All Times Pacific
9:15-11:15- Open Test
1:30-5:30 Open Test
10;30 Practice 1
2:10 Practice 2
10:00 Practice 3
1:35 Qualifying
!2:15 Green Flag for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey
Practices will be on NBC Gold. Qualifying is on NBCSN. The race is on NBC. You may need to set your DVR to record on NBC.
Photo: Kyle McInnes
Was that qualifying or boxing match? What a tremendous battle between Colton Herta and Will Power. They traded the lead back and forth for three rounds before Herta emerged on the pole. Power’s miscue in turn one on his next to last lap may have cost him the pole. Herta was quick all weekend, though, and the result isn’t a surprise.
This session was the best road/street course qualifying of the year. There was drama throughout.
Scott Dixon is the only one of the top four in points to get in the Fast Six. Leader Josef Newgarden starts 13th, a dangerous place to be going into turn 1 at the start here. Simon Pagenaud starts 18 and Alexander Rossi 7th. Watching the championship contenders’ progress in the race will be an interesting task tomorrow.
Jack Harvey has done a great job all year. In eight races to date, he has finished in the top ten in four of them. Today is the fifth time Harvey has advanced to at least the second round of qualifying. Today is his second Fast Six. I can’t wait to see what he does as a full time driver next year.
Conor Daly did it again. He jumps into a car for a different team and puts it into Round 2. Daly will start 9th, his best starting spot of the season. This is his second time in Round 2. He also has two top ten finishes. Daly deserves a full time ride in 2020. I don’t know what else he can do to prove himself.
Great job the Arrow Schmidt Peterson team to get both cars into Round 2.
Five teams in the Fast Six always makes the final round fun.
Felix Rosenqvist missed turn1 in two consecutive rounds but still made the Fast Six.
Power said after qualifying that there is not as much difference between the red and black tires this year as there was last year at Portland. He still thinks cars will be able to pass during the race.
Herta gambled by waiting to run one final lap on reds. He was nearly as fast on blacks.
Chalk up another one for the 2019 rookies. The scoreboard- 3 poles, 1 win.
Back tomorrow morning with a race preview. It looks like we will have a fun race tomorrow.
Photo: Kyle McInnes
First, news I hate reporting about. Sad news from Spa. F2 driver Antoine Hubert suffered fatal injuries in a horrific crash at the start of the race this morning.
Colton Herta led his second session of the weekend in final practice this morning for the Grand Prix of Portland. Herta was the only drive to turn a lap in less than 57 seconds and turned the weekend’s fastest lap yesterday morning. His time of 57.9939 seconds beat the second quickest time of series points leader Josef Newgarden by 0.1083 seconds. Will Power was third, followed by Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.
Red flags flew twice. Matheus Leist spun in turn 2 and stalled as he attempted to restart the car. Late in the session Santino Ferrucci’s car stopped just after exiting the pits. Practice resumed after the car was towed back to his pit. It was an adventurous session for Ferrucci. Rossi was coming out of the pits as Ferrucci entered turn 1. The cars nearly touched and Ferrucci needed to go through the chicane. He was not happy with Rossi.
Hondas again dominated practice. The Team Penske cars of Newgarden and Power were the only Chevys in the top ten.
Group 1` Group 2
Newgarden Herta
Dixon Power
Hunter-Reay Rossi
Rahal Harvey
Bourdais Rosenqvist
Sato Chilton
Hinchcliffe Ferrucci
Veach Andretti
Daly Pagenaud
Leist Pigot
Kanaan Kimball
Jones
Katherine Legge will drive the 2 seater at the start of tomorrow’s race. She says she is working on a ride for next year’s Indianapolis 500.
The 2020 schedule will be released near the beginning of the pre-race show on NBC tomorrow.
Another nice crowd on hand at Portland International Raceway today.
From earlier today:
https://thepitwindow.blog/2019/08/31/qualifying-day-at-portland/
Good morning from Portland International Raceway for Day two of the Grand Prix of Portland. Today’s NTT Indycar Series schedule: All times Eastern
Practice 3– 2:00 pm-2:45 NBC Gold
Qualifying- 6:00 pm- 7:15 NBC Sports
In addition to the Indycar action, all three steps on the Road to Indy run their first of two races today. Rinus VeeKay has the pole for the Indy Lights race at 4:50 pm Eastern.
Sebastien Bourdais’s practice yesterday afternoon was similar to last year’s Saturday practice here. In bot sessions he set the fastest lap then ran off course in turn 11. The difference is this year the nose of his car barely nudged the tires. Last year’s damage had Bourdais qualifying and racing a car made up of a mixture of parts.
I will try to find out about the 2020 schedule today and see if I confirm some other things I’m hearing. I’ll be back after practice 3.
Here are a couple of photos from Kyle McInnes. One is of Bourdais, the other is Simon Pagenaud preparing for next week’s BC39 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Sebastien Bourdais recorded the fastest lap in Practice 2, setting the quick time with about five minutes to go in the session. Will Power had set the fast time with about 20 minutes left in the practice. Bourdais’ lap was 57.923 seconds. He bettered Power quick time by 0.0289 seconds.
After Bourdais’s fast lap, he went off track in turn 11 and slid gently into the tire barrier. There just two minutes remaining in the session. The red flag ended the practice period.
Felix Rosenqvist led the majority of the afternoon. Colton Herta was fourth after leading morning practice.
Teams are preparing for the put stop practice session, a 30 minute period.
Another great Friday crowd is on hand at Portland. This event has been embraced by the fans here.
If as much dust is kicked up tomorrow during qualifying as has been put on the track today, it will be an interesting qualifying session.
Times were faster in session one. Most teams didn’t go to the red tires this afternoon until there were less than 10 minutes left.
I hope we see more of the Oberto livery on Marco Andretti’s car next year. It’s the best livery that car uses.
In the warmup/pit stop practice session, Ryan Hunter-Reay had the best lap at 58.2729.
Indycar’s final practice is tomorrow at 2 pm Eastern and qualifying is at 6 pm Eastern.
Back later with a wrap up of the entire day.
Colton Herta ran the fastest lap in Practice 1 for the Grand Prix of Portland as preparations for the NTT Indycar Series 16th round got underway. Herta’s 57.4293 second circuit beat out Alexander Rossi by 0.1245 seconds. Andretti Autosport had all four cars in the top ten. Herta’s Harding Steinbrenner team has a technical alliance with Andretti.
Points leader Josef Newgarden finished the session in fourth place. Newgarden was the only Chevrolet car in the top ten. Penske teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud were 11th and 12th. Conor Daly, filling in for Marcus Ericsson at Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, was 23rd.
The session was green the entire time, although there were a few off road excursions. Graham Rahal went off course in turn 11 near the end of the session but got back on track. Several drivers missed turn 1 and needed to take the chicane penalty.
James Hinchcliffe spun just past turn two near the end of the session. The car kept running and he continued. Max Chilton and Simon Pagenaud had a near collision as Chilton exited the pits. It appeared he didn’t see Pagenaud coming.
The next practice session is at 5:40 Eastern time followed by a 30 minute pit stop practice at 6:40 Eastern.
I finally arrived in Portland after nearly 11 hours of travel time. I felt as if I was taking a trip to Europe. My body clock is still adjusting. The track opens soon and I will be there covering all Indycar sessions this weekend. Today’s schedule in Eastern time:
Practice 1- 1:50-2:35
Practice 2- 5:40-6:25
Pit Stop Practice 6:40
Yesterday’s big news was about Conor Daly replacing Marcus Ericsson in the number 7 Arrow Schmidt Peterson car this weekend. Ericsson has been a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo all season. This situation was always a possibility.
ASPM will be the third team Daly has driven for in 2019. Including the finale at Laguna Seca, Daly will have participated in eight races this season. He has a chance to finish 20th in points with just eight races. I really hope this year’s efforts lead to his landing a full time ride next year.
Charlie Kimball returns in the number 23 Carlin car. Portland is an addition to Kimball’s announced five race schedule.
I’ll be back after the first practice session. All of today’s track action is on NBC Gold.
Photo: Kyle McInnes
That was a very exciting qualifying session. Any time the pole is decided on the last lap adds drama to the day.
It must have been a great moment for Dale Coyne’s team to have both his cars on the front row for a few minutes.
Disappointed that the NTT IndyCar Series didn’t delay qualifying. and completely clean up the oil dry. The first ten cars to qualify were at a distinct disadvantage. I’m not saying one of them would have won the pole, but a fairer run might have helped them gain a spot or two.
Sanction Ferrucci qualified sixth after leading the early practice session. He was P 1 during qualifying for a few minutes until teammate Sebastien Bourdais nipped him.
The top ten is a surprise outside of the expected Penskes’s top positions. Both Coyne cars, both Ganassi cars and only one from Andretti fill half of the top of the grid.
Josef Newgarden is in a position to take firm control of the championship tomorrow night. Alexander Rossi needs to get through the first lap cleanly. Pit strategy will be an important factor in tomorrow’s outcome.
The way today’s action played out is why I prefer a draw or order based on practice speeds for oval qualifying. The series says the order system is part of the consistency they seek. Road and street course groups are based on practice speeds. Wouldn’t it be more consistent to base oval qualifying order on practice speeds as well?
If a title contender were to be one of the first to go out, that could make the race more interesting. Would the series let Newgarden or Rossi or one of the other contenders go out wit oil dry not completely cleaned up?
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 