After an eventful Practice 1 at Long Beach yesterday, Practice 2 was initially calmer. The first half allowed the drivers to prepare for the race. However, red flags interrupted the qualifying preparation in the group stages. It was a close field, with most of the grid within one second of each other. But Kyle Kirkwood and Andretti Global topped the sheets again.
Kirkwood Leads Ahead of O’Ward
The full-field session to start practice saw the drivers testing the harder compound of tyre ahead of the race. With track grip limited due to the rubber laid down by the Drift Cars and IMSA, the session was a time for them to adjust to the conditions. Near the start of the session, Pato O’Ward had to save his car after losing grip, nearly sliding into the wall at Turn 1.
After Kyle Kirkwood set the first benchmark lap, a 1:09.131, the times quickly fell. Before long, O’Ward recovered from his early mistake to stand at the top of the leaderboard with a 1:08.051. Recovering after his crash yesterday, Scott McLaughlin was also showing pace. However, his time was invalidated due to not slowing through a local yellow flag being shown by Santino Ferrucci locking up.
Yesterday, Andretti Global was setting the pace and looking like the team to beat. However, overnight, Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren found extra pace, improving on their performance from the first session. As the first half of practice came to a close, O’Ward led the field with a 1:07.791, only a tenth off the fastest time on Friday. However it was championship leader Kirkwood who stole the top spot as the chequered flag fell, going two tenths quicker than O’Ward.
Group 1 Led By Malukas
Like the previous session, the drivers opted to remain on the hard tyres during the first group session in practice. Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard was the first to set a fast lap with a time of 1:08.472. After backing out of his first attempt, David Malukas eventually knocked Lundgaard off, posting a lap time of 1:07.775.
Marcus Armstrong improved his lap to join Malukas in the 1:07’s, although Álex Palou quickly took the P2 spot from the No.66. Group 1 came to an early end, however, when Nolan Siegel hit the barrier, breaking his suspension and causing a red flag. Whilst the session did go green, no one improved on their final run, leaving Malukas topping the session.
Red Flags End Group 2 Early
With Group 1 ending with a red flag, Group 2 started with one. On his first lap, Mick Schumacher crashed into the barrier in the fountain section just after Turn 1. After a mechanical issue yesterday, his luck hasn’t turned and he’ll be on the back foot heading into qualifying. Schumacher was unharmed, and soon the field went green.
Once the drivers headed onto the track, it was Rosenqvist who was at the top. O’Ward was able to go faster, but he was jumped by Marcus Ericsson with a 1:08.373. Before anyone could challenge the Andretti Global driver, Romain Grosjean lost grip in Turn 1, crashing into the barriers and causing a second red flag.
Ultimately, the damage to the barrier was too extensive, and the session concluded early. Like yesterday, Andretti Global topped the overall time sheets as no one in the group sessions could better Kirkwood’s time of 1:07.541.
Up next is qualifying. The interrupted practice sessions mean that few drivers will be fully prepared. With IMSA holding a race between the IndyCar sessions drivers will also have to quickly adjust to the changing grip on track. Qualifying will see unpredicatable conditions, and with a lack of running, who will achieve pole?