Practice two of the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America was a close session, but it was Arrow McLaren and Christian Lundgaard who topped the time sheet ahead of qualifying.
45 Minutes In Road America
Drivers weren’t waiting around to get on track for the 45-minute second practice session. Most of the drivers chose to use their hard tires and continue setting their cars up for tomorrow’s race. The only exception to this was Jacob Abel, who ran the red-walled soft tires, finishing the session in P23 with a time of 1:46.520.
Wind Was Causing Commotion
Whilst temperatures were hotter than they were yesterday, this session saw an increase of wind on the track. This meant drivers were having trouble staying on track at the final corner – Turn 14.
Most notably, Scott McLaughlin managed to correct a big understeer in the corner, preventing himself from a crash. Yesterday’s leader, Kyle Kirkwood, also suffered at this corner, going off multiple times.
Trouble for Rossi
After his spin at Turn 1 late in yesterday’s practice, causing a late red flag, the trouble continued for Alexander Rossi. Running only 11 laps, the least of the drivers, Rossi spent most of his time in the pits working to get better rear stability. He could only manage a time of 1:46.764 and settled for P25 – a poor showing for a previous winner at the Road America track.
McLaren and Lundgaard Set The Pace
Arrow McLaren had a positive session with their newest driver, Christian Lundgaard. With over half the session still remaining, Lundgaard recorded a lap time of 1:45.341 and no one could get close.
The top 22 drivers were all within a second of this time, but the closest anyone could get was Alex Palou, who was 2 and a half tenths back. Despite this, no one could beat the lap time set yesterday by Kirkwood.
Qualifying Up Next
We now have a 2-hour break until qualifying for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. With limited running on the softer tire compounds, qualifying could be an unknown for the drivers.
Drivers will have to be careful of the wind and the temperatures to ensure optimal lap times, or else small mistakes could plague their qualifying attempts. Can Lundgaard continue his pace from this session and get a third career pole?