It’s probably bad news for the rest of the field. Will Power lead the only practice session for the seventh running of the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this morning. Power languished near the back of the pack through the first hour of the 90 minute session, then slowly began moving toward the front, topping the charts with about 15 minutes remaining. He was the only driver to crack the 1:10 mark.
The results:
| 1 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 1:09.949 | –.—- | 30 |
| 2 | 18 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan | 1:10.124 | 0.1755 | 21 |
| 3 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:10.165 | 0.2161 | 28 |
| 4 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | 1:10.187 | 0.2387 | 29 |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:10.205 | 0.2567 | 25 |
| 6 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 1:10.285 | 0.3359 | 25 |
| 7 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 1:10.313 | 0.3642 | 27 |
| 8 | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:10.362 | 0.4132 | 29 |
| 9 | 45 | Spencer Pigot | RLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport | 1:10.363 | 0.4146 | 23 |
| 10 | 7 | Oliver Askew | Arrow McLaren SP | 1:10.364 | 0.4154 | 30 |
| 11 | 88 | Colton Herta | Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport | 1:10.385 | 0.4360 | 17 |
| 12 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 1:10.386 | 0.4375 | 26 |
| 13 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 1:10.455 | 0.5063 | 24 |
| 14 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian | 1:10.486 | 0.5372 | 30 |
| 15 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 1:10.520 | 0.5717 | 21 |
| 16 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:10.538 | 0.5894 | 25 |
| 17 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:10.606 | 0.6571 | 36 |
| 18 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:10.611 | 0.6627 | 26 |
| 19 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:10.685 | 0.7367 | 31 |
| 20 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:10.694 | 0.7448 | 26 |
| 21 | 26 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 1:10.709 | 0.7602 | 27 |
| 22 | 55 | Alex Palou | Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh | 1:10.886 | 0.9376 | 26 |
| 23 | 4 | Charlie Kimball | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 1:10.980 | 1.0312 | 25 |
| 24 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | 1:11.227 | 1.2783 | 26 |
| 25 | 14 | Dalton Kellett | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 1:11.448 | 1.4997 | 42 |
| 26 | 24 | Sage Karam | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 1:11.616 | 1. |
The rookies and younger drivers had some time at the top. Felix Rosenqvist, last byear’s pole sitter, led for a while, as did Pato O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson.
Oliver Askew is the only rookie in the top 10. The biggest surprise in the top 10 is Spencer Pigot in 9th. His team, Citrone Buhlo in partnership with RLL Racing, team is making their Indycar debut this weekend.
the practice was stopped twice. Santino Ferrucci bumped Ryan Hunter-Reay around the 45 minute mark. Hunter-Reay was getting his tires up to temperature when Ferrucci tried to pass him pon the inside going into turn 7. Hunter-Reay spun and stalled. Ferrucci received a 5 minute stop and hold penalty for avoidable contact.
With about 30 minutes left, Sage Karam lost power on the access road by turn 12.
Notes
Except for Hunter-Reay, the rest of the Andretti Autosport struggled in the middle of the pack.
A dozen or so fans stood at the ,main gate watching the video board facing the entrance.
It was frustrating hearing the cars but not seeing them. It was still better than nothing.
I have never seen the Speedway look nicer.
A few photos:
Back tonight after qualifying.
