The champ is gonna champ. Alex Palou led Practice 1 today for the Portland Grand Prix, just narrowly quicker than Kyle Kirkwood by eight hundredths of a second.

“Good day, great start,” Palou said. “I think there’s some work to do with the alternates (Firestone Firehawk tires), but we were really good on primaries, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

“It’s good that we tested here because it allowed us to start with good speed already in the No. 10 DHL Honda. But, yeah, some work to do still. We just need more speed.”

Kirkwood was very happy with his run.

“We definitely came here with a much different car than we’ve ever ran here, and hopefully it’s paying off,” Kirkwood said. “Early days here, but it’s promising. Compared to where we were last year, this is a big step in the right direction.”

The skies and air improved greatly as the day progressed, and the Portland area is now clear of the wildfire pollution.

Rinus VeeKay was quick in both the all-car session and his group, finishing third overall. He might be one to watch on Sunday, Will Power finished fourth today. Teaqm Penske had a decent day with Scott McLaughlin seventh, David Maluks eighth, and Josef Newgarden ninth.

Pato O’Ward struggled, spinning out in turn 1 and later having a tire lock up on the approach to the turn. He finished 15th.

Notes

Earlier in the day, David Malukas told me he feels quite confident in the car which has won the last two races at Portland. He will lose six places after qualifying with an engine penalty, which will hurt his chances.

Kyle Kirkwood said he feels he has the advantage over Malukas and Christian Lundgaard over the rest of the schedule. He believes his team is stronger on two of the types of tracks left, where Malukas and Lundgaard just each may only be stronger on one type of circuit. Lundgaard was 22nd fastest today.

Kirkwood ultimately wants to catch Palou, which he believes is possible. A lot would have to go right for the Andretti driver for that to happen.

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