It's smooth moving in, but it's a smaller scale, not as quick, but there’s definitely a bump there. I think that will be something to watch throughout the weekend.”
O’Ward said that the cold temperatures and the track surface contributed to quick times for FP1 on primary (harder) Firestones.
“I thought today was beautiful,” he said. “The track is definitely quicker than what it was last year. There's not as much rubber down, but the track is fast. I think the more cars laying down rubber, it's just probably going to gain and gain and gain.
“The tires and the engines like the colder temperatures rather than it being really hot.”
Despite his obvious speed, O’Ward said he wasn’t going to be cocky about his chances in the hunt for pole on Saturday afternoon.
“Things can change really quick in IndyCar. It's so competitive. So I think what we'll do now is just try and make it better. There's always things you can improve on. Come tomorrow, go out there and just execute. I think that's the most important part.
“You can have the quickest car, but if you don’t get the lap together, you're looking at a harder Sunday than what it should be. I think tomorrow will just be about getting the laps down and not making the silly mistakes that can put you back.”
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